Amara Strande died of liver cancer from exposure to highly toxic fluorinated chemicals known as PFAS contaminating the groundwater in her St. Paul suburb Maplewood where PFAS manufacturer 3M had been dumping its waste since the 1950s. She was just 20 years old.

PFAS are “forever chemicals” used in a variety of products, including waterproof fabric, stain-resistant carpets, nonstick pans, flame retardant furniture, take-out containers, cosmetics and firefighting foam.

Minnesota became the second state in the nation (Maine was first) to ban PFAS when it passed the bill she tirelessly lobbied for until her untimely death, which came to be known as Amara’s Law.

Maine and Minnesota have passed broad bans on products containing PFAS.

Every state in the nation should do the same.

TAKE ACTION and learn more: Tell Your State Legislators to Ban Toxic PFAS!

Watch these three excellent films about troubling history of the companies that profited from PFAS, knowing they were poisoning their employees, communities and customers:

The Devil We Know 

Dark Waters 

Semper Fi Always Faithful 

The heroic people whose stories are told in these films deserve our support.

Also read “Our sewage often becomes fertilizer. Problem is, it’s tainted with PFAS”,  by Barbara Moran for WBUR

Excerpt: “These forever chemicals … cause harm to human health at very, very, very, very low concentrations to the point where there is no safe concentration of PFAS,” said Just Zero’s Laura Orlando. “The logical thing to do is just not spread it all over the place.”

“An annual worldwide celebration of ecological economies, communities, and local food: 

Watch the trailer featuring Vandana Shiva, Jane Goodall, Russell Brand, Brian Eno and more

World Localization Day, on June 21st, celebrates the worldwide localization movement–not only on the day itself, but during the entire month of June. In 2023, for the fourth year in a row, people all over the world will come together to explore the power of localization, and to honor the many initiatives, old and new, that foster ecological economies, thriving communities and healthy local food systems. Stay tuned for 2023 updates and browse past events below.” 

Find events, stories and watch the film Planet Local: A Quiet Revolution

Justin Lewis writes:

“Plant It and They Will Come! 

Do you love butterflies and birds and want to welcome more of them to your yard? Planting native trees and shrubs in your yard is guaranteed to attract our fluttery and feathery friends! 

Did you know that many butterfly (and moth) species use native trees and shrubs as host plants (plants that insect larvae use as a food source) for their caterpillar stage of life? Did you also know that birds rely on those caterpillars as a critical spring and summer food source, especially to feed their young? And did you also know that trees, shrubs, butterflies and birds, when native to an ecosystem, can not only survive together but also thrive? 

Read on to find out how butterflies, birds, trees and shrubs all go together to increase the biodiversity of your backyard!” 

Take Action for Pollinators and Native Plants

In this special episode of Good Vibe Healing, Dr. Henry Ealy of the Energetic Health Institute explains how fasting triggers a cascade of actions within your cells that lead to a healing process called autophagocytosis. This process can even lead to DNA repair through a process called nucleotide excision repair.  

With a topic as complex and confusing as this, we are lucky to have Dr. Ealy to break it all down into a simple and straightforward concept: hunger is healing!

Want a quick introduction? Check Out This 4 Minute Intro to Fasting Clip 

Watch The Full Episode: Good Vibe Healing – Fasting and Autophagocytosis Explained 

Do you want to learn how to harness the healing power of fasting and other key aspects of energetic health and healing? Check out our weekly live show of Good Vibe Healing on Rumble and Rokfin. 

U.S. EPA reports:

“Ecoregions are areas where ecosystems (and the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources) are generally similar. This ecoregion framework is derived from Omernik (1987) and from mapping done in collaboration with EPA regional offices, other Federal agencies, state resource management agencies, and neighboring North American countries. Designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components, ecoregions denote areas of similarity in the mosaic of biotic, abiotic, terrestrial, and aquatic ecosystem components with humans being considered as part of the biota. These regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across Federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernmental organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographic areas (Omernik and Griffith 2014, McMahon et al. 2001). 

Ecoregions are identified by analyzing the patterns and composition of biotic and abiotic phenomena that affect or reflect differences in ecosystem quality and integrity (Omernik 1987, 1995). These phenomena include geology, landforms, soils, vegetation, climate, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another regardless of the hierarchical level.“ 

Find your ecoregion here

Native Plant Societies

Veronica Wells writes on MadameNoire.com:

“While the country may have just caught on to the fact that Juneteenth is important enough to be designated as a federal holiday, Black folks have known since the 1800s that our liberation is always cause for celebration. 

In other words, we’re not new to this, we’re true to this. 

But if you’ve never made a practice of celebrating Juneteenth in your own lives, know that there are some pretty beautiful and meaningful traditions associated with the day that the enslaved folks in Galveston, Texas learned that they were free. 

In many instances there are fireworks, barbecue and the consumption of red foods and drinks. According to an article published by the New York Times last year, in celebration of the holiday, red drinks were said to represent the blood of the ancestors who suffered and died under the institution of slavery in this country.” 

Read more about the tradition’s origins 

We believe that the public is increasingly skeptical of high-tech, genetically engineered “solutions” and is ready to listen to us, more than ever, about the importance of healthy organic food and natural health remedies and practices.

Now is the time to join together, left and right, urban and rural, under the banner of organic and regenerative food, farming, and land use, natural health, and constitutionally based participatory democracy. 

Our goals for 2023 and beyond are clear: shut down the “dual use” bioweapons labs. Stop the weaponizing of pathogens that caused the COVID-19 pandemic. And make organic food-as-medicine, and natural health practices and remedies, the norm, not just the alternative. 

