Our case against West Pak Avocado is resolved!

Organic Consumers Associations (“OCA”) and West Pak Avocado, Inc. have resolved a consumer protection lawsuit concerning the environmental and sustainability representations made on West Pak’s website. OCA believes that such representations mislead consumers because some of West Pak’s avocados are sourced from orchards that were installed on deforested land in Mexico and that contribute to water scarcity in the avocado growing regions of Mexico. West Pak denies OCA’s allegations and further denies that it has violated any state or federal laws. Nonetheless, West Pak has agreed as part of the resolution to, among other things, discontinue using the challenged marketing claims and to employ enhanced due diligence mechanisms to identify and stop sourcing from orchards in Mexico identified as existing on land that has been deforested since January 1, 2018.

Wish us luck in our cases against Calavo, Del Monte & Mission. They’re already having an impact.

 We should only eat California-grown organic avocados and Mexican-grown organic and fair trade avocados.

Fair trade distributor Equal Exchange is doing what U.S. and Mexican regulators and every avocado business should be doing. They’re refusing to sell avocados from recently deforested land. They have an anti-deforestation policy that excludes farms that have been in operation for less than five years.

Besides choosing what we eat more consciously, what else can we do?

TAKE ACTION: Tell Wholly Guacamole: Stop Deforestation!

LEARN MORE: U.S. Government, Bribery, Avocados & Deforestation

BUY ORGANIC & FAIR TRADE: Be Sure Your Avocados Didn’t Come From Illegally Cleared Land

CELEBRATE THE VICTORY: Mexico: Top Avocado Suppliers Join Anti-Deforestation Certification Program



CHECK OUT THE LATEST NEWS: The Truth About Avocados Page 

READ: America’s Avocado Obsession Is Destroying Mexico’s Forests. Is There a Fix?

By Michaeleen Doucleff, NPR:

“Naughty or nice? That’s often how I think about foods packed with carbohydrates. Whole grains, like brown rice and whole wheat, fall squarely into the nice category, while white pasta and rice, well, they’re more naughty.
But what if there’s a way to make the naughty carbs a bit nicer? In the past decade, food scientists have figured out a way to help people digest refined carbohydrates more slowly. In the process, they’ve uncovered a surprise: a super nutrient hidden inside white pasta and white rice.

It’s called resistant starch. Studies have found that eating more resistant starch comes with myriad health benefits. It can improve gut health, lower inflammation in your body and enhance insulin sensitivity. And for people with diabetes, it helps with blood sugar management, a meta-analysis in Frontiers in Nutrition found.

And here’s the good news: You can create this super nutrient in your own kitchen. All you have to do, Patterson says, is cook the rice or pasta and then chill it.”



Learn how to turn fast carbs into slower carbs

Pamela Ferdinand, U.S. Right to Know (USRTK):

“The tiniest particles of titanium dioxide—commonly used to make candies, cookies, and other ultra-processed foods look brighter and more visually appealing, especially to kids—can raise blood sugar levels and impair how the body processes glucose, among other health harms, according to new research in mice.

The study, published this month [May 2025] in Food and Chemical Toxicology, adds to growing concerns over the safety of titanium dioxide (TiO₂), a widely used color additive that is banned in the EU but widely used in the U.S. and elsewhere. It also highlights the food industry’s increasing use of microscopic materials to preserve or enhance foods.

‘These findings raise important questions about the potential risks of titanium dioxide nanoparticles in food products, particularly in relation to metabolic disorders such as obesity and type 2 diabetes,’ the researchers say.”

To reduce your exposure to titanium dioxide (TiO₂) in food, read ingredient labels carefully, limit ultra-processed foods, and buy organic

TAKE ACTION: Tell Sec. Kennedy: Nanotech Shouldn’t Be “Generally Recognized As Safe”

Two weeks ago, we shared the outpouring of support for our current fundraiser. We set a goal to reach 1,000 new donors and announced a $30,000 matching grant. Since then, we’ve made incredible progress—thanks to your support, we’ve already reached 400 new donors and raised an additional $26,000, unlocking almost all of our matching grant!

But we still need your help. To meet our goal, we need 600 more donors. Your contribution will not only help us meet this challenge but will also be doubled by the matching grant, making your donation go twice as far.

Together, we are standing strong against the forces threatening our food systems, health, and environment. As we work to make organic and regenerative practices the norm—rather than just the alternative—we continue to confront the environmental, economic, and social crises that demand urgent action. From soil health to climate change, and from public health to economic justice, our mission remains clear: to fight for a sustainable and just future for all.

Your support—now more than ever—is what enables us to keep fighting. If you’ve already donated, thank you for being part of this crucial movement. If not, please consider making a tax-deductible gift today.



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

Make a lasting impact through monthly giving, stock donations, planned giving, and IRA charitable distributions

By Keith Cowing, Astrobiology:

“All life on Earth reacts to the activity of our local star directly or indirectly – whether it is light for photosynthesis, the driving of short-term weather systems, and long-term climate cycles. Life on Earth also has to contend with radiation sources from beyond our solar system. When the celestial coincidence of a solar eclipse reduces or cuts off light to plants there are ways that these networks interact in response.

