Fil d’Actualités

‘FRESH’ and Affordable Foods Act is rotten to the core Anthony Lacey April 22, 2026 WASHINGTON – Rep. Kat Cammack (R-Fla.) today introduced a draft bill that would, if enacted, further hobble an already broken system that allows scores of food chemicals to come onto the market with little government oversight.The bill would gut rules on the information companies must provide the Food and Drug Administration when submitting a notice that a food chemical is “generally recognized as safe,” or GRAS. Known as the FDA Review and Evaluation for Safe, Healthy and Affordable Foods, or FRESH and Affordable Foods Act, the bill would:Preempt, retroactively and prospectively, all state food chemical laws, including those banning the toxic “forever chemicals” known as PFAS from food packaging and artificial dyes from school food. Allow new food chemicals linked to cancer and reproductive harm to be considered “safe.”Allow new food chemicals to be added to food without an affirmative finding of safety by the FDA.Retroactively approve all food chemicals currently considered GRAS.Allow new chemicals to be added to food if the FDA does not respond to a GRAS notice within 90 days. Allow new chemicals to be added to food as long as the food chemical company submits a “synopsis” of the chemical company’s safety conclusion.Allow new chemicals to be added to food without giving the FDA basic information, such as estimates of dietary exposure. Allow new chemicals reviewed by industry-funded expert panels – including the flavor industry’s notorious “expert” panel – to be automatically GRAS and used in food immediately. Allow companies to use food chemicals in new ways, without asking the FDA for approval. Allow chemicals to be added to food for two years after the FDA determines they are no longer safe, unless there is a severe and imminent risk of harm. “I did not think it was possible to make our food system even weaker, but this proposal does it,” said Melanie Benesh, the Environmental Working Group’s vice president for government affairs.Undermining food safetyUnder current law, chemical companies – not the FDA – decide whether a food chemical is safe. Since 2000, almost all new chemicals – nearly 99% –  have come onto the market through the GRAS loophole, an EWG analysis found. Currently, many though not all chemical companies wanting to bring a new chemical onto the market submit a GRAS notice to the FDA, and the FDA responds with a “no questions” letter. The FRESH and Affordable Act would undermine this already weak system by reducing the information food chemical companies must provide to the FDA and by enlisting industry-funded expert panels to deem food chemicals safe  as long as they are added to an FDA database. Experts could continue to have conflicts of interest as long as the divided loyalties are “managed.”“Blocking state action and further weakening FDA review of chemicals is the food industry’s dream come true: no state regulation, no federal regulation, no problem,” Benesh said.Making the system worseIn the absence of federal action, states have led the way, banning toxic chemicals linked to cancer and other health harms. “We need the FDA to ensure the safety of food chemicals, but this industry proposal would make our current system even worse,” Benesh said.“In addition to allowing new chemicals to be added to food without FDA review, the FDA does not regularly reconsider the safety of the chemicals we’re already eating,” she said. But the industry bill will not require the FDA to review a single food chemical for safety. “The funding proposed by this bill is a fig leaf,” she said. “This proposal will make our food less safe, not safer, by letting industry experts, not the experts we can trust, decide whether new food chemicals are safe and by failing to make sure the chemicals we’re already eating are safe. “Every parent should be outraged that the food brands that want their trust propose leaving them with no protection from toxic chemicals in the food they serve their families. Allowing chemicals linked to cancer to be added to food without FDA approval – or without even sharing basic information with the FDA – will not make America healthy.” ###The Environmental Working Group (EWG) is a nonprofit, non-partisan organization that empowers people to live healthier lives in a healthier environment. Through research, advocacy and unique education tools, EWG drives consumer choice and civic action. Areas of Focus Food Food Chemicals Press Contact Iris Myers iris@ewg.org (202) 939-9126 April 22, 2026

Once again, we honor Earth Day by sharing some amazing photos celebrating the beauty and magic of our planet, as captured by the Columbia community.

Greeshma Gadikota and her team explore how materials that might otherwise be landfilled can be transformed into products needed for solar energy and other critical technologies.

6 reasons to reject the bad House farm bill Anthony Lacey April 21, 2026 Next week, House lawmakers will vote on the farm bill, which sets food and farm policy. The partisan House farm bill proposed by Agriculture Committee Republicans would fail to help family farmers, lock in historic cuts to the nation’s biggest anti-hunger program, cut regenerative agriculture programs, weaken safeguards against pesticides, and roll back animal welfare and other environmental protections. It would also do nothing to address food prices or food safety or support healthy diets – priority issues – or protect the people who feed us. No wonder groups fighting to support family farms, hungry people, farm and food workers, public health and farm animals are united in their opposition. The farm bill has not been renewed since 2018 and may not be reconsidered until 2032 or later. The upcoming debate over the bill is a rare opportunity to push for resetting policies that currently mostly benefit the largest, most successful farm businesses and do little or nothing for the rest of us. A good farm bill would ensure that family farmers are supported and that hungry people have enough to eat, that we invest in regenerative agriculture, protect the people who feed us, and ensure that food is safe, healthy and affordable. A bad farm bill, like the House Republicans’ plan, would enshrine the status quo. Here are six reasons members of Congress should reject the bad bill that will be considered next week. The bill:Fails to feed hungry people. Last year, the Republican Congress passed the biggest cut ever to anti-hunger programs, but the partisan House farm bill does nothing to help people struggling simply to have enough to eat. Fails family farms. More than 100,000 family farms have gone out of business in recent years, and President Donald Trump’s tariffs and wars have made farm inputs more expensive, worsening the problem. But the partisan House farm bill will do nothing to help our family farms, including those owned by young farmers.Cuts regenerative agriculture funding. Regenerative agriculture programs help farmers adopt practices like cover crops – popular Agriculture Department programs that are badly oversubscribed. But the partisan House farm bill would cut these programs’ funding for farmers by more than $1 billion.Weakens pesticide protections. Pesticides can threaten our health, especially our children’s health. But the partisan House farm bill would repeal local pesticide protections, especially safeguards near schools and parks. It would also grant legal immunity to pesticide companies.Weakens animal welfare protections. State laws ensure that farm animals are raised humanely. But the partisan House farm bill would repeal state farm animal welfare laws. Does nothing to address food prices or food safety. The partisan House bill takes no action to address food prices and food safety, support healthy diets or protect the people who feed us. It also fails to fund access to healthy food.  Areas of Focus Food Farming & Agriculture Pesticides Authors Scott Faber April 21, 2026

Three Climate School experts weigh in on the success of New York City's congestion pricing program.