Last month the Supreme Court ruled that pesticide companies can’t be sued for failing to warn people their products may cause cancer, as long as the EPA approved the label. Bayer got exactly what it wanted out of Monsanto v. Durnell. So did every other company that makes one of the 57,000 pesticides the EPA has approved. It doesn’t matter what those chemicals do to the people exposed to them anymore. The label is now their shield, and the courtroom door is closing on the people they’ve poisoned.

Two members of Congress, Chellie Pingree and Thomas Massie, introduced the People Over Poison Act to restore people’s right to sue pesticide companies that hide health risks from the public. Other members of Congress, Democrats and Republicans both, are working on similar bills right now.

We’ve beaten Bayer and Monsanto in courtrooms before, and stopped their bills in statehouses too. This is another one of those fights we should all care about and take action on.

TAKE ACTION → Tell Congress to pass the No Immunity for Glyphosate, Pesticide Injury Accountability, and People Over Poison Acts!

Read how lawmakers are pushing back.

Environmental, health, and farmworker groups are already mobilizing behind this bill. Read more here.

Tasting Table:

“If you’re active on social media, you’ve probably seen posts about ‘survival gardens.’ The idea’s not new, and the definition varies, but they generally refer to gardens that can grow enough food to help you get by for a while, whether you’re laid off and can’t afford produce or something like a pandemic causes major supply chain disruptions. 

You might want your garden to support you for a few weeks or indefinitely, depending on how pessimistic you are and how much land you have. Still, survival gardens share a few common characteristics: They prioritize productivity, calories per square foot, and balanced nutrition, and can be customized based on the foods your family likes to eat.”

Drawing on that lifetime of experience and reading, here are some of the crops we recommend for your own survival garden.

Soumya Sagar, Smithsonian:

“Knights of science have long chased a biologic holy grail: transforming a soup of raw chemicals into self-sustaining life. Now, a team led by synthetic biologist Kate Adamala, of the University of Minnesota, claims to have made a huge leap toward that lofty goal.

The team has developed simple artificial cells that can feed, grow, multiply and even compete for food, according to a study posted to the preprint server bioRxiv on July 2. The work has not been peer-reviewed. While the human-made cells aren’t quite alive—they can’t make all the necessary machinery or divide for that many generations—they show many signs of life.

‘It is not as robust, as fast or as good at most of its functions as a natural cell, but it is proof of principle that molecules can reconstitute behaviors that, up until now, we only associated with natural living cells,’ Adamala tells Guardian’s Ian Sample.

Adamala and her colleagues started down this path by trying to recreate natural cell division, a part of reproduction, by making a stripped-down version. But then they flipped their approach and worked from the bottom up, which would allow them to fully understand each component.”

The team created synthetic cell membranes that gathered proteins from the environment, and when they collected enough, the membrane’s surface warped inward until it split into two.

Editor’s Note: This is exactly the kind of moment the precautionary principle exists for. Developers should have to prove something is safe before it’s released or sold, not after the harm is done. And the public deserves a real say in whether we want this technology at all. Genetic engineering already reshaped our food system through GMOs, usually with little oversight and even less public input. Now we’re asking who’s controlling this next step, who’s profiting from it, and whether anyone is watching closely enough to catch problems before they spread. Based on what we’ve seen with GMOs, we can’t count on companies or the scientists working for them to do that oversight themselves.

Emily Payne, Sentient:

“For decades, Danish pig farming has seemed untouchable. The country of 6 million people produces approximately 28 million pigs per year, and its pork industry is deeply embedded in the economy, politics and national identity.

But this spring, animal welfare was a defining issue in what became known as the ‘pig election.’ After Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen secured a third term, the government coalition announced a historic program aimed at shifting the industry away from ultra-intensive, export-driven factory farming.

The campaign’s success offers a case study for advocates elsewhere. In the United States, where more than 70 million pigs are raised annually and animal welfare is rarely a major electoral issue, advocates have long struggled to build political momentum on farm animal welfare issues.” 



Yet, one of the biggest lessons from Denmark’s campaign has little to do with money, politics or policy: Keep the message focused on the animal.

Growing evidence links diet to more than physical health. It shapes mood and overall well being too. Cutting back on ultra-processed foods, eating more fruits and vegetables, and certain supplements have been tied to improvements in depression and other mental health conditions in adults, plus a healthier start in life for children. Researchers are increasingly connecting these effects to the brain regions involved in eating behavior and to the gut microbiome’s influence on immune, metabolic, and neural pathways.

