Press & Appearances
King Corn Full Documentary
King Corn is a feature documentary about two friends, one acre of corn, and the subsidized crop that drives our fast-food nation.
2017 Food Tank Summit Keynote
Ken spoke about the way forward for the food movement.
The Devil We Know
The Devil We Know is an investigative documentary of health hazards from Teflon.
10 Americans
Ken shares shocking information about how babies are born pre-polluted with as many as 300 industrial chemicals in their bodies.
60 Minutes on Farm Subsidies
Small, medium-sized farmers on edge while trade war bailout money goes to some surprising recipients
Impact, Insights & Accountability
Featured Topics & Engagements
Contact Ken Cook for speaking engagements, appearances or writing contributions:
[email protected]
Featured Topics
- The role popular culture plays in shaping policy
- The broken U.S. food system
- Solar energy in California: Why the people who need tax credits the most aren’t getting them
- The problems with pesticides
- The future of the environmental movement – what needs to change (and what shouldn’t)
- When the federal government can’t – or won’t – reform broken policies, the states can and do
- Why we need MORE from U.S. government agencies – more oversight, more research, more accountability – not less
Featured Engagements
2024 EMA Impact Summit
How Toxic Chemicals in Food and Products Damage Our Health
60 Minutes
Farm Subsidies
Rich Roll
The Shocking Truth About Our Food, Water, And Consumer Products
The Skinny Confidential Him & Her Podcast
How To Eliminate Toxic Ingredients & Products From Your Life
Kimberly Snyder Feel Good Podcast
Avoiding Forever Chemicals & Other Toxins
Mona-Vated With Mona Vand
EWG’s Fight Against Harmful Chemicals: Insights from Ken Cook
Publications & News Outlets
Contributions by Ken Cook
E.P.A. Will Make Polluters Pay to Clean Up Two ‘Forever Chemicals’
“It’s long past time for the polluters who poisoned all of us to be held responsible,” said Ken Cook, president of the Environmental Working Group, an advocacy organization. “This comes too late for all the people who were poisoned without their knowledge or consent and have paid the price for one of the greatest environmental crimes in history. But today’s designation of PFOA and PFOS as hazardous substances is the first step to bring justice to those who have been harmed.”
As electricity demand increases, California regulators OK change to how power bills are calculated
“If you wanted to design a policy instrument that would send the signal that conservation doesn’t count, this would be it,” said Ken Cook, president of the Environmental Working Group.
Newsom signs bill to make California first state in nation to ban ‘toxic’ food additives
“This is a milestone in food safety, and California is once again leading the nation,” said Ken Cook, president of the Environmental Working Group, which co-sponsored the bill along with Consumer Reports.
Why are hundreds of people in big cities receiving bailout money meant for farmers?
“These payments aren’t just going to farmers who are out there climbing up on a tractor every morning. These payments are going to people who are living in the middle of New York City because they happen to have an ownership interest in the farm.”
Scott Pruitt EPA replacement Andrew Wheeler won’t be any better for the environment, green groups say
Ken Cook, president of the Environmental Working Group, deemed Pruitt “the worst head of the agency in its 48-year history.”
Hoping to shore up support, Trump directs more money to farmers
“For the first time in history, a president has repeatedly usurped congressional authority in order to personally dispense tens of billions of dollars in federal farm subsidy payments that would not otherwise have been paid,” Ken Cook said. “This is an authoritarian power grab used to buy political support from voters who are essential to his re-election.”
EPA is taking more advice from industry — and ignoring its own scientists
What stands out in this administration is the overt way in which career staff, especially scientists, are viewed as unfriendly or on the other side,” said Ken Cook, president of the nonprofit Environmental Working Group. “He’s just stiff-arming the entire scientific process.”
Trump touts environment record, green groups scoff
What stands out in this administration is the overt way in which career staff, especially scientists, are viewed as unfriendly or on the other side,” said Ken Cook, president of the nonprofit Environmental Working Group. “He’s just stiff-arming the entire scientific process.”
How PG&E and other California utilities are trying to kill rooftop solar
This is an op-ed from Ken that ran in the opinion page of the SF Chronicle
New study claims 43 states expose millions to dangerous chemical in drinking water
“The Environmental Protection Agency has utterly failed to address PFAS with the seriousness this crisis demands, leaving local communities and states to grapple with a complex problem rooted in the failure of the federal chemical regulatory system,” said Ken Cook
Consumer groups demand GMO labeling, question food safety
“The GMO issue is finally getting traction in the U.S., in the form of an overwhelming preference for labeling among consumers across the political spectrum,” said Ken Cook, president of the Environmental Working Group, a non-profit public health and environment advocacy organization.
Toxic ‘forever chemicals’ found in drinking water throughout US
“We don’t know how long these communities have been drinking PFAS-contaminated water, but we do know that these chemicals have been used and discharged all across the country for years,” said EWG President and co-founder Ken Cook
New rating systems tells you exactly what’s in your food
Things that get bad scores are breakfast cereal, frozen pizza and even some meats. More positive scores were given to foods higher in protein, fiber, omega-3s, and minimal processing—foods “closer to what you might find in your kitchen than what you might find in a chemical plant,” said Ken Cook, EWG’s president and cofounder.