We at OCA want to thank you for your loyalty, support, and engagement.  

Moving forward we will continue our decades-long campaign to educate and mobilize the public. As always we will expose the bad—how our deteriorating public health and chronic disease epidemic is directly related to our degenerative food, farming, and land use practices—while highlighting the good—how organic and local food and natural health practices can resolve our health, environmental, and climate crisis. 

But we need your help to step up our truth telling as we campaign to regenerate our politics, food, farming, and health. 

If you’ve already donated recently, thank you so much for your support. 

If not please consider giving us a donation now. 

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

Order your OCA “Negotiate Don’t Escalate” bumper stickers from our Minnesota office

Click here for more ways to support our work

James Strawbridge writes in his book from Chelsea Green Publishing:  

“Salt is extraordinary. A fundamental, ancient resource used for thousands of years around the world, it is the one essential ingredient that transforms all cooking: elevating flavors from good to great, to unforgettable. In this stunning new cookbook, chef, TV presenter, food photographer, and sustainable living expert James Strawbridge shares with you the fundamentals of this artisan ingredient: from distinctive flavor notes and profiles of different salts found around the world, to brilliantly useful techniques—such as brining, baking, charring, fermenting, and preserving. 

Salt and the Art of Seasoning will show you how to choose the right type of salt for the right type of dish, how to add it at the right time and in the right amount. James shares techniques such as using salt to pickle, cure and ferment as well as making your own flavored or smoked salts to bring out all sorts of previously hidden flavors.” 

Check out Salt and the Art of Seasoning for an unforgettable journey exploring salt’s long role in food throughout the world and human history—while teaching you how to best use this fundamental spice tonight to make your meal sing

Analysis by Dr. Joseph Mercola:

“According to research published in the June 2023 issue of the journal Science, the semi-essential amino acid taurine appears to play an important role in longevity and healthy aging.  

Taurine has long been known to benefit brain and heart health. It’s also needed for healthy muscle function, bile salt formation and antioxidant defenses. It protects your antioxidant status by: 

• Neutralizing hypochlorous acid, a neutrophil oxidant 
• Diminishing the generation of superoxide by the mitochondria 
• Minimizing oxidative stress, including mitochondrial oxidative stress induced by toxins 

Taurine also helps rebuild damaged collagen fibers and can help ease anxiety by increasing glycine and GABA. Taurine is a byproduct of the sulphurous amino acids cysteine and methionine (technically a sulfonic acid), and is only found in animal foods. Examples of taurine-rich foods include seafood, red meat, poultry and dairy products. It’s also available in supplement form.” 

Learn more about how Taurine Impacts Longevity

Dan Kois reports in Slate:

“Since I bought this fairly inexpensive transportation device in 2021, I’ve ridden hundreds upon hundreds of miles, each of them replacing a mile I would once have driven in a car. I’ve taken uncountable trips to the grocery store, and scores of rides to the office or the Metro or to meet friends for a night out. Freed from traffic and parking worries, faced with a ride in the fresh air rather than yet another trip in a car, I go out more. My suburb has come to feel like a place newly worth exploring. 

My e-bike has changed my life. I’m happier, healthier, and more active. My relationship to my community has been completely transformed. 

“The first thing to say about riding an e-bike is that it really does feel like magic. You pedal the same way you’ve been pedaling bikes since you were a kid, but the bike just sails forward, as if a giant hand is pushing you from behind. You’re not going alarmingly fast—my bike has variable speed settings, so you can really cruise at whatever speed you want—but you are going faster than you’d expect, given the modest effort you’re putting into pedaling.” 

Read more about how owning an e-bike could result in a far more active lifestyle

Kavya Beheraj writes for Axios:

“Some stargazers have to travel more than 200 miles to see a sky devoid of light pollution. 

Why it matters: Dark skies are vital for the function of local ecosystems and our understanding of the universe. As light pollution grows each year, truly dark skies might get harder to find. 

By the numbers: The U.S. has over 60 dark sky places certified by the International Dark-Sky Association. Nine are “sanctuaries,” areas of remote wilderness specifically protected for exceptional stargazing. Hundreds more, while not certified, have low-enough light pollution to warrant a visit. 

• Residents of New Jersey, Connecticut and Rhode Island have the farthest average distance to dark skies, while Maine, Utah and Hawaii residents are the closest. 

Under the darkest of skies — when stars are the only source of light — you can even see shadows cast by the Milky Way.” 

Check out the map here

Mexican President Moves to Prioritize Domestic Corn for Tortillas

The Former Dumping Ground That Became a Flourishing Food Ecosystem

What Can the Biden Admin Do to Make Our Food System More Resilient? Make It More Local. 

Movement To Return Land Taken From Black and Indigenous People in the U.S. Gains Momentum

Appreciate Your Local Farmer

The Dirt on Clean Beauty

‘Indigikitchen’ Cooking Show Celebrates Native Foods With Simple Recipes

How Abercrombie & Fitch Used the Outdoors To Sell Clothes

The Climate Crisis Is on Track To Push One-Third of Humanity Out of Its Most Livable Environment

Robert Mondavi Changed Wine. His Grandson Aims to Change Farming.

‘Watermelon and Red Birds’ Offers a Guide to Juneteenth—and Black Celebration Culture 

Pesticide-Coated Seeds Have Got To Go

One Million Human Deaths Linked to Factory Farming, Set to Double by 2050

Gardening May Reduce Risk for Cancer, Improve Mental Health