Friends of the Earth Action applauds Buttigieg’s call for antitrust reform, urges him to join the fight against corporate ag monopolies

WASHINGTON – Presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg released a plan today to help protect the food and agriculture sector.

In response, Tiffany Finck-Haynes, pesticides and pollinators program manager at Friends of the Earth Action, issued the following statement:

Friends of the Earth Action is pleased to see Pete Buttigieg recognize that we must strengthen antitrust enforcement and protect farmers’ rights to seeds. Mayor Buttigieg is correct that we need to expand worker protections and encourage farmers to transition to agricultural practices that will help protect the environment. 

Unfortunately, his plan doesn’t do enough to stop the corporate agriculture industry from further destroying our food system and exacerbating the climate crisis. We urge Mayor Buttigieg to support a moratorium on mega mergers in the agriculture sector, break up existing Big Ag monopolies, and support farmers in the rapid adoption of organic and agroecological practices. 

Recently, Friends of the Earth Action released an opinion piece that compares where some of the top 2020 candidates land on key food and agriculture issues.

Contact: Erin Jensen, (727) 504-7163, ejensen@foe.org