The Environmental Working Group announced on Thursday that a group of food and agriculture policy leaders are forming a new nonprofit that “for the first time will hold lawmakers in Congress accountable” for important votes that impact food and agriculture policy.
According to EWG, the new group will track congressional votes on a broad range of issues, including food safety, farm subsidies, nutrition assistance, farm animal welfare, fisheries management, organic and local food, farm and food worker justice, and the impacts of food and farm policies on the environment.
The new 501c(4) organization will publish the National Food Policy Scorecard, the first of its kind, in the fall of 2012.
The scorecard will use votes cast during the 112th Congress, including amendments proposed to the farm bill currently under consideration by the Senate.
EWG said that “national leaders engaged in legislative efforts to address America’s broken food and agriculture system are founding the organization,” but declined to list the groups participating.
The nonprofit will formally launch later this year, according to EWG.