TAKE ACTION
Generally Recognized as Safe?
Since the George H.W. Bush Administration, the FDA has treated genetically engineered synthetics the same as normal foods, allowing them to be approved without safety-testing or post-market monitoring through the “generally recognized as safe” (GRAS) loophole.
President Donald Trump could change this. His new Health & Human Services Department, which includes the Food & Drug Administration, is expected to be very different from his last.
There are five GMOs Trump’s new FDA could take off the market (four his old FDA put on the market): Monsanto (now Eli Lilly)’s Posilac GMO growth hormone for dairy cows; AquaBounty’s AquAdvantage GMO salmon; Impossible Food’s synbio burger made with fake blood; Bored Cow’s “milk,” made with Perfect Day’s faux whey protein; and lab-grown chicken made by UPSIDE Foods and GOOD Meat.
Here are five GMOs Trump’s new team should take off the market (four are GMOs his old team put on the market):
1. POSILAC – The genetically engineered growth hormone (aka rbGH/rbST) that makes cows produce so much milk their udders painfully swell, causing ulcers that ooze pus into the milk that’s also contaminated with a growth factor (IGF-1) linked to cancer.
2. AQUADVANTAGE SALMON – Salmon that’s genetically engineered to grow unnaturally fast by producing growth hormones year-round. GMO salmon has increased levels of IGF-1, a hormone linked to cancer. It has less of the healthy omega-3 fats than normal salmon and it is more likely to trigger an allergy.
3. IMPOSSIBLE BURGER – Impossible Food’s “bleeding” veggie burger made with synthetic blood that’s spit out of genetically engineered yeast. Preliminary animal lab data submitted by Impossible Foods indicated potential health risks including blood clot issues, anemia, and kidney damage.
4. BORED COW – Perfect Day’s synthetic whey protein, made from genetically engineered microbes. It’s the single ingredient in Bored Cow’s “milk.” Trump’s FDA gave it GRAS status in 2020 even though the whey was contaminated with heavy metals and GMO fungal proteins that are similar to known allergens.
5. LAB-GROWN “CHICKEN” – The Biden Administration FDA made two approvals of what they call “Human Food Made with Cultured Animal Cells,” one in 2022 for UPSIDE Foods and the other in 2023 for GOOD Meat. No one’s eating it yet, because neither company can figure out a cost-effective way to grow the chicken without antimicrobials we shouldn’t eat.
NEW STUDY
Newly Identified Chemical in Drinking Water Is Most Likely Present in Many Homes and Could Be Toxic
By Evan Bush, NBC News:
“About a third of U.S. residents have been receiving tap water containing a previously unidentified chemical byproduct, a new study has found. Some scientists are now concerned — and actively investigating — whether that chemical could be toxic.
The newly identified substance, named ‘chloronitramide anion,’ is produced when water is treated with chloramine, a chemical formed by mixing chlorine and ammonia. Chloramine is often used to kill viruses and bacteria in municipal water treatment systems.
Researchers said the existence of the byproduct was discovered about 40 years ago, but it was only identified now because analysis techniques have improved, which finally enabled scientists to determine the chemical’s structure.
The researchers reported their findings Thursday in the journal Science, in part to spur research to address safety concerns.”
HEALTH
The Hidden Power of Magnesium
Analysis by Dr. Joseph Mercola:
“STORY-AT-A-GLANCE
* Low magnesium levels, especially when combined with high homocysteine, significantly increase DNA damage in healthy adults, accelerating cellular aging and increasing the risk of chronic degenerative diseases
* Magnesium plays a crucial role in DNA replication, repair and stability. It acts as a cofactor for enzymes involved in these processes and helps maintain the double helix structure
* Magnesium is essential for brain health, regulating NMDA receptors, modulating immune responses and acting as an antioxidant. It also supports synaptic plasticity, learning and memory functions
* Adequate magnesium levels are vital for blood sugar control, insulin sensitivity and cellular energy production. Magnesium deficiency leads to insulin resistance and metabolic disorders like Type 2 diabetes
* To optimize magnesium levels, consider supplements like magnesium threonate, consume magnesium-rich foods and try alternative methods such as Epsom salt baths or topical application for better absorption”
HEALTHY LIVING
Toxic Chemicals in the Kitchen: 5 Low-Stress Clean Swaps
By Ketura Persellin, Environmental Working Group (EWG):
“It’s likely no surprise that the objects in a typical kitchen can expose the average person – and the environment – to toxic chemicals.