This study examines how Spruce trees have the ability to react to solar eclipses and indeed prepare in advance to respond to them. As we search for life on other worlds, we have examined systems orbiting M-dwarf stars in close proximity to one another, often tidally locked where light levels can vary in different ways. How will life evolve within and react to such variations in stellar irradiation?

A ground breaking international study has revealed spruce trees not only respond to a solar eclipse but actively anticipate it by synchronizing their bioelectrical signals hours in advance into a cohesive, forest-wide phenomenon.”



Read about this fascinating study

Sustainable Food Trust:

“In his Guardian column this week, George Monbiot raised a number of criticisms of our recently published Grazing Livestock report. Here, we respond briefly to some of them.

Monbiot states: ‘Sheep, cattle and ponies … selectively browse out tree seedlings, preventing the return of temperate rainforest, which is extremely difficult to burn. In dry weather, the moor grass, bracken and heather covering the deforested landscape are tinder.’

Our response: Overgrazing has undoubtedly contributed to an increased risk of wildfire on moorlands, including through a rise in the dominance of Molinia – a flammable grass that now blankets large areas. But that doesn’t mean that moorland grazing is inherently bad. There is good evidence, including from SW England, to show that well-managed grazing can help reverse the dominance of Molinia, bringing benefits for wildfire risk and biodiversity. Grazing animals play a crucial role in supporting upland biodiversity more generally, with many protected habitats and species benefitting or even relying upon low intensity grazing. That’s not to say, of course, that all of our uplands need to be farmed with grazing livestock – we clearly need to make more space for trees, for example. Still, grazing animals have an important part to play in the more sustainable management of our uplands – a role that is under threat from the ongoing loss of livestock in certain areas.”

Read Sustainable Food Trust’s responses to George Monbiot’s claims of greenwashing, beef, lamb and their land use and greenhouse gas footprints, arable land use and affordability

Tom Perkins, The Guardian:

“Chemicals in everyday plastics may disrupt the body’s natural 24-hour sleep-wake cycle and circadian rhythm in a way similar to coffee, which increases the risk of sleep disorders, diabetes, immune problems and cancer, new in vitro research shows.

The study looked at chemicals extracted from a PVC medical feeding tube and a polyurethane hydration pouch, like those used by long-distance runners. PVC and polyurethanes are also used in everything from kids toys to food packaging to furniture.

The findings showed for the first time how plastic chemicals probably wreak havoc on cell signals that regulate the body’s internal clock, throwing it off by up to 17 minutes.”

Read about how the internal clock is incredibly important for physiology and overall health

Lukas Maschek, Goetheanum Section for Agriculture:

“How has biodynamics developed and spread around the world over the last 100 years? John Paull and Benjamin Hennig’s 2020 study is the first to provide an area-based world map of biodynamic agriculture. To this end, they determined all biodynamically farmed areas worldwide and represented them graphically using a Peters projection. The resulting biodynamic world map provides an insight into the spread of biodynamic agriculture and shows some enormous differences between countries, regions and continents.

For this cartographic representation, a total of 55 countries were taken into account, in which over 250,000 hectares of certified biodynamic land exist. Most of the data comes from Demeter International, supplemented by previously unpublished information from Australian Demeter certification bodies. As a visualization method, the authors chose a density- equalizing area projection (Peters projection), in which countries are distorted proportionally to their biodynamic hectares: Countries with an above-average density of biodynamic areas are inflated, while countries with a below-average density are shown at a reduced size.”

Read how and where Rudolf Steiner’s impulse of 1924 continues to have an impact worldwide

Find Biodynamic Certified farms & products near you

Learn more about our participation at the International Biodynamic Conference, and our work with The Earth as a Living Being

Ed Cara writes for GIZMODO:

“Who’s up for some CRISPR-y bacon? This week, the Food and Drug Administration approved gene-edited pigs developed by PIC, a biotechnology company specializing in livestock genetics, for human consumption.

The FDA granted the approval Wednesday, allowing a specific gene edit to be used in commercially bred pigs. With the help of CRISPR—a powerful gene editing tool—the UK-based company has created pigs resistant to one of the most common viral infections affecting swine worldwide. It will take a while longer for this GE pork to end up on our dinner plates, however.

The FDA has also previously approved other genetically modified animals to be safe for human consumption, such as salmon. But companies have historically struggled to clear the regulatory hurdles for approval or to gain a foothold in the commercial market once approved.”

Read how the company is seeking to secure approval in other major markets where pork is widely produced or imported

Andrew Smith, Chief Scientific Officer, Rodale Institute:

“As a research-based and farmer-centered organization, Rodale Institute has always followed the science. Supporting producers with proven, evidence-based information is the Institute’s priority and we conduct agricultural research that empowers farmers and ranchers to farm in a way that safeguards their land against practices that deplete their soil and damage their long-term economic outlook.

Historically, the Institute’s scientists have been concerned about the rapid rise in chemical use on the majority of farmland across the United States and more recently its relationship to the rise in no-till farming. Many other farmers, scientists, and agricultural and environmental organizations have also shared this concern.

Rodale Institute has had the opportunity to review a recent report by Friends of the Earth titled Rethinking No-Till: The toxic impact of no-till agriculture on soil, biodiversity, and human health. The findings—which are a review of the scientific literature related to herbicide and insecticide use in no-till farming in the United States—are consistent with Rodale Institute’s decades-long research, including our long-term Farming Systems Trial.”

Learn more

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