The Environmental Working Group puts mushrooms on the Clean Fifteen at #14 among fruits and vegetables with the lowest pesticide residues, but this doesn’t mean mushrooms don’t have pesticide residues.

The U.S. government’s Pesticide Data Program found residues of the anti-mold pesticide thiabendazole in 54.5 percent of conventionally grown mushrooms.

The EPA classifies thiabendazole as likely to be carcinogenic when doses are high enough to disrupt thyroid hormones. According to the EPA’s assessment, thiabendazole also harms the immune and nervous systems. The European Food Safety Authority determined that thiabendazole is associated with adverse effects on thyroid hormone function. If we’re concerned about the health effects on farm workers and rural communities in addition to consumers, we shouldn’t just be looking at pesticide residues per pound of produce, we should also be looking at pesticide usage per acre of farmland.

If you look at pesticide residues per pound of produce, as the Environmental Working Group does, mushrooms make the Clean Fifteen, but if you look at pesticides per acre of farmland, as the Pesticide Action Network has done, mushrooms would be #2 on the Dirty Dozen, second only to potatoes.



We need to keep in mind that the damage from conventional farming doesn’t end at our plates — even produce that tests residue-free was grown with chemicals that poison our waterways, deplete our soil, and silently devastate wildlife along the way. The organic food we purchase or grow isn’t just a personal health choice, it’s a vote for and a contribution to a food system that doesn’t gamble with humanity’s most critical medicines — or the health of the planet we all share.

Read “The Clean Fifteen List and How You Measure Pesticides Changes Everything,” by our Research Director, Alexis Baden-Mayer.

Katarzyna Pacyga, Aleksandra Tabiś & Paweł Pacyga, National Library of Medicine:

“The human gut microbiome is a complex ecosystem of microorganisms fundamental to human health, influencing metabolism, immunity, and neurological function. Dysbiosis, or an imbalance in this microbial community, is increasingly linked to a range of chronic diseases, from inflammatory bowel disease to metabolic syndrome. 



This article explores the therapeutic potential of several common botanicals in modulating the gut microbiota and promoting intestinal health. We delve into the phytochemical composition and pharmacological properties of nine medicinal plants: globe artichoke, aloe vera, German chamomile, pot marigold, Ceylon cinnamon, dandelion, fennel, garlic, ginger, and green tea.

We focus on their anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antimicrobial, and prebiotic effects. The article also discusses the scientific evidence supporting their use, acknowledges the limitations of current research, and highlights considerations for safe and effective application.”

These herbal remedies represent a valuable component of modern complementary medicine, with clear scope for further research into optimizing their use for gut health.

by Jennifer McDermott & Ali Swenson:

“The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed on Thursday to include microplastics and pharmaceuticals on a list of contaminants in drinking water for the first time, a step that could lead to new limits on those substances for water utilities.

Lee Zeldin, the EPA administrator, said the agency was responding to Americans who have worried about plastics and pharmaceuticals in their drinking water. The gesture also aims to hand a win to health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s MAHA movement, which for months has pressured Zeldin to further crack down on environmental contaminants.
Studies have looked at the prevalence of microplastics in drinking water and in people’s hearts, brains and testicles.

There is also growing worry about pharmaceutical drugs that get into the water supply because humans excrete them and conventional wastewater treatment plants fail to remove them.”

The new draft list includes four contaminant groups – microplastics, pharmaceuticals, PFAS, and disinfection byproducts – as well as 75 chemicals and nine microbes that may be found in drinking water.

Editor’s Note:

We welcome the EPA’s move to formally recognize microplastics and pharmaceuticals as drinking water contaminants. It’s an overdue and important step. But we need to ask the harder question: when these substances are removed from our water supply, where do they actually go?

Water treatment produces biosolids, and spreading those on agricultural land has long been standard practice, even promoted as sustainable fertilizer. But biosolids carry the very contaminants we’re trying to remove — microplastics, pharmaceutical residues, PFAS, and more. Once on farmland, they leach back into groundwater and run off into the waterways that we draw our drinking water, completing a troubling cycle that treatment alone cannot break.

Removing contaminants from drinking water is necessary — but it is not sufficient if the end point of those contaminants is our soil and our rivers. We are, in effect, moving the problem rather than solving it.

Any serious regulatory framework addressing water safety must also address banning the spreading of biosolids!

TAKE ACTION: Tell Your State Legislators Farms Shouldn’t Be Toxic Sewage Sludge Dumps!

A ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran has been announced — and that is genuinely good news. But a ceasefire is not a peace agreement, and it is not a legal constraint on executive war powers. It can be broken, reversed, or abandoned at any moment without Congressional oversight or approval. Congress remains on recess. The War Powers Resolution has still not been voted on. The legal and constitutional gap that allowed this crisis to escalate to the brink of catastrophe remains wide open.

