Organic Bytes
Newsletter #858: The Myths of Safe Pesticides
 

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The Myths of Safe Pesticides

By André Leu, International Director of Regeneration International – Reviewed by Rachel Jagareski:

“In his book, The Myths of Safe Pesticides, André Leu makes a powerful case against using agricultural chemicals. Bolstered by his four decades of farming experience and as president of the International Federation of Organic Agricultural Movements, his passionate, cogent prose dissects commonly held myths trotted out by the chemical industry in defense of their products and points out the harm to human and environmental health by their continued use.

Leu’s analysis of peer-reviewed, published scientific literature about the toxicity of pesticides—materials which he asserts government regulators do not routinely examine, relying instead on unpublished, industry-supplied data—presents some alarming conclusions.

The reader’s unease grows with every chapter as Leu’s evidence mounts. He contends that pesticide regulators use outdated scientific methods and rationales that do not test for synergistic effects of chemicals, toxicity of “inert” ingredients, toxicity of the metabolites created when pesticides degrade, effects on the long-term health of fetuses and growing children, and the insidious effects of small amounts of pesticides in mimicking human hormones. While many of these chapters discuss complex biological and chemical concepts, Leu explains them in easily understandable language, and he deftly integrates text with illustrations and photographs to communicate these ideas further. Readers who want to research certain topics in greater depth are guided by extensive footnotes and bibliographic references.

The concluding chapter has a more hopeful tone, as it highlights some innovative organic farming practices that offer pesticide-free methods to increase crop yields and survive increasing swings in climate extremes.”

Read more

Buy André’s book “The Myths of Safe Pesticides” here

TAKE ACTION: Make Your State the First to Ban Monsanto’s Roundup Weedkiller!

REGENERATION INTERNATIONAL

Dr. André Leu, International Director of Regeneration International

OCA has always been fortunate to have Prof. Dr. André Leu, a founder of our sister organization Regeneration International (RI) as a resource for his expertise in many areas. Since the passing of Ronnie Cummins he has taken on a leadership role for OCA, alongside being International Director of RI. A scientist, farmer, activist, author, and speaker he is one of the worldwide leaders of the organic movement. He was the longest serving head of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) and he continues to advocate tirelessly for regenerative organic agriculture worldwide. Recently we have featured many of his articles on the importance of regeneration for our soils and how we can solve climate change by drawing down the carbon into our soils.

André is an expert on pesticides and we will be sharing some of his work as part of our new campaign “If Only We Knew, We’d Demand Organics.” OCA is excited to put a spot light on his compelling writing and research that he has compiled in the last ten years. This book published by ACRES USA is a powerful way to dig deeper into the understanding of pesticides lurking in the food supply, it will surely make organic consumers and activists more committed than ever to making an organic regenerative food supply more accessible for everyone.

Buy André’s book here

Learn more

HEALTH ISSUES

Why Is Organic Food Essential for the Future of America?

Zen Honeycutt, Moms Across America:

“Across the country, millions of families struggle daily with behavioral, physical, and mental health issues with their children and family members. Over 30% of young couples are bereft because they cannot conceive. One out of two men and one out of two women are expected to get cancer. One in three Americans have fatty liver disorders. I could list the deeply disturbing statistics for days…but you don’t have to look any further, really, than your family members. Every family in America is impacted today by cancer, heart disease, autism, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, IBS, Crohn’s disease, autoimmune disorders, diabetes, obesity, or reproductive and mental health issues. We are in a health crisis. What do all these conditions have in common?

They can all be caused and exacerbated by agrochemicals in the conventional food supply.

The parents who have figured this out and feed their children organic, as featured in numerous books and films such as Jeffery Smith and Amy Hart’s movie Secret Ingredients, see the recovery within days, weeks, or months.”

Read more about why the answer to our health crisis is organic food

HEALTHY LIVING

Therapy Is Great, but Have You Also Tried Making Yogurt?

