About one-fourth of the world’s pigs have died from African Swine Fever. ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌
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ESSAY OF THE WEEKLETTER FROM SANTIAGO

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OCA’s Ronnie Cummins recently joined our sister organization, Regeneration International
[[link removed]] , and South American farmers and civil society groups, to participate in COP25
events in Santiago, Chile, even though the official global climate summit was
moved to Madrid. ( More on that here
[[link removed]] ).

While there, Ronnie witnessed firsthand some of the protests against government
and corporate corruption.

"Marching and chanting with our Chilean brothers and sisters along riot-scarred
streets in central Santiago, past an astonishing number of smashed-up
billboards, burnt-out subway stations, battered storefronts, broken traffic
lights, boarded-up banks, hotels and businesses, it’s clear that elite control
and ‘business as usual, at least here in Chile, is no longer tolerable. Along
the major thoroughfares such as Avenida Providencia, neighborhood or
family-owned businesses, ‘somos pyme have generally been spared, while colonial
monuments, government buildings, Starbucks, McDonald’s, Oxxo, Domino’s Pizza the
Crown Plaza Hotel, and other symbols of multinational control and consumerism
have been spray painted, smashed and vandalized."

In his “Letter from Santiago,” Ronnie talks about the confluence of climate
change and social unrest, how they are linked, what food and farming has to do
with both, and what steps citizens, farmers and governments need to take in the
face of today’s global eco-social crisis.

Read: ‘Letter from Santiago’
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SIGN UP for the Regeneration International newsletter
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BAN PESTICIDESLEAD, DON'T FOLLOW

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In a perfect world, our taxpayer-funded federal government regulatory agencies
wouldn’t allow chemical companies like Monsanto
[[link removed]] (now owned by Bayer) and DowDupont to poison us and our kids.

In the world we live in—where corporations can buy the laws that protect their
obscene profits—we, the people, have to fight back against the poison cartel,
starting in our own backyards.

The New York Times editorial board this week decried
[[link removed]] the failure of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to ban chlorpyrifos
[[link removed]] , a neurotoxin known to be especially dangerous for children.

The editorial also called out New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo for vetoing a bill
[[link removed]] that would have banned the chemical in his state, despite broad partisan
support for the measure.

Noting that chlorpyrifos was originally developed
[[link removed]] by Nazis in World War II as a nerve gas, the Times editors called the
continuing use of chlorpyrifos “surprising:"

"The health risks posed by continued spraying of chlorpyrifos are especially
high for farmworkers and rural communities. But the E.P.A. has found that young
children everywhere are exposed to the chemical—at levels 140 times higher than
the agency’s safety threshold—through the simple act of eating."

A few states have been successful in banning chlorpyrifos. Meanwhile, no states
have yet successfully banned glyphosate-based
[[link removed]] herbicides like Monsanto’s Roundup.

But thanks to the work of activists, some towns and schools are listening to the
science, and to concerned citizens.

An article
[[link removed]] this week in Civil Eats highlights the work of some of those activists. It’s an
inspiring read. And a roadmap for all of us who, faced with a leadership vacuum
at the top, are determined to lead from the grassroots.

Read ‘Community-Led Efforts to Ban Glyphosate in Public Spaces Pick Up Speed’
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TAKE ACTON: Join the campaign for glyphosate-free and organic campuses
[[link removed]]

Print this flyer and share with you school board, PTA and other parents
[[link removed]]

TAKE ACTION: Ask your Governor and state legislators to ban chlorpyrifos!
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TAKE ACTION: Make your state the first to ban Monsanto’s Roundup weedkiller
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ACTION ALERTRAW DEAL?

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How is it that poisons like glyphosate
[[link removed]] and chlorpyrifos
[[link removed]] can be sold—and sprayed on food—almost everywhere in the U.S., but 22 states
prohibit sales of raw milk?

In fact, you almost need a law degree to figure out the jumbled mix of state laws
[[link removed]] governing raw milk sales.

Why do known carcinogens get a pass from U.S. regulatory agencies, but raw milk
gets a raw deal?

Congress has never passed a ban on raw milk. Yet the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) has used its regulatory authority to raid farms and
prosecute farmers for distributing raw milk.

Some members of Congress want to stop the raids, and make it easier for
consumers to buy—and farmers to sell—raw milk.

This week, Representatives Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Chellie Pingree (D-Maine)
introduced the Interstate Milk Freedom Act ( H.R. 5410
[[link removed]] ), a bill that prohibits federal interference with the interstate traffic of
unpasteurized milk and milk products that are packaged for direct human
consumption.