Some simple fixes can reduce this risk. But the prospect of change may feel overwhelming.
EWG is here to help. For decades, EWG has empowered you to make safer choices to protect your health when the federal government has fallen short. With EWG in your corner, you don’t have to wait for action from Washington to keep yourself and your family safe.
Here are five manageable kitchen swaps that can help lower your exposure to chemicals. These changes will make a difference without breaking the bank.”
NEW REPORT
Mexico Restricting Cultivation of GMO Corn Due to Health Risks
By Timothy A. Wise and Stacy Malkan, U.S. Right to Know:
“A new scientific analysis prepared by CONAHCYT, Mexico’s National Council for Humanities, Science and Technology, argues there are unacceptable health risks for Mexican people who consume genetically modified (GM) corn and glyphosate, the world’s most widely used herbicide.
The 200-page document with 1,200 references – posted here for the first time in English – underpins Mexico’s 2023 decree to restrict the use of GM corn in tortillas and other minimally processed corn products, and to phase out the use of glyphosate. The U.S. challenged those policies as unfair trade practice under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). A decision in that case is expected imminently.
Whatever the ruling, Mexico’s new President Claudia Sheinbaum has said her government will not allow the cultivation of GM corn. Sheinbaum also recently announced plans to try to place GM corn restrictions in Mexico’s constitution; ‘this is the best defense we have for biodiversity as well as for our health,’ she said.”
Read about how the scientific evidence they gathered in their case has worldwide relevance
SUPPORT OCA & RI
Resilience and Hope for a Healthy Food System
The way we have traditionally grown food for the last 10,000 years and the way we’ve raised animals the last 20,000 or 30,000 years is really organic and pasture-based.
This wild experiment that industry unleashed on us since the second world war, using toxic chemicals, synthetic fertilizers, genetically engineered seeds and animal factory farms has proven to be a disaster, not just for the farmers, the animals and the land, but our public health has also suffered considerably.
OCA has had a long-term call to take charge of health through your diet, voting with your fork, taking charge of your diet is an important way to take charge of our environment and really our whole economic system and transform this degenerative food, farming and land use system into one that is organic and regenerative.
Please help us move forward with this call, to educate, raise awareness, bring about policy changes, fund innovative agroecology systems and strengthen our commitment to connecting people to share their knowledge and build resilience and hope for a organic regenerative healthy food system.
We can only do this together!
Please take action (in the first segment of this newsletter) and send us a donation, if you can, to move this issue forward.
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
Consider a making a grant request from your Donor-Advised Fund. Our EIN is 41-1908341.
SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION
How Innovations in Technology Are Helping Build Homes Without All the Emissions
By Ainsley Lawrence, 1 Million Women:
“Technology is revolutionizing profit margins and safety protocols in this business, but also how environmentally sound the projects are.
Meet the technology driving this:
* Artificial intelligence (AI): Quantity surveying powered by AI is one of the main innovations in construction. The software utilizes site information to accurately calculate the specific material needs for the project. As a result, there is less chance of over-ordering materials and waste. This puts less pressure on the environment due to harvesting, manufacturing, and transporting unnecessary items.
* Smart indoor air quality (IAQ): One of the elements of green construction is installing tools that improve the quality of life for occupants amid the challenges of climate change. Smart IAQ systems use sensors in the Internet of Things (IoT) throughout the building to monitor everything from pollution levels to smoke from wildfires. Some systems are directly connected to filtration and ventilation to automatically make adjustments as changes occur.
* Building information modeling (BIM): BIM software creates 3D models of buildings, allowing construction project professionals to design and simulate properties. Many use virtual reality (VR) to provide walkthroughs of the space. This means that architects and project leads can create, test, and optimise designs before breaking ground, minimizing mistakes and other unsustainable inefficiencies.”
