White phosphorus (not to be confused with phosphate-based fertilizers from phosphate rock) is a chemical weapon that ignites upon exposure to oxygen. Burning at up to 1400°F, it inflicts horrific, burning injuries, contaminates land and water, and renders entire regions uninhabitable for generations. International law bans its use against civilians, but Israel has repeatedly used it in Gaza and Lebanon, scorching fields, homes, and bodies.


Lebanon has the highest proportion of agricultural land in the Middle East, but now much of it is poisoned. This is a tragedy not only for the Lebanese people, but for the entire region’s food security and heritage. Modern wheat’s earliest ancestors – einkorn, emmer, and spelt – still grow wild in Lebanon where farmers preserve the ancient traditions of the Fertile Crescent, the center of origin of the Triticeae family of wild grasses, to which wheat, rye, and barley belong.

Israel’s use of white phosphorus weapons is supported by the U.S. Department of War and its monopoly suppliers of white phosphorus, Monsanto (Bayer) and Israel Chemicals Ltd (ICL). St. Louis is currently supporting ICL’s expansion with $200 million in taxpayer funding.

TAKE ACTION: Ban Bayer & ICL’s White Phosphorus Weapons!

WATCH:

The petition to ban white phosphorus weapons was launched by the Collective for Architecture in Lebanon at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale in an artistic rendering of an actual seed library, including bricks of soil embedded with seeds. To learn more, watch this fascinating discussion with members of the collective about rare varieties of agricultural and ornamental plants preserved in Lebanon.

At the 2025 People’s Food Summit, OCA political director Alexis Baden-Mayer spoke with Beirut-based historian and writer Zeaad Yaghi, author of the report “Pathways Towards Food Sovereignty in Lebanon,” on the current food crisis, exacerbated by Israel’s use of Bayer and Israel Chemicals Ltd’s white phosphorus weapons supplied by the U.S., as well as ICL Out of STL activists in St. Louis fighting ICL’s city-funded expansion.

The timber industry has figured out a way to get paid to log. In the name of “fireshed management” the government pays companies to thin-out the forests. It’s a great get-rich-quick scheme for them, but the trouble for us is that forest thinning doesn’t reduce wildfire risk.

The “Fix Our Forest” Act would require forest thinning–overriding laws like the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act to do so. 

The John Muir Project calls it “an extreme logging bill masquerading as a ‘forest health’ measure. It would eviscerate environmental laws on public forests in order to dramatically increase logging of mature and old-growth trees, and clearcutting, on public lands, at taxpayer expense.”

Then, there’s the disturbing tech component that Maureen Steele of the American Made Foundation says is like “putting Alexa in the woods”: “The premise sounds noble: early wildfire detection, faster response, safer forests. The reality? A nationwide surveillance grid dressed up in green camouflage. Cameras on towers, drones overhead, mesh networks buried in the soil, all feeding into proprietary artificial intelligence run by private companies and subsidized by federal tax dollars. … Colorado has already become a test case. Xcel Energy partnered with Pano AI to install 21 surveillance towers across the state, claiming to cover more than 1.5 million acres.”

TAKE ACTION: Tell Congress to Vote Down the So-Called “Fix Our Forests” Act!

by Korin Miller, Prevention:

“Researchers found that most medications were linked with noticeable changes in the gut microbiome, and that they stuck around long after people stopped taking the drugs. The researchers also looked at follow-up samples from a smaller group and found that starting or stopping certain medications led to predictable shifts in people’s gut microbiomes. But, doctors warn against stopping a medication (even if it’s on this list); always consult your physician before making any change.



Given that your gut microbiome is influenced by several things, including your diet, it’s fair to wonder why these changes matter—and which drugs are linked to this. Here’s what doctors want you to know.

Which medications impacted the gut microbiome?

A lot of medications have the potential to impact the gut microbiome, based on the findings. However, these are some of the more common drugs that the researchers flagged:

• Antibiotics
• Antidepressants
• Antipsychotics
• Beta-blockers
• Proton pump inhibitors
• Benzodiazepines

The researchers also discovered that benzodiazepines (which are often used for anxiety) created microbiome changes that were similar to those seen with antibiotics.”