By Sara Bir, Food and Wine:

“Shopping for yogurt makes me anxious. A lot of overcomplicated things do. Buying yogurt feels like a ridiculous waste of my emotional resources. The yogurt section in the grocery store stretches on and on, filled with tiny containers, each touting its own dessert-y flavor or lack of fat. Back in my days as a consumer of commercial yogurt, for minutes I’d stare at the refrigerated shelves as if my frustration could manifest the one thing I’d come for. All I wanted was plain, whole-milk organic yogurt in a tub — the most basic form of yogurt — and my store didn’t have it. Even when I did bite the bullet and buy yogurt, there was guilt over the tub, made of generally unrecyclable number 5 plastic. I hoarded the empty tubs in my basement in a growing stack. There’s only so many times you can reuse a single-use item, after all.

Maybe eight or nine years ago, the scope of the inconvenience drove me to a solution: I’d make my own. Objectively I can say that my yogurt is the best, something I savor by the spoonful unblemished by accompaniment. The edible rewards alone justify the effort, which is minimal, anyway. Beyond that, it’s the act itself that I cherish. The cyclical nature of making yogurt has given my life a continuity that’s as soothing as its cool whiteness. Yogurt has seen me through cancer, a divorce, and a pandemic. It coaxes me out of my head and into a microbial world I can only understand through observation.”

Read why the practice of making yogurt can be as good for your brain as it is for your body

TRUTH AND TRANSPARENCY

Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics: Corporate Capture of the Nutrition Profession

Stacy Malkan reports for U.S. Right to Know:

“The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics – the world’s largest organization of food and nutrition professionals, with over 100,000 credentialed dietitians, nutrition practitioners and students – is one of the most influential professional health associations in the U.S.

This fact sheet discusses the Academy’s relationship with ultra-processed food, beverage, pesticide and pharmaceutical corporations, including accepting contributions from and even investing in those companies. Evidence from the Academy’s own internal documents suggest the group serves up favors for their corporate sponsors at the expense of public health.

The Academy and its website eatright.org promote themselves as ‘your source for science-based food and nutrition information.’ The group is seen as an authority in food policy-making and influences the development of the US dietary guidelines.”

Read about how the Academy serves as a voice for corporate sponsors

PLANTING PEACE

To Be Hopeful in Bad Times

“To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic.

It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness.


What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places—and there are so many—where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction.
And if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.”

~ Howard Zinn

TAKE ACTION: Tell Congress! No More Money for War!

Share your vision for peace with a FREE Planting Peace “Negotiate Don’t Escalate” bumper sticker!

BOOK CORNER

3 Foraging Books That Teach You About Wild Food

Updated by Francesca Brooking – Edited & Fact Checked By Amber McDaniel, Pebble:

“Foraging is one of the best ways to eat fresh organic food for free.

And foraging books hold the keys to nature’s larder.

Whether you’re a complete beginner or more experienced, these handbooks demystify the art of foraging and help you grow more confident in your skills.

Written by experts for non-experts, they’re packed with practical tips and digestible information—along with clever recipes to make the most of your foraged finds.

In these books, learn about the seasonality, provenance and fascinating stories behind the wild ingredients found across North America and the UK.

Foraging is a fantastic pastime with tons of potential to support a more sustainable food system—provided it’s done ethically and sustainably.

So aside from choosing books by authors who encourage responsible and ethical foraging—by way of highlighting the importance of conservation—we want to begin by sharing tips to ensure both your safety and that of the environment when foraging.”

Read more for tips about foraging + Pebbles curated list of wild foraging books

SUPPORT OCA & RI

Organic is Healthier and More Humane

As we have repeatedly emphasized over the past decade, we cannot hope to solve the climatehuman health, environmental, immigrationfinancial, 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 and the planet.

Despite all obstacles, there are thousands and thousands of US farmers and ranchers, and millions more across the globe, who are already farming and ranching utilizing organic and regenerative practices. These agriculturalists already know how to grow healthy and nutrient- dense fruits, vegetables, herbs, and grains without pesticides, GMO seeds, and chemical fertilizers. They already know how to graze or pasture farm animals (neither overgrazing nor under grazing) and preserve biodiversity.

Our mission is to continue to educate consumers, farmers, and policy-makers regarding the obvious, life-or-death benefits of organic and regenerative food, farming, and land use. We need an army of conscious consumers to increase the market demand for organic and regenerative foods and products, especially those fresh foods and animal products produced locally or regionally. 

We need the majority of farmers (and future farmers) to learn about “shovel ready” regenerative practices from their neighbors and counterparts.

Please support our work buy growing, cooking and purchasing organic/regenerative foods, local when possible, and please make a donation today if you can.

