Rising Cancer Rates in Corn Belt Highlight Big Agriculture’s Lack of Transparency
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact: Ryon Harms, [email protected], (310) 730-9407
El Cerrito, California — October 29, 2025 — A recent Washington Post investigation revealed a significant increase in cancer rates among young adults across the Corn Belt. The study underscores risks highlighted by a recent report and shareholder resolutions by As You Sow urging large food companies to assess and disclose pesticide and fertilizer use that not only makes farming communities and farm workers sick, but pollutes water and air, harms biodiversity, and reduces the resiliency of the American food system.
The Washington Post analysis found that since 2015, cancer rates among individuals ages 15 to 49 in the nation’s leading corn-producing states are 5% higher than the national average. The data reveals that the risk of skin cancer is 35 percent higher for men and 66 percent higher for women compared with peers in other states. Researchers point to nitrate-laced groundwater, high radon exposure, and widespread pesticide use — including glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup — as major environmental drivers of these alarming trends.
“Over the past decade, shareholders have been raising warning flags for food companies that the unnecessary use of chemical intensive farming poses a range of serious health risks,” said Danielle Fugere, President of As You Sow. “Rather than adopt known solutions like regenerative agriculture, companies are opting to continue the status quo. More than ever, shareholders and the American people deserve clear, measurable accountability.”
“How many more lives will harmed before agricultural companies act?” asked Andrew Behar, CEO of As You Sow. “It’s long past time for them to show investors and consumers that they’re making progress to adopt known solutions.”
With Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds allocating $1 million to establish a research team investigating the underlying causes of the state's growing cancer rates, and Bayer’s recent legislative defeat in a bill seeking legal protection from Roundup-related cancer lawsuits, the urgency for corporate accountability has never been greater.
“Pesticide reduction is a measurable, actionable step that benefits both farmers and public health,” said Cailin Dendas, Senior Environmental Health Coordinator at As You Sow. “Corporations that fail to disclose and make progress on this issue are unnecessarily exposing shareholders to avoidable and growing risk.”
Through its Environmental Health program, As You Sow and partner investors continue to engage major food companies, agrochemical producers, and retailers to accelerate pesticide transparency and reduction, support regenerative practices grounded in measurable outcomes, and protect communities from toxic exposures that may contribute to rising cancer and other health and environmental harms. Earlier this month, 28% of General Mills shareholders supported an As You Sow–led resolution calling for disclosure of pesticide reductions achieved through its regenerative agriculture program.
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As You Sow is the nation’s leading shareholder advocacy organization, promoting environmental and social corporate responsibility through shareholder engagement and values-aligned investing. For more than 30 years, As You Sow has advanced solutions on climate change, ocean plastics, toxins in the food system, biodiversity, and racial justice.
www.asyousow.org