Research increasingly links gut health to reduced inflammation and improved functioning across many body systems, including the nervous system. Eating a variety of plants supports a healthy gut microbiome because each plant contains different polyphenols, chemicals that nourish beneficial gut bacteria. Gut health expert Tim Spector, PhD, of King’s College London, suggests eating a high-fiber diet with around 30 different plants per week, including fruits and vegetables as well as grains, nuts, and spices.

Learn how researchers are furthering our understanding of nutrition to optimize mental health by Zara Abrams, American Psychological Association.

Some days the news makes it hard to feel hopeful.

The Supreme Court just shielded pesticide companies from accountability. The Farm Bill is being rewritten for industrial agriculture. Protections decades in the making are being stripped away in a matter of months.

But there’s real progress too. Denmark just proved farm animal welfare can win elections. Farmers just won back grant money the government tried to take away. A stretch of ocean the size of France just got real protection. People pushed for these wins, showed up, made calls, kept pressure on, and it worked!

We already know what works: organic, regenerative practices that heal the land instead of extracting from it. Our job is making them the norm, not the alternative. That takes resources, and it takes people willing to stand behind this work when the other side has unlimited lobbyists and legal budgets.

Can you help us keep fighting for the farmers and communities working toward a healthier, more just food system 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?

French Polynesia’s government just designated a new marine reserve roughly the size of France, protecting about 200,000 square miles of water around the Austral and Marquesas Islands. Mining, trawling, and industrial fishing are now banned across the entire area, while the traditional artisanal fishing that local communities have always depended on gets to continue.

These waters are home to species found nowhere else on Earth, and they shelter endangered sharks, whales, dolphins, and sea turtles who need every bit of safe habitat they can get. It’s one of the biggest ocean protection commitments any government has ever made, and it’s a genuinely hopeful reminder that at a moment when so much ocean news is about what’s being opened up to industry, some places are still choosing to protect what makes them special and supports their communities. 

Read more about this exciting conservation news from Positive News.

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) just added propyl gallate to its Dirty Dozen list of food chemicals, and we could all easily be eating it without knowing. It’s a preservative that is used to stop fats and oils from going rancid, so it turns up often in processed meats like deli meats and sausages, as well as candy and frozen foods like pizza.

Studies have linked propyl gallate to oxidative stress, which is when reactive molecules build up in the body and damage cells. Researchers have also connected it and its breakdown products to liver damage, kidney damage, and reproductive harm in animal studies, including effects on fertility and early embryonic development.

When you’re looking at labels, it’s not always easy to spot, since it’s usually listed below the Nutrition Facts panel and can even be added to food packaging without being disclosed on the label at all.

The good news is organic products aren’t allowed to use at all, so organic versions of these products are a safe bet.”

See the full report on EWG before your next shopping trip.

Rebekah Alvey, Civil Eats:

“A federal court has ordered the Trump administration to restore 24 grants under the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Increasing Land, Capital, and Market Access Program (ILCMA), which were cancelled in March.

But 49 of those contracts were terminated in March as the Trump administration set out to eliminate alleged diversity, equity, and inclusion in federal grants.

Twenty-four of them were added to a 2025 lawsuit overseen by Earthjustice, Farmers Justice Center, FarmSTAND and the Southern Environmental Law Center. On Tuesday, D.C. District Court Judge Beryl Howell ordered the USDA start the process of restoring $127 million in grant payments by July 3.”

Learn more.

The L.A. Nonprofit Where the Formerly Incarcerated Grow Organic Produce A Los Angeles nonprofit is giving formerly incarcerated people hands-on training in organic farming, offering both a paycheck and a second chance built around real skills. The piece follows how the program is reshaping lives one harvest at a time. Learn more at LA Progressive.

Tribe Sues Feds for Planned Mass Removal of Wild Horse Herd on Ancestral Lands A tribal nation is taking the federal government to court over a plan to remove a wild horse herd from lands considered sacred and central to tribal history. At stake is who gets a say over federal land management decisions on ancestral territory. Read the full story at Native News Online.

Why Human Connection Matters More in the Age of AI As AI tools take on more of our daily communication and problem solving, this piece argues that genuine human connection is becoming more valuable, not less. The author suggests picking up the phone more, not less, as AI chat becomes the easier default. Learn more at Psychology Today.