We can do this together! 

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

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

Have you considered making a grant request from your Donor-Advised Fund?

SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE

Gene Editing Causes Unintended Genetic Changes With Implications for Food and Agriculture

Sustainable Pulse reports:

“A recently published study in Nature Genetics shows that the use of CRISPR/Cas ‘gene scissors’ causes unintended genetic changes that are different to random mutations. According to the study, major structural changes in chromosomes occur much more frequently in the genomic regions targeted by the ‘gene scissors’ than would otherwise be the case. These results also have implications for the risk assessment of plants obtained from new genetic engineering (NGTs), TestBiotech reported.

According to the EU Commission and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), unintentional genetic changes resulting from the use of CRISPR/Cas ‘gene scissors’ are no different to random mutations. However, a new method of data evaluation shows that this assumption is wrong.

The use of CRISPR/Cas completely interrupts the double DNA strand, thus causing some of the chromosomes to be temporarily separated from the main section. In the separated (distal) section, the chromosomes can restructure, larger sequences of DNA can be lost (deletions), reversed (inversions) or inserted in the wrong place (insertions).”

Read how if the unintended changes go unnoticed, they can accumulate in the genetic material of plants, and thus impair both the genetic stability of future plant varieties and their suitability for use in agriculture

DR. JOSEPH MERCOLA

Gum Disease May Contribute to Alzheimer’s

Analysis by Dr. Joseph Mercola:

“STORY-AT-A-GLANCE

* Porphyromonas gingivalis, a type of pathogenic bacteria that causes gum disease, has been identified in the brains of people who died of Alzheimer’s disease

* When there’s infection in your oral cavity, the pathogens also infect the endothelial cells protecting the blood-brain barrier. This allows them to spread through cranial nerves or by infecting monocytes — white blood cells — that then travel to your brain

* Among U.S. adults 30 years old or older, 42.2% had total periodontitis — 34.4% with non-severe periodontitis and 7.8% with severe periodontitis — and many people who have it do not experience any symptoms until the disease has progressed

* Prevention is your best defense. If you take proper measures early, you can maintain optimal oral health and avoid the onset of these conditions, ultimately reducing your risk”

Learn more

GROW WHERE YOU ARE

‘This Is Our Heritage’: Keshia Knight Pulliam on Black People Finding Freedom in Farming

Victoria Uwumarogie, ESSENCE:

“With inflation, it’s getting very difficult for people to afford food. In addition to that, individuals are struggling to obtain healthy food. An answer for a growing number of Black people to this issue is to grow their own fare. Some are growing fruits and vegetables in their backyards, others on the balconies of their apartments. And then there are some who are full-fledged farmers. Like Keshia Knight Pulliam.

“We have a farm outside of Atlanta, Georgia, about 17 acres,” the actress and entrepreneur shared as the moderator for the “Freedom in Farming” conversation at ESSENCE Festival of Culture’s Food and Wine activation. “We have a couple of goats, some chickens, some vegetables, and it is our joy.”

“I think what a lot of people forget is that this is our heritage,” she shared while opening up about her passion for the practice. “We didn’t start as slaves, and when we came over, we brought with us seeds, we brought with us rice, we brought with us the knowledge of farming that allowed this country to be what it is.”

Read about how these farmers found a bigger purpose in the work they do in the soil

ENVIRONMENT & CLIMATE

What Is Geoengineering? … and Why It’s a ‘Break Glass’ Plan

Bob Henson writes for Yale Climate Connections:

“Everyday wisdom tells us it’s much better to avoid a problem than to try to fix it afterward. That’s one reason cutting greenhouse emissions is by far the preferred option for limiting climate change.

Yet society has dragged its collective heels on climate action for decades, and it’s unclear whether the world will achieve the roughly 50% emission cuts this decade that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) deems essential to avert the worst consequences of a human-warmed planet.

Enter the notion of geoengineering. Often referred to as “climate intervention” or “climate-altering technologies”, geoengineering refers to the idea of messing with the climate system that humans have already been messing up – this time in an effort to turn back the clock and restabilize the climate.

It’s now clear that some types of geoengineering are more fraught with peril than others, yet there remain huge questions across the board on cost, governance, and moral hazard.”

Read more to find out “what could possibly go wrong?”