President Trump threatened to wipe out “a whole civilization” unless Iran agreed to a deal. Vice President Vance hinted at unspecified military “tools” yet to be deployed. Strikes on civilian infrastructure — power plants, roads, bridges — were openly discussed. These threats did not disappear with a ceasefire announcement. The same executive authority that brought us to that edge remains unchecked.

This moment of relative calm is exactly when Congress must act — not to escalate, but to ensure this never happens again. Senator Chuck Schumer, Representative Seth Magaziner, and others are still calling for Congress to reconvene and vote under the War Powers Resolution. Republican leadership has continued to block every such effort. Your representatives need to hear from you now, while there is still time to act from a position of calm rather than crisis.

Call and email your Senators and Representative today. Thank them if they supported de-escalation. And urge every member to support reconvening Congress to vote on a War Powers Resolution that:

• Requires the president to cease military action against Iran without Congressional authorization
• Explicitly prohibits strikes on civilian infrastructure — power plants, bridges, roads — in violation of international law
• Establishes a clear legal framework so no future president can bring the country to the brink of war with a single deadline and a social media post

To reach your members of Congress: Call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask to be connected to your Senator or Representative.

A ceasefire is a pause. Congressional action is a safeguard. Don’t let this moment pass without demanding one.

Mohamed Madi, BBC:

“The mushroom is now found across the world. It’s spreading in Switzerland, and has been found in Italy, Hungary, Serbia and Germany. There are reports of the golden oyster growing in the south of the UK too. The Royal Horticultural Society has issued advice warning people against growing non-native species, especially the golden oyster, saying it was ‘highly invasive’ and capable of causing ‘severe damage’ to local fungal communities.   

Aishwarya Veerabuhu, a mycologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who’s studied the golden oyster, says it wasn’t long before it escaped into the wild.

‘Community scientists were like, whoa! This thing is bright yellow, so it’s very easy to notice,’ she says. ‘It’s now been found in 25 US states and one Canadian province.’ Other types of oyster mushrooms have long existed in North America, breaking down dead and dying trees, playing a crucial role in ensuring that waste matter doesn’t just accumulate in forests. But golden oysters are different.”

Aishwarya and her team of researchers drilled into trees to look at the exact makeup of the fungi within. What they found shocked them.

Megan Sawka, The Slate Online:

“A new trend has emerged on my TikTok for you page: anti-scrolling. As opposite as it sounds, people online have been pushing back against their habits of spending all day on their phones consuming content. Whether people are feeling the effects of doomscrolling on their mental or physical health or are simply being tired of wasting their time, people seem to be rebelling against spending their time online.

I do enjoy scrolling on my phone, but there is a difference between intentionally scrolling for a few minutes to decompress and spending all day ‘rotting’ on your phone. My favorite time replacement is known as a craft bag or basket. It is a bag, basket or other storage item that holds all of your hobby materials. In my craft basket, I keep my journal, coloring books, iPad, Nintendo Switch, my current read, lotion, chargers, pens and more. I keep this basket near my bed and try to intentionally devote time to my hobbies rather than scroll on my phone.”

Read more

Julia J Rucklidge, Angela Sherwin, Joseph Boden & Roger Mulder, The Conversation:

“A double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of 132 teenagers found that broad-spectrum micronutrients — vitamins and minerals taken as supplements — significantly reduced severe irritability, emotional reactivity, and disruptive behavior compared to placebo.

The results were particularly striking for teens with disruptive mood dysregulation disorder, where 64% responded to micronutrients versus just 12.5% on placebo. Suicidal ideation and self-harm also decreased more in the micronutrient group.

Crucially, teens from lower-income families showed the strongest improvements, pointing to the role of nutritional vulnerabilities in mental health — and raising the possibility of a low-cost, scalable, and equitable alternative to conventional psychiatric treatments for young people who can’t access or tolerate existing options.”

The findings invite a reframing of some psychiatric conditions not as chemical imbalances or family dysfunction, but as nutritional and metabolic vulnerabilities.

Look closely at this issue and you’ll see a single thread running through every story: the gap between what we’re told is safe and what the evidence actually shows.

The Clean Fifteen isn’t as clean as it looks. Glyphosate has just been declared a matter of national security — by the same man who once called Monsanto’s safety claims “myths concocted by amoral propaganda.”

Microplastics are being removed from our drinking water only to be spread back onto our farmland. And a simple, affordable vitamin supplement is outperforming psychiatric medication for some of our most vulnerable teenagers — something the system has little interest in telling you.

These aren’t separate stories. They are the same story: who controls what goes into our food, our water, our soil, and our bodies — and who pays the price.

