Farming

The food we produce and the way we produce it has profound effects—good or bad—on our health, quality of life and the environment. On these pages you will learn what EWG is doing to protect your health and environment while ensuring a sustainable future for America’s working farms and ranches.
Conservation

Farmers can do more than producing food and fiber. They can also produce clean air, clean water, and abundant habitat for wildlife. But farm policies are doing too little to reward good stewardship and too much to underwrite unsustainable crop and animal production by the largest and most successful farm businesses.
Subsidies

EWG’s renowned farm subsidy database reveals that taxpayer support goes mostly to large, profitable operations, not to sustainable family farms that truly need the help. We’re working to change a badly broken system.
Food

Food should be good for you. But some foods aren’t. Pesticides are sprayed on millions of acres every year and some of them end up on your food. Our broken farm subsidy system encourages over production of the wrong food. EWG is pushing for better policy and more sustainable ways of farming that produce healthy food in a healthy environment.
Water

Nothing is more important to your health and quality of life than safe drinking water and clean streams and lakes. Across the country, pollution from farms is one of the primary reasons water is no longer clean or safe. Agriculture is the leading source of pollution of rivers and streams surveyed by U.S. government experts, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Thankfully, if we make simple changes in the way we farm, we can take a big step toward clean water.

Our Most Recent Stories

EWG keeps you up to date with analysis of the latest news, interviews with experts and more.

Low-Cost Solutions Can Clean Up Farms’ Toxic Water Pollution

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Low-tech, low-cost prairie strips on farms – buffers of grass, trees or other permanent vegetation planted along the banks of rivers, streams, lakes and other waterways – can reduce toxic farm pollution runoff, clean up drinking water and reduce water bills for consumers, according to a recent analysis by the Union of Concerned Scientists .

Scathing Internal Report Says EPA Failed to Review Corn Ethanol’s Environmental Effects

Friday, August 19, 2016

The EPA has failed to determine whether the Renewable Fuel Standard, a so-called environmental policy that’s costing American taxpayers $1 billion to $2 billion a year, has a net benefit on the environment or public health. That’s the finding of a searing report released yesterday by the EPA’s own Inspector General.

Illegal Herbicide Use on Monsanto GMOs Spurs Bitter Complaints

Thursday, August 18, 2016

Remember when we told you that some farmers were illegally spraying the herbicide dicamba on Monsanto’s new GMO crops ? Well, the situation is getting worse.

Unregulated Farm Pollution Dirties Calif. Air and Water

Friday, August 12, 2016

A study released this week by the University of California, Davis, found that farming is the biggest source of nitrogen pollution in California , contributing harmful pollutants to the state’s air and water.

No Gold Medals for U.S. Water Quality

Thursday, August 11, 2016

If you have been glued to your television this week watching coverage of the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, like I have, then you’ve undoubtedly noticed that the Olympic diving pool has turned green! At first, organizers blamed the green invasion on algae . And now they are blaming the green hue on a chemical imbalance in the pool. But as we wait for the final verdict, the green-colored pools may hit a little too close to home for many Americans watching at home.