The Xerces Society writes:

“You can help pollinators significantly by growing a diversity of native plants in your space. Our regional native plant lists, though not exhaustive, highlight species that have been shown to provide a number of benefits to a diversity of pollinators. These native plants can be grown across rural and urban landscapes to create new pollinator habitat or to enhance existing habitat.

Our plant lists include key flowering plants that provide pollinators with nectar and pollen. We also highlight host plants for caterpillars of butterflies and moths, plants that provide nest sites or nesting materials for above-ground nesting bees, and plants that support specialist bees that require pollen from certain plants. Our lists also note those plants that support beneficial insects such as predatory or parasitoid insects that help to control pests of ornamental and crop plants.”

Find plants in your state

Pollinator Conservation Resource Center

Give Bees a Chance: Go Organic!

Are your kids in grades 3-6? Learn all about the different pollinators and the services they provide with Nature’s Partners Comprehensive Pollinator Curriculum HERE!

Ben Taub writes for IFL Science:

“Growing burgers and steaks from cultured cells may be seen as the future of the meat industry, but a new analysis indicates that the mass-production of lab-grown meat using current technologies could be considerably worse for the environment than real beef. At present, animal cell-based meat (ACBM) is only produced at a very small scale and at an economic loss, although the as yet un-peer-reviewed study suggests that scaling up the process could release between four and 25 times more emissions than the global beef industry.

According to the study authors, “[billions of] investment dollars have specifically been allocated to [the ACBM] sector with the thesis that this product will be more environmentally friendly than beef.” However, while it’s true that lab-grown meat eliminates the land, water, and antibiotic requirements of cattle raising, the researchers explain that much of the interest in cultured meat has been driven by inaccurate analyses of carbon emissions.”

Learn more about the high environment costs of lab grown meat

We need real farms, not fake food!

We at OCA, like millions of Americans, as well as organic consumers and farmers across the world, are ready for a New Morning. We yearn to wake up and move beyond our daily nightmares—endless wars, bioweapons, vaccine profiteering, genetic manipulation, technocratic dehumanization, elite domination, political polarization, and degenerate/toxic food, farming, and land use.

We firmly believe that a New Morning is within our reach. As close as the knives and forks in our hands, the soil under our feet, our computers and phones to communicate and mobilize, our wallets and purchasing power, and our local public squares and voting booths. We have the power to wage a peaceful, non-violent, but world changing revolution that is regenerative, healthy, equitable, and organic. But we must become more than spectators. We must all participate in revitalizing our culture, our politics, our food and our health. To defeat the powerful forces of greed and evil, we must join together, raise our voices, and keep our eyes on the prize: an organic and regenerative future of peace, freedom, and justice.

We need your help to move forward in a new Grassroots Rising.

If you can afford to make a donation, please help us out.

Make a tax-deductible donation to Organic Consumers Association, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit

Support Citizens Regeneration Lobby, OCA’s 501(c)(4) lobbying arm (not tax-deductible)

Make a tax-deductible donation to Regeneration International, our international sister organization

Click here for more ways to support our work

Thank you to our 300,000 email subscribers and two million social media followers (OCA, Millions Against Monsanto, Regeneration International, Via Organica) who forward and share our information with friends and contacts.

Please tell everyone you know to sign up for the free Organic Bytes weekly newsletter, and the monthly newsletter of Regeneration International

From André Leu, Regeneration International’s International Director:

“Ronnie Cummins was a giant of a person. He had an aura that lit up the room and a command of language that would enthusiastically inspire audiences. He was the ultimate organizer with networking skills and bringing people together to fight for important causes – peace, fairness, organic and regenerative food and farming, non-GMOs, indigenous rights, democratic populism, climate, natural health, and others. He could unite different groups and inspire them to organize for these causes. I saw this at the beginning of Regeneration International (RI) when he funded people from all over the world to come to Costa Rica for our formation meeting and then to Paris for the UN Climate Change meeting in 2015. His role was essential in getting networks to spread the messages about regenerating our food and farming systems and why it started from being unknown in 2014 to become a global movement in the news every day. Ronnie saw that the purpose of democratic populism was to empower and make a better life for all the people and our planet. He had a strong sense of the joy of life and liked to party, play guitar and socialize. From him, I learned: “Make the revolution fun!” – André Leu

Last month, we lost Ronnie due to cancer complications, but we will carry his legacy forward and continue this fight. Here is a message from RI’s Steering Committee members André Leu, Vandana Shiva, and Reginaldo Haslett-Marroquin in his honor.”

Watch the Video

Analysis by Dr. Joseph Mercola:

“I’ve often marveled at the effectiveness of modern propaganda. Part of what makes it so effective is the availability of technology, from social media and search engines to large language model artificial intelligence. OpenAI’s ChatGPT has taken the world by storm and companies across a range of industries are already talking about replacing large numbers of white collar workers with AI.

