Tell Kroger: Help save bees from toxic pesticides!

Bees pollinate one in three bites of food we eat -- including some of our Thanksgiving favorites. But they're dying at alarming rates, largely thanks to bee-killing neonicotinoid pesticides. Kroger could help get these chemicals out of our food system -- but we need your help to convince it to act!

Send a message to Kroger and help get bee-killing pesticides out of our food system!

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Dear Rodney McMullen,

As I prepare for Thanksgiving, I’m reminded how thankful I am for bees, butterflies and other pollinators. They’re responsible for many of the Thanksgiving staples I enjoy every year like pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce, apples in my stuffing and mashed potatoes. These pollinators are critical to the health and success of our food system and environment, but we’re in jeopardy of losing these critical species.

This Thanksgiving, I urge Kroger to help protect bees, butterflies and other pollinators by committing to establish a pollinator protection policy that includes the phase out of pollinator-toxic pesticides, including neonicotinoids, chlorpyrifos and glyphosate, in your company’s supply chain and encourage suppliers to employ alternative, least-toxic pest management strategies.  It’s important that Kroger take this step as quickly as possible and not wait for direction from the EPA. I also urge your company to increase USDA certified organic food and beverages to 15 percent of overall offerings by 2025, prioritizing domestic, regional and local producers. Organic agriculture is the healthiest option for bees and people.

Evidence continues to mount that bee-killing neonicotinoid pesticides are a leading cause of pollinator decline and ecological collapse.

In October, a new study was released that found populations of flying insects have fallen by around 80 percent in the last three decades in western Germany. Samples were gathered from protected areas and nature preserves, indicating that insect decline could be even greater in agricultural areas. This decline points to a potential ecological disaster.

Further, a study was published that found neonicotinoids in 75 percent of honey samples from across the world. In one-third of the honey, the amount of the chemical found was enough to be detrimental to bees.

In September 2017, the Task Force on Systemic Pesticides released a follow-up meta-study on neonicotinoids and other systemic insecticides. The new assessment found even broader impacts and reinforced their 2015 conclusions. The scientists concluded that neonicotinoids represent a major worldwide threat to biodiversity and ecosystems and called for an immediate stop to agricultural uses of systemic pesticides.

In response to this news, the secretary of the environment at in the UK announced the country would back a ban on neonicotinoid pesticides. This signals that other governments around the world are taking the latest science very seriously.

However, here in the U.S., our federal government is slow to act.  For example, the Trump administration reversed EPA’s decision to ban chlorpyrifos this year. This occurred after Dow Chemical, which manufactures the pesticide, donated $1 million dollars to Trump’s inaugural committee. Chlorpyrifos is widely used in agriculture and studies have shown that exposure to the chemical can result in autism, developmental delays and lower birth weight and can cause seizures, coma and even death. Chlorpyrifos is also toxic to bees and other pollinators. I have serious concerns that if Kroger waits for direction from the EPA, it may be giving more weight to the pesticide industry than sound science.

The science is clear that these pesticides are harmful for people, pollinators and the planet. I urge Kroger take immediate action given the latest science and commit to phase out bee-toxic pesticides using safer alternatives and increase offerings of bee and people-friendly organic food, giving preference to food grown by America’s farmers.

Thank you,

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