Food was on the table during the election – and voters are hungry for change.
While many issues mattered to voters, polling shows that food issues like rising food inflation, food safety and how food affects our health were as important as health care and other concerns.
For starters, voters want Congress to do more to make sure that our food is safe. In particular, Congress should make sure the chemicals added to our food meet tough safety standards. Congress should also do more to keep our food free from pathogens and contaminants like the “forever chemicals” known as PFAS.
When farmers offer to adopt regenerative practices like cover crops, Congress should make sure they get financial support.
Voters also want Congress to do more to ensure consumers have access to healthy food. In particular, Congress should require that our schools offer healthier options, and some states have already acted to phase out harmful ultra-processed foods.
Voters also want Congress to restore funding cuts to anti-hunger programs and take steps to address rising food prices. Reducing tariffs on food imports and breaking up monopolies would be good places to start.
Until the election, few of these issues got the attention we deserve. Now that the voters have spoken, it’s time for Congress to deliver a recipe for success.
Here are seven steps the new Congress can take right away to provide consumers with more safe, healthy, and affordable food:
- The new Congress should require that all new food chemicals are reviewed for safety before they are added to our food. Right now, 99% of new food chemicals are reviewed for safety by the chemical companies, not the safety experts at the Food and Drug Administration.
- The new Congress should require that pesticide residues found on the fruits and vegetables most commonly eaten by our kids meet the toughest safety standards, and that safety experts at the Environmental Protection Agency quickly review pesticides when they are banned by other nations.
- The new Congress should define ultra processed foods and require a disclosure on food labels so we can find healthier options when we shop.
- The new Congress should make sure that food safety experts carefully track pathogens and regularly inspect food manufacturing plants and fruit and vegetable farms to reduce the risk posed by pathogens like cyclospora.
- The new Congress should direct food safety experts to set limits on the amount of toxic PFAS in our food and ban PFAS in cookware.
- The new Congress should triple spending on regenerative farming practices like cover crops to help address water pollution in places like Iowa. Right now, three out of four farmers are turned away when they seek help to adopt regenerative farming practices.
- The new Congress should rescind the cuts to anti-hunger programs that have increased hunger at a time of rising food prices. Everyone should have enough to eat.
Food is a kitchen table issue. There’s much more Congress should do to make our food a priority. These seven steps are a good place to start.