This, even though there are serious problems with this technology. For example, we’re finding chatbots have a tendency to lie and fantasize. Researchers are calling these instances “hallucinations.” Basically, the AI is concocting a fantasy based on the information available and reciting it as fact. And that’s in addition to the bias that can be built in by programmers. So, while it’s an incredibly exciting technology, we cannot be naïve about its risks.

One obvious risk is that state-endorsed propaganda can become the only information available to people, as this technology starts monopolizing online searches and virtual assistants.
There won’t be a multitude of answers anymore. There will only be one, and he who controls the AI will have the power to control the beliefs of the entire world. Of course, yet another risk is that no one will be able to control it and the AI will control itself. I don’t know which might be worse.”

Read more: Dr Mercola’s interview with investigative journalist James Corbett

Naomi Klein: AI Machines Aren’t ‘Hallucinating’. But Their Makers Are

Sara Farley writes for Food Tank:

“The rubber in the sole of your shoe may have a story to tell. Last month, the first shoes sourced with Regenerative Outcome Verified – ROV™ rubber reached the global market. The rubber comes from a small corner of Thailand, where rubber-tappers and farmers are transforming a monoculture rubber plantation into a diverse canopy. Now, farmers also grow mango, coconut, turmeric and a host of other crops that are enriching the soil, raising incomes, improving nutrition and forming a protective canopy that shields people and plants from the rising heat of climate change.

The ROV™ standard is the result of a cutting-edge partnership between the farmer-led Regenerative Rubber Alliance in Thailand, the Timberland company, Terra Genesis, a regenerative design and development firm, and Smallholder Data Services. It is one example of the regenerative agriculture movement that is gaining traction among farmers, brands and the global climate change community.

But to unleash the potential of regenerative agriculture, farmers, Indigenous Peoples and other land stewards must be front and center in articulating a vision and setting direction for regenerative agriculture.”

Read more: Without Farmers at the Center, Regenerative Agriculture Will Be a Slogan Not a Solution

Transitioning to regenerative agriculture will produce healthier food, build soil fertility, restore depleted groundwater, and build local resilience and food security. Regenerative agriculture is a way forward to restore the health of people and the planet.

Learn more about regenerative agriculture here

Find your local farmers on the Regenerative Farm Map

Ultimately, what we learn about the origins of COVID-19 is less important than what we do about it.

There is legislation in Congress that can pass that would not only hold those responsible accountable but also help to prevent a future pandemic, including but not limited to:

Institute a ban on conducting and funding any work that includes gain-of-function research until an international and legally binding standard is set, and only where that standard is verifiably being followed.

Americans agree. Nearly 70,000 people have signed this petition to ban gain-of-function research.

TAKE ACTION: Click here to send your U.S. Senators and Representative a copy of the petition.

As we have repeatedly emphasized over the past decade, we cannot hope to solve the climate, human health, environmental, immigration, financial, and rural economic crisis without organic and regenerative food, farming, and land use becoming the norm (along with alternative energy, conservation, and natural health practices), rather than just the alternative.

According to numerous polls and focus groups, the majority of Americans already understand that organic farming and (nutrient-dense, fresh, home-cooked, organic) food is better for your health. A growing number also understand that organic and regenerative farming, animal husbandry, and land use are healthier and more humane for farm animals and better for the climate (reducing emissions, naturally sequestering excess atmospheric carbon) and the planet (reducing pollution, preserving and regenerating biodiversity).

The unavoidable problem is that the majority of people are economically stressed and time-constrained, and/or lacking in cooking skills. Consumers routinely “cut corners” by purchasing cheaper, highly-processed, non-organic food or by eating out (or ordering home delivery) in fast food chains, or conventional restaurants. Sixty percent of the diet of Americans is composed of highly-processed food, laced with excess sugar, bad fats (high in Omega-6, low in Omega-3), pesticides, synthetic ingredients, preservatives, GMOs, and toxic vegetable oils.

Read more about the game-changing strategy for organizing communities to preserve their lands and eco-systems

From ANH-USA:

“Once again, the government is trying to limit access to the information we have about the benefits of natural products. The FTC sent letters to 670 companies, including those selling dietary supplements, homeopathic products, and functional foods, warning them that if they make claims without proper scientific substantiation, they will face large civil penalties—up to $50,120 per violation. This unprecedented move is a warning shot to the natural health industry signaling that we’re entering a new era of enforcement in which the government will be even more aggressive than it has been in censoring speech about the benefits of natural products. We must push back.

This is a complex issue that is quite technical, but what we’re facing is a government-led campaign to conceal the remarkable truth about the healing and disease-preventing powers of foods and nutrients, ultimately misleading the public so that they spend their money on drugs rather than natural supplements.

