Freedom from food waste: How to have a sustainable 4th of July
Planning ahead and getting creative with leftovers reduces food waste for a fun, sustainable celebration.
Food & farming
We should be able to trust that the food we buy in the grocery store is safe, and grown in ways that won’t threaten our health.
You want to lead a healthy life, and help your family do the same, and you trust that the food in the grocery store is safe, and grown in ways that won’t threaten our health or safety. But that’s not always the case, and the evidence connecting toxic pesticides to serious health risks, like cancer, continues to grow. It’s also clear that the early warning system for contaminated food, and our food recall system, need a serious overhaul. We can and should expect better.
The Latest on Food & farming
How to save money at the grocery store, despite food price inflation
How to Save Food and Prevent Food Waste
Updates
Stop The Overuse Of Antibiotics
PIRG Urges McDonald’s to Honor Its Commitment to Reduce Antibiotics in Meat
High food prices could be linked to food waste, not just inflation
PIRG launches campaign to ban the destructive herbicide dicamba
What You Can Do
Featured Resources
Food recalls: 2021 Trends and What They Mean for You
Chain Reaction VI
Food for Thought Part 2: An analysis of food recalls for 2022
The food we waste could end hunger
Did You Know?
In 2019, more than 1.2 million people died worldwide from drug-resistant infections — which are only becoming more common as antibiotic overuse on factory farms threatens the future effectiveness of these medicines.
What We're Doing
We know we can get factory farms to change their practices if America's largest restaurant chains commit to serving meat that has been raised without the routine use of medically important antibiotics.
The Latest
Factory farms: A pandemic in the making.
The emergence and spread of the novel coronavirus pandemic is a symptom of how we raise food animals across the world.
New report: Meat recalls remain high; produce and processed food recalls drop
Contaminated food, from Tyson's chicken strips containing chunks of metal to E. coli-laden romaine lettuce, posed a serious danger to Americans’ health in 2019. U.S. PIRG Education Fund How Safe Is Our Food? report found recalls for produce and processed food have fallen 34 percent since 2016, but meat and poultry recalls are up 65 percent since 2013.
CDC estimates at least 35,000 die from drug-resistant infections annually
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released its new Antibiotic Resistance Threats in the United States report, which estimates at least 35,000 Americans die annually from infections that antibiotics can no longer effectively treat.
Crop Diversity: Good For Public Health, Good For The Bottom Line
For more than a decade, Iowa State University has been testing the merits of a 4-crop rotation, such as planting corn, soy, oats, and alfalfa over the course of four years. The results? The ISU researchers have reduced their use of pesticides and synthetic fertilizers by about 90% while maintaining profits. That’s a staggering number, and even if farmers don’t push the limits as aggressively as ISU agronomists, we’re still talking about major reductions in chemicals. Moreover, we would expect correlating reductions in cancers, respiratory problems, reproductive system disorders, and more.
McDonald’s Changes Meat Supply Guidelines to Stem Spread of Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria
In response to the health risks posed by antibiotic-resistant bacteria, McDonald’s has announced it is implementing new targets for cutting antibiotic use in the global chicken supply, and plans to expand its commitment to fewer antibiotics in pork and beef.
Team
Murray
Teresa
Murray
Consumer Watchdog, PIRG