The potential impact of medications on the gut microbiome should be considered in research and by prescribing doctors

At the Organic Consumers Association, our mission is to create a more just and healthy food system that prioritizes organic and regenerative farming practices: we are fighting against the rampant use harmful chemicals in conventional farming and warfare that are destroying human lives, our soil, water, wildlife and our health.

This week we are shining the light on the horrific use of Monsanto/Bayer’s white phosphorus and other toxic chemicals in agriculture and warfare and demand they must be banned. We are also calling out “The Fix Our Forest Act” for destructive forestry practices including allowing extreme logging of old growth trees.

We believe everyone deserves access to healthy, organic food and we work to give you a voice in the issues that affect your health and well-being.

In addition, our People’s Food Summit was wildly successful, with a reach over 10 million people who were exposed to the news that regenerative organic agriculture is a positive way for the planet to turn itself around!

Your donations helped us lift up the voices of regenerative farmers and food producers, showcase community-driven solutions for a more resilient food future, and brought together farmers, scientists, policymakers, and community leaders to reimagine food and farming systems. Can you help us continue to get the word out?

Please take the opportunity to take action on these issues and also, if you can, help us with a donation today to continue our work to help build a more safe, conscientious and thriving future for all.

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?

Farm Action:

“President Trump’s plan to buy beef from Argentina is a betrayal of the American rancher. Those of us who raise cattle have finally started to see what profit looks like after facing years of high input costs and market manipulation by the meatpacking monopoly.

After crashing the soybean market and gifting Argentina our largest export buyer, he’s now poised to do the same to the cattle market. Importing Argentinian beef would send U.S. cattle prices plummeting—and with the meatpacking industry as consolidated as it is, consumers may not see lower beef prices either. Washington should be focused on fixing our broken cattle market, not rewarding foreign competitors.

To fix this structurally flawed system, the Trump administration should reinstate Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling (MCOOL) for beef and pork, restore competitive markets by enforcing antitrust laws, and rebuild the U.S. cow herd to achieve national self-reliance in beef production.”

Farm Action: Importing more beef into this rigged system will not lower costs for families or restore fair markets for producers

TAKE ACTION: Tell Congress to Make It Easier for Farmers to Raise Local Meat & Poultry

Amber Yang, Substack:

“Jane Goodall is best known for her groundbreaking work with chimpanzees and her lifelong advocacy for animals and the environment. Yet beneath her scientific and humanitarian legacy lies something even deeper. In this piece, we explore two powerful invitations for humanity that Jane Goodall beautifully exemplified with her life’s work: to be transformed by the mystical experience of awe and wonder
to engage across differences without enemy-making.

Both speak to an evolution in consciousness beyond the illusion of separation. This separation lives not only in systems of power and wealth that exploit the world, but in the polarization and fear that shut down viewpoint diversity and turn us against one another.

Goodall embodied this shift through an activism that went beyond the reactivity and division defining modern activism, revealing that the deepest transformation begins with how we relate to one another and to life itself.”

This way of relating returns us to the deeper nature of reality we live in: the interdependent world that makes our very existence possible

Environmental Working Group (EWG) reports:

“Gov. Gavin Newsom’s veto of Senate Bill 682, which would have banned the “forever chemicals” known as PFAS from consumer products, is a deeply disappointing setback for health and environmental protection in California, the Environmental Working Group says. 

By rejecting this commonsense legislation, the governor is siding with chemical industry interests over the safety of California families. And this veto will ultimately shift the costs of cleaning up PFAS contamination of tap water to consumers, rather than ending a source of PFAS pollution. 

SB 682, authored by Sen. Ben Allen (D-Santa Monica), would have banned toxic PFAS from cookware, cleaning products, dental floss and other everyday household items. These harmful substances are linked to cancer, immune system harm, reproductive and developmental problems, and reduced vaccine effectiveness.”

While other states like Colorado, Connecticut and Minnesota have already banned PFAS in consumer products, including cookware, California now falls behind

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

Jacalyn Wetzel, Upworthy:

“Making tasty organic foods can be a challenge, especially when you’re cooking for children or you’re on a tight budget. Let’s face it: most of us have become used to the convenience of being able to pick up things like jelly or granola bars from the grocery store. Trying to eat healthier usually means breaking the budget and spending a lot of extra time reading ingredients on packaging, then researching what those ingredients actually are.

