Midwest
EWG’s mission is to empower people to live healthier lives in a healthier environment. In the Midwest we pursue our mission by working to move agriculture in a more sustainable direction. Farmland dominates the landscape and watersheds in the Midwest. The way that land is used and managed has profound effects on our health through the water we drink and the food we eat.
Farming can actually make water cleaner and the environment healthier. Farms doing exactly that are scattered across the Midwest. We bring a unique combination of remote-sensing, big data and landscape analysis to bear to build pressure to change policy to heal the damage done by poor farming practices and to build excitement about how much healthier the environment could be through often simple changes in the way we farm.
As farmers struggle with a plummeting farm economy in the wake of President Trump’s trade war, the administration is rushing to send a second round of cash payments – reportedly totaling $15 billion to $20 billion – to farmers across the nation.
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EWG News Roundup (5/17): Here’s some news you can use going into the weekend.
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In the summer, millions of lush green acres of corn and soybeans blanket the Midwest. Come fall, many harvesters scrape crop fields until they are black and barren, exposing large swaths of vulnerable land to heavy rains, melting snow and powerful winds. Until the following year’s planting, soils laden with toxic farm chemicals are left to wash downstream, where they may contaminate sources of drinking water
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Des Moines Water Works has struggled for years to provide safe drinking water to its customers, battling nitrate contamination from upstream farms. But contamination from agricultural practices may be even worse for the estimated 230,000 to 290,000 Iowans whose drinking water comes from private wells, an investigation by Environmental Working Group and Iowa Environmental Council finds.
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Private wells across Iowa are contaminated with unsafe levels of two agricultural contaminants, according to an investigation by the Environmental Working Group and the Iowa Environmental Council.
Read MoreThe major role that rural voters played in recent elections has amped up the focus on farm country from politicians and candidates on both sides of the aisle. In the runup to 2020, presidential hopefuls are once again flocking to Iowa, home of the crucial first-in-the-nation caucuses.
Read MoreEWG News Roundup (4/12): Here’s some news you can use going into the weekend.
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Outbreaks of toxic algae in U.S. waterways usually happen in warmer months. But in a sign that the problem is growing worse, algae blooms were reported in December in Michigan and Washington state, with another reported in Florida during the first days of spring.
Read MoreIn the wake of President Trump’s tariffs, agriculture interests are claiming that the farm economy is crashing. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said recently that farm debt is rising to levels not seen since the dark days of the 1980s, when thousands of farmers went bankrupt.
Read MoreAnother 12 months is just about in the books. It was full of moments that impacted health and the environment in a variety of ways. From clean water to Kavanaugh, from Pruitt to “poop lagoons,” EWG has been with you every step of the way, keeping you in the know. As the year comes to a close, it’s time to look back at the most popular stories.
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Farm pollution poses a serious threat to drinking water supplies, and too much federal conservation spending has been squandered. Fortunately, the 2018 Farm Bill includes important reforms that will make clean drinking water a priority.
Read MoreScott Faber, senior vice president of government affairs for the Environmental Working Group, issued the following statement today following final passage of the farm bill by Congress.
Read MoreScott Faber, senior vice president of government affairs for the Environmental Working Group, issued the following statement today on Congress’ final farm bill.
Read MoreNearly 20,000 people living in the nation’s 50 largest cities received federal farm subsidies in 2017, according to a new EWG analysis.
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America has a serious problem with nitrate contamination of drinking water – and it is most severe in the small communities that can least afford to fix it.
Read MoreHere are six ways the bill snubs President Trump’s February budget request.
Read MoreEvery federal farm bill is a chance to feed hungry Americans, build healthier diets, support family farmers and reduce farm pollution
Read MoreThe 1985 federal farm bill created a conservation compact between farmers and taxpayers. In return for generous farm subsidies, farmers agreed to take steps to cut erosion and polluted runoff from their most vulnerable cropland, and to not drain wetlands unless they mitigated the loss.
Read MoreA new report from the Environmental Working Group reveals that the U.S. Department of Agriculture is failing to enforce a key farm bill provision, with dire consequences for drinking water in the Midwest.
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