ADHD and Autism May Be Facets of One “Neurodevelopmental Spectrum,” Not Separate Boxes New research suggests ADHD and autism may overlap far more than the traditional separate diagnostic categories suggest, pointing instead to a broader shared spectrum. Researchers say the findings could eventually reshape how both conditions are diagnosed and treated. Read the full story at Study Finds.

Urban Trees Aren’t Just Nice, Scientists Say — They’re Mandatory Researchers are making the case that city trees aren’t a nice-to-have amenity but a public health necessity, cutting heat, pollution, and even crime in the neighborhoods that have them. Many cities still fund tree planting as the first thing cut when budgets tighten. Read the full story at Grist.

Fertilizer Made From Human Urine Is Coming to the U.S. A startup is bringing a urine-based fertilizer to American farms, following successful use in Europe, as an alternative to synthetic fertilizers made from fossil fuels. The piece breaks down how the process actually works. Learn more at Food & Wine.

Fast Walkers in Their 80s Cut Their Risk of Cognitive Decline by Half, a Study Finds A new study found that older adults who maintain a faster walking pace have significantly lower rates of cognitive decline than slower walkers, even later in life. Researchers say gait speed may be an early signal of brain health. Read the full story at NPR.

How To Repel Ticks With a Simple but Overlooked Solution This piece highlights geranium oil as a natural, often overlooked option for keeping ticks away this summer, without reaching for harsher synthetic repellents. Try it before your next hike. Read the full story at House Digest.

6 Ways to Take Care of Your Gut (That Have Nothing to Do With Food) Diet gets most of the attention in gut health conversations, but this piece rounds up lifestyle factors, like sleep, stress, and movement, that matter just as much. Gut health turns out to be about more than what’s on your plate. Learn more at PureWow.

A Traditional Japanese Breakfast Food Could Significantly Boost Your Gut Health Natto, a fermented soybean dish that’s been a Japanese breakfast staple for centuries, is getting fresh attention for its potential gut health benefits. The piece explains what’s actually in it and why. Read the full story at Verywell Health.

Tattoos Affect Your Immune System in Ways Scientists Are Just Beginning to Understand Once tattoo ink is injected into the skin, the body treats it as a foreign substance, and the immune cells sent to clear it out never fully succeed. Researchers are now tracing where that ink actually ends up, including in the lymph nodes. Read the full story at Science Alert.

Algae Blooms: Unsightly for the Reflecting Pool, Potentially Toxic Elsewhere The bright green algae blooms showing up in waterways like D.C.’s Reflecting Pool aren’t just an eyesore, they can signal toxin producing bacteria that pose risks to people and pets. EWG breaks down what causes these blooms and how to stay safe around them. Learn more at EWG.

The Real Cost of “America First” Fishing Trump just opened parts of three national marine monuments in Hawai’i, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands to commercial fishing, covering roughly half a million square miles of ocean. Native Hawaiian leaders and Indigenous fishers say the real winners are large commercial fleets, not the communities who’ve relied on these waters for generations. Read the full story at Grist.

Rights of Nature Laws Are Coming Up Against Legal Systems Designed for Destruction Countries like Colombia and Bangladesh have passed laws granting rivers and ecosystems legal rights of their own. But courts still have to decide what those rights actually mean in practice, and judges trained on property and development law don’t always know what to do with a river as a plaintiff. Learn more at Inside Climate News.

Your Zip Code Shouldn’t Determine How Long You Live This piece digs into how much life expectancy still varies based purely on where someone lives, driven by pollution, access to healthcare, and economic conditions. Location, it turns out, can shape health outcomes more than personal choices do. Learn more at Environmental Health News.

Collapse of AMOC Ocean Current May Already Be Locked In New research suggests the Atlantic Ocean current that helps regulate climate across the Northern Hemisphere may already be on an irreversible path toward collapse. A shutdown would mean colder winters in Europe and disrupted monsoon seasons in parts of Africa and Asia. Read the full story at New Scientist.

Best Bang for Your Buck: Skin Deep® Green-Rated Shampoos Under $20 EWG rounds up shampoos that score well on its Skin Deep database for ingredient safety without breaking the bank. Good if you’re looking to swap out a bathroom staple for something cleaner. Learn more at EWG.