Of course, eating whole unprocessed foods like fruits and vegetables is always a healthy option, but they’re just not as fun as the snack foods we’ve come to love. How can we get the fluffy deliciousness of giant Jet-Puffed marshmallows in a healthier version? Turns out Lovina Zook has the answer.

Zook grew up Swartzentruber Amish, so she was not exposed to technology or other modern conveniences until after she left the Amish religion.”

Fortunately for us, though, all the knowledge she gleaned from her simplistic childhood remains

Zook’s video on making homemade butter has nearly 20 million views and the recipe has only two ingredients, heavy whipping cream and salt


Josh Voorhees, The Guardian:

“Major US soft-drink and snack-food corporations are waging a coordinated campaign that aims to pit Donald Trump’s Maga faithful against Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s Make America Healthy Again movement, a Guardian investigation in partnership with the environmental watchdog Fieldnotes has found. Their goal is to stymie the Maha-led effort to curb Americans’ consumption of soda and ultra-processed foods.

To carry out the plan, the companies have turned to a partially formalized network of for-hire pollsters, strategists and political financiers with deep ties to the national Republican party – several of whom have taken steps that obscure their connection to the effort and to one another. In the process, the industry has also been aided less directly by a loose coalition of free-market ideologues who have previously worked to advance Trump’s deregulatory agenda.

The ongoing influence campaign is being spearheaded by the American Beverage Association with help from the Consumer Brands Association, two prominent trade groups in the food industry. Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Keurig Dr Pepper, the three largest soft-drink corporations in the United States, as well as packaged-food conglomerates like General Mills, Kraft Heinz, Mondelēz and Nestlé.”

Public records confirm that industry lobbyists attempted to use the Maga-versus-Maha messaging in their effort to derail the nutrition bills at the state level

by Pooja Khanna Tyagi, Yanko Design:

“Rice waste, often discarded after harvest, is emerging as one of the most eco-friendly resources with numerous applications. From producing biochar for improving soil fertility to creating sustainable nanomaterials and biodegradable packaging, rice waste is transforming industries. Studies indicate that the global rice production yields over 750 million tons of grain each year, generating approximately 150 million tons of rice husks as byproduct.

By reimagining this abundant agricultural byproduct, we can minimize environmental pollution, decrease carbon footprints, and foster sustainable development through innovative circular economy solutions applied across diverse industries.”

See some of the diverse and aesthetically pleasing applications of rice husk

14 Coffee Alternatives for Steady Energy Without the Jitters

Wild Rice Binds This Tribe Together. It’s Under Threat From Every Direction.

Could This Novel Therapy Calm Anxiety for Millions of Americans?

Science in Motion: How Tai Chi and Other Traditional Therapies Are Changing

Advocates Raise Alarm Over PFAS Pollution From Datacenters Amid AI Boom

The EPA Is Ending Greenhouse Gas Data Collection. Who Will Step Up to Fill the Gap?

The Food You Toss Costs You Plenty and Emits Tons of Pollution. We’ve Got Tips on How To Cut Down

Noem’s South Dakota Neighbors Hit With an Immigration Audit That Decimates Their Workforce

How Long Is Salad Dressing Good After You Open It? We Asked a Food Safety Expert and Did Not See the Answer Coming

Slender-Billed Curlews Are Officially Extinct – Here’s Why the Loss of These Migratory Birds Really Matters

Your DNA May Shape How You Use Cannabis

Popular Hair Loss Drug Linked To Higher Suicide Risk

High Youth Death Rates Are an ‘Emerging Crisis’, Global Health Study Warns

Six Food and Agriculture Programs Are Experiencing Delays or Funding Concerns, Putting Pressure on Lawmakers To Find a Way Out of the Government Shutdown

Eat Kiwifruit for Constipation, New Guidelines Say. But Ditch the High-Fiber Diet

California Becomes the First State To Phase Ultra-processed Food Out of School Meals