ANH-USA supports legislation that would allow the free flow of information about supplements by allowing companies to cite peer-reviewed studies demonstrating health benefits. Help us push back against the government’s censorship campaign and support free speech!”

Action Alert! Write to Congress, telling them to stop the FTC’s censorship campaign and to support the free flow of information about supplements. Please send your message immediately.

Oppose the FTC’s Massive Censorship Campaign

The Guardian reports:

“Talking of weeds, it’s time we ditched the word altogether. Even the Chelsea flower show is rebranding weeds as “hero plants”. Perhaps we can talk of them as common folk or elders (they’ve been around a lot longer than us), because every weed in your garden is trying to tell you something very important.

The more one type dominates, the louder the sermon is. Dandelions are saying your soil is a little compact, low on surface nutrients, particularly calcium and potassium; nettles tell you there is too much surface nitrogen (not as good as it sounds). A flurry of annual weeds – bittercress, chickweed and mouse weeds – say your soil is dominated by bacteria, while thistles, docks, green alkanets and comfrey are another sign that the surface is a little low on nutrients and only those with long tap roots to mine the sub-soil layer can thrive. Brambles tend to proliferate where there is excessive nitrogen, but the land has been left alone so they can take better hold. There is some evidence, though, that they have a potential role in the natural regeneration of tree seedlings: deer won’t browse in the middle of a bramble thicket and in a woodland this means the tree seedlings won’t get nibbled, while the mycorrhizal fungi will tap into the woodland network to boost the seedlings with enough growth to make it up and out of the thicket.”

Read Alys Fowler’s guide to laid-back gardening

Find more information in OCA’s Cook Organic Not The Planet campaign

From the Institute for Responsible Technology:

Genetically modified (GM) microbes can wreak havoc. They may travel, mutate, and swap genes with other microbes, impacting microbial communities in unpredictable ways. Since microbiomes are essential for living systems, GM microbes may promote disease, damage, or collapse ecosystems, and put our food supply at risk.

Unless we act, millions of varieties will flood our ecosystem as a result of:

• Companies releasing GM microbes on millions of acres;
• CRISPR gene editing labs – now less than $2,000 – becoming increasingly accessible and promoted by schools and businesses; and
• Thousands of “synbio” production facilities that use GM bacteria, yeast, and algae producing products for food, medicine, and industry.

The USDA is mandated to regulate modified microorganisms that “can directly or indirectly injure, cause damage to, or cause disease in a plant or plant product.” Based on up-to-date research on gene flow and microbiomes, virtually all GM microbes fit this description.
The USDA, however, has narrowed its regulatory focus to just a tiny number of GM microbes, and even these are not subject to rigorous requirements. This version of “Don’t ask, don’t tell” endangers us all. It is well illustrated in the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Draft Guide for Submitting Permit Applications for Microorganisms Developed Using Genetic Engineering.

TAKE ACTION: Add your name to the comments by May 21

Tatum McConnell for Environmental Health News writes:

“The outdoor footwear company KEEN made a discovery about their shoes in 2014: they were rife with stain- and water-resistant chemicals known to harm human health called PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals.”

Laces, buckles, interior textiles and more were receiving a PFAS treatment before becoming part of a sandal or hiking boot.

“PFAS were being applied to styles that were meant to go in the water, and a water shoe doesn’t need to be waterproof,” Lauren Hood, KEEN sustainability manager, told Environmental Health News (EHN).

The company started by asking suppliers to stop using unnecessary PFAS, which removed about 65% of this type of chemicals in their products. It took four years for KEEN to phase out PFAS in all products, through finding and testing chemical water-proofing alternatives.

Now apparel companies will need to follow KEEN’s example to comply with upcoming bans on PFAS in consumer products, including outdoor clothing, passed in at least three U.S. states.”

Read more about the PFAS-free ripple effect

Our food and groundwater is contaminated with PFAS: Take Action!

Argentina: GMO Agricultural Model “Damages Health, Generates Illness and Death”

New Study Shows Dangers of Childhood Exposure To Weed Killer

‘One of the Corporate Scandals of Our Times’: Shell Posts Record $10 Billion in Profits

Will Meat Be Banned?

Why Economic Justice for Indigenous Groups Is Vital to Saving Endangered Species

This Just Exposed Pfizer | Lee Fang’s Exclusive Bombshell Report

Southern Minnesota Farmer Pleads Guilty in Multimillion Organic Grain Fraud Scheme

Green Groups Relieved as Release of Genetically Engineered Mosquitoes Averted in California

Historical Perspectives on Food System Transformation

In ‘Cancer Alley’, US Chemical Giants Mount Campaign Against Grassroots Organizers

Farm Bill Chairman Drinks Gatorade After Stroke: Politico’s are Clueless About Nutrition, Health

The Wild Psychedelic Origins of Indigenous Mystical Rites — As Revealed by Archaeology