INDIGENOUS FOODWAYS
The Past, Present, and Future of Food During Indigenous People’s Month
WCK’s Chef Corps, World Central Kitchen:
“Indigenous People’s Month, observed in November, coincides with the end of the harvest season when the earth’s bounty is at its best. The timing spotlights the close link between Indigenous identity, culture, and the land. Several World Central Kitchen Chef Corps members look forward to autumn to cook with their favorite ingredients.
Crystal Wahpepah is a member of the Kickapoo nation of Oklahoma. She’s the force behind Wahpepah’s Kitchen in Oakland, California and embraces pumpkin, dried corn, and dried berries for her fall table. Around this time of year, she also concentrates on harvesting native foods and storing them for winter use.
Like many communities around the world, rice is both a staple and symbolic ingredient in Minnesota. Chef Sean Sherman is a member of the Oglala Lakota Sioux tribe and founder of North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems (NĀTIFS) and calls the area home.”
Read how everyone can play a role in supporting Indigenous foodways and more
ENVIRONMENT
UN Plastic Treaty Talks End Without a Deal
By Leonie Cater and Hanne Cokelaere, POLITICO:
“United Nations members had meant to use this past week to work out how to end plastic pollution. Instead they return to their homes empty-handed from the coastal South Korean city of Busan.
Talks collapsed late Sunday after negotiators failed to resolve their differences and agree on a global plastic treaty. At the heart of the disagreement was a refusal by oil-rich nations led by Saudi Arabia to accept a deal that put limits on plastic production.
EU negotiator Hugo Schally expressed the ‘regret of many in the room this didn’t happen, despite the tireless efforts of so many of us including many stakeholders who worked until the morning hours in the hope of securing a successful result,’ in his address to the final plenary.”
COOK ORGANIC NOT THE PLANET
Despite Critics, Organic Farming Thrives in Heart of U.S. Corn Country
The New Lede, co-published with Circle of Blue:
“WEST BEND, Iowa – People searching for ways to limit the toll industrialized American agriculture takes on communities, land, and water may want to make a visit to Clear Creek Acres in northern Iowa.
With just shy of 800 residents, West Bend, Iowa is barely a blip on a prairie landscape, but it has become home base for an uncommonly large expanse of organically grown crops- operations that have found success in challenging the popular convention that pesticides and other agricultural chemicals are needed to feed the world.
Towering grain bins are surrounded by close to 50,000 acres of corn, soybeans, oats and other crops grown without the use of synthetic chemicals. Farmers fertilize the land with chicken litter and hog manure and weed much of the land by hand, or with non-chemical tools, such as new laser weeders.”
E-mail campaigns@organicconsumers.org for a free “Cook Organic Not The Planet” bumper sticker!
LITTLE BYTES
Other Essential Reading and Videos for the Week
How Stress Can Sabotage Your Diet
RFK Jr. Weighing FDA Crackdown on Food Additives Under Trump
Popular Asthma Drug Singulair Could Be Linked to Mental Health Side Effects, Suicides: FDA
The Role of Sun Exposure in Optimizing Your Cellular Health
The Science To Fewer Cow Farts: Bret Weinstein and Heather Heying Darkhorse Podcast
PFAS and Microplastics Become More Toxic When Combined
Slow Food on COP29: So Far, Not So Good
To Quit Their Jobs, Sugar Workers Risk Kidnapping, Assault and Murder
How To Find Lost Objects: Techniques That Really Work
New Study Challenges How Much Water People Should Drink per Day
W.K. Kellogg’s Cereal Heiress Exposes Kellogg’s Froot Loops and says to “BOYCOTT”
Food Additive Added To Dairy Products Could Increase Risk Of Type 2 Diabetes
Feeding the World? We Aren’t Even Feeding Ourselves: U.S. Ag Imports Reach Record High
Light Pollution May Be Keeping Honey Bees Up at Night
The FDA Outlawed a Soda Ingredient Banned Around The World. Here’s Why.