The OCA has been fighting on every one of these fronts for decades. We don’t take corporate money. We stay up to date on the most pressing farming and health issues, name the names, and work hard to give you the tools to act.

Your donations also help fund Via Orgánica, our regenerative organic farming project,  building the food system we’re fighting for — not just writing about it.

If this newsletter matters to you, please donate today.

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?

Evaggelos Vallianatos, Counter Punch:

“The No Spray Coalition against pesticides has issued a very strong statement rejecting President Trump’s recent executive order, which declared the production and use of glyphosate as critical to U.S. national security.

In 2007, the Coalition won its lawsuit against New York City’s spraying of Malathion to kill mosquitoes said to be the carriers of West Nile Virus. The City had applied massive doses of the pesticide. The settlement agreement raised the issue and stipulated a program limiting the dangers of glyphosate, which led to new regulations limiting the application of such chemicals in the environment.

And last month the grassroots healthy alternatives-to-pesticides coalition joined with GMO/Toxin Free USA, which authored the petition below; Beyond Pesticides; Organic Consumers Association; Greenpeace; Environmental Working Group; Center for Biological Diversity; and a slew of environmental and health organizations which have been fighting against the production and use of glyphosate for decades.”



The No Spray Coalition condemns the Trump administration’s executive order portraying glyphosate and white phosphorus as essential to U.S. Security interests, and thus rationalizing the U.S. government’s protecting and ramping up of production of toxic pesticides.

ScienceDaily:

“Some of the longest-living and healthiest populations in the world follow a simple idea known as hara hachi bu. This traditional Japanese practice encourages people to stop eating when they feel about 80% full, rather than continuing until they are completely satisfied.

The concept comes from Confucian teachings and focuses on moderation. Recently, it has gained attention as a possible tool for weight management. But it is not meant to be a strict diet or a form of restriction. Instead, it promotes slowing down, paying attention to your body, and developing a sense of appreciation for food.

Hara hachi bu is not just about eating less. Its emphasis on awareness and balance may help people build habits that last. Gradual, sustainable changes are often easier to maintain than strict diets, which can lead to cycles of weight loss and regain.

Many people eat while distracted, often using phones or watching screens. Research suggests that around 70% of adults and children use digital devices during meals.”



If you want to experiment with hara hachi bu– 80% full eating approach, or a more mindful way of eating, these simple strategies can help.

Sarah Marsh and Nicola Davis, The Guardian:

“Peptides are short chains of amino acids. These can be found naturally in the body – for example, hormones, such as insulin, oxytocin, and vasopressin are peptides – but they can also be made synthetically in the laboratory.

They include the active ingredients in prescription weight-loss drugs, such as Wegovy, which mimic the natural hormone GLP-1, as well as in experimental compounds pushed online by the booming biohacking and anti-ageing industries. On Telegram and TikTok, users claim the injections can heal injuries, sharpen focus, and smooth wrinkles.

Unlike medicines such as Wegovy, however, many of these experimental peptides are unapproved by regulators, with experts warning the compounds lack reliable safety data and quality control. Many are sold with labels stating they are ‘for research purposes only’, even as customers inject them into their bodies. Finnrick, a peptide testing laboratory in Texas, said about a third of the thousands of products it analyzed failed basic quality checks, and that proportion had stayed broadly unchanged over the 12 to 14 months it had been gathering data.”


The failures typically fall into three categories: identity, purity and quantity.

Increasing the Share of Organic Farming Leads To Healthier, More Diverse Soils, International Study Finds

Why Your Brain Decides What’s Beautiful Before You Do

Italy’s Addiction Treatment. Can It Work in the U.S.?

Candy Makers Quietly Change Recipes as Climate Change Hits Cocoa Industry

Almost Half of US Data Centers That Were Supposed to Open This Year Slated to Be Canceled or Delayed

The Conservancy’s Secret Weapon Against Invasive Species

Tattoos Affect Your Immune System in Ways We’re Just Beginning to Understand

The Upcoming EU Seed Law and Its Implication for Agrobiodiversity

‘It’s Just Not the Moment for Plant-Based Meat Right Now’: Beyond Meat Is Just Beyond Now, CEO Says

Toxin Free USA Campaigns to Prevent Products of Genetic Engineering to Be Labeled “Natural”

Say Goodbye To Traditional Drywall: Meet The Eco-Friendly Alternative That Looks Great

Experts Say ‘Accommodating’ Anxiety Is Quietly Causing Kids More Anxiety

Scientists Solve 30-Year Mystery of a Hidden Nutrient That Protects the Brain and Fights Cancer

How Exercising at Different Times of Day Affects Your Mental Health

Ecovillages and Organic Farming Could Reverse Global Warming