This story was originally published by Canary Media and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.

Is Frito-Lay categorically refusing to buy potatoes grown on farmland that has hosted solar installations? No, the company says.

That hasn’t stopped lawmakers in Michigan and Pennsylvania from spreading the false claim about one of the biggest purchasers of potatoes in the country.

In January, Michigan Republican state Rep. Cam Cavitt posted a 51-second clip to Facebook labeled ​“Solar Farm SECRET.” In the segment, he claimed that farmers in his district couldn’t grow potatoes on land where solar developments were sited.

“Frito [Frito-Lay] did the same with the potato growers up by us,” fellow Michigan Republican Rep. Dave Prestin told Cavitt in the clip. ​“Any field that had solar panels installed on it will never be allowed to grow potatoes for human consumption due to the leaching.”

More than 1 million people viewed that video. Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Cris Dush shared it and said he wanted ​“cash bond guaranteeing restoration” of the soil after a solar development was removed. ​“When Frito Lay refuses to accept potatoes from farms that had solar arrays we should all sit up and take notice!” he wrote.

“Raising these claims about solar could prevent farmers from diversifying their income stream and adding a really stable source of income.”

PepsiCo, which owns Frito-Lay, told Canary Media that the company ​“has not issued blanket guidance to growers that fields with solar installations will not be accepted.”

Nor is there any published evidence that solar farms have a negative impact on potato farming, according to experts consulted for this story. On the contrary, there is agrivoltaics research showing that potatoes—and many other crops—can benefit from growing alongside shade-making solar panels.

Nevertheless, this false claim about solar is gaining some traction. Like other forms of misinformation about renewables, it helps fuel local pushback to proposed energy installations.

The claim comes amid a broader wave of opposition to building solar arrays on farmland.

As energy developers look to build more solar installations to meet climate goals and fast-rising electricity demand in the U.S., more and more projects are being proposed on flat........

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