Isn’t it time we stopped treating raw milk, widely recognized for its health benefits
[[link removed]] , as if it were more toxic than Monsanto’s
[[link removed]] Roundup weedkiller?

TAKE ACTION: Ask Your Member of Congress to support your right to choose raw
milk by supporting H.R. 5410, the Interstate Milk Freedom Act.
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END FACTORY FARMINGUGLY TRUTH

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This list of reasons to end factory farming is almost as long as the Pinnochio
noses on the faces of corporate CEOs who claim we can’t feed the world without
this ugly, unhealthful, environmentally catastrophic system.

This week, journalist Martha Rosenberg writes
[[link removed]] about one more ugly truth about factory farms, one that probably isn’t even on
your radar: African Swine Fever (ASF).

ASF has already killed about one-fourth of the world’s pigs—the ones living in
factory farms.

But you’ve probably not even heard about this latest pandemic. That’s because
it’s just another inconvenient fact that Big Meat doesn’t want you to know
about.

Fortunately, under growing pressure from consumers, organic and regenerative
farmers, and animal activists, Congress is waking up to the fact that factory
farms, or CAFOs (Confined Animal Feeding Operations) need to go.

Just this week, Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) introduced a bill
[[link removed]] calling for an immediate and permanent moratorium on building or expanding
large CAFOs and the closing of all existing large CAFOs by 2040.

Booker joins presidential candidates Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)
[[link removed]] and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)
[[link removed]] in calling for major farm policy reforms that could lead to the end of factory
farming. Yay!

Read ‘The Latest Livestock Pandemic Big Meat Doesn't Want You to Know About’
[[link removed]]

SIGN THE PETITION: Tell Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and Cory Booker:
Thank you for standing up to Big Ag and looking out for small farmers!
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SUPPORT OCA & CRLOPT OUT?

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If you follow our work, or the work of other good nonprofits, you know the
drill: You’re going to get a lot of fundraising emails between now and midnight
December 31.

Many nonprofits, including ours, raise a significant portion of their annual
budget during the last week of the year.

If we don’t run a successful year-end fundraising campaign, we run into trouble.

And when we run into trouble, we have to skimp on something, whether it’s our
educational efforts, our advocacy, our lobbying or our legal and corporate
campaign work.

Still, we get that all those year-end fundraising emails cluttering up your
inbox might not be welcome. So we’ve come up with a plan.

If you’d like to be removed from our year-end fundraising campaign, make a
monthly donation— of any amount —and we’ll take you off the fundraising email list (but keep you on the
newsletter list).

As always, thank you. We are so grateful for your support.

Make a monthly donation to OCA to opt out of our year-end fundraising
[[link removed]]

Click here for more ways to support our work
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VIDEO OF THE WEEKLONE RANGER

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What if they held a forum on climate change and agriculture for presidential
candidates, and the candidates didn’t show up?

That’s not quite what happened earlier this month—but it’s close.

On December 5, the Organic Farmers Association (OFA)
[[link removed]] and the Iowa Organic Association [[link removed]] held a Presidential Forum: “Combating Climate Change with Organic and
Regenerative Agriculture.”

Max Goldberg of Living Maxwell [[link removed]] reported that according to OFA Executive Director, Kate Mendenhall:

“We had been talking with the candidates since the spring, trying to get them on
an organic farm and have them learn more about the impact that organic farming
has had on the local communities. We came up with an idea for a forum, but it
was just not a priority for most of them. However, we were thrilled that Senator
Sanders came.”

That’s right. One candidate—Sen. Bernie Sanders—showed up to answer questions
from Iowa’s organic
[[link removed]] farmers.

Francis Thicke, whose resumé
[[link removed]] includes dairy farmer and co-chair of the U.S. Farmers & Ranchers for a Green New Deal
[[link removed]] , introduced Sanders, who then fielded questions from Thicke and others.

Sanders’ responses may not all have been perfect, or perfectly complete. But he
showed up. And he showed interest.

Watch Bernie Sanders on organic food and farming
[[link removed]]

More about the U.S. Farmers & Ranchers for a Green New Deal
[[link removed]]

FARMERS & RANCHERS ONLY: Sign this letter to Congress
[[link removed]]

CONSUMERS: Sign this petition
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NATURAL HEALTHREALLY?

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The U.S. Food & Drug Administration’s (FDA) latest attack on consumer rights is
designed to make it more difficult to legally obtain homeopathic remedies.

Our friends at the Alliance for Natural Health (ANH) report
[[link removed]] that the FDA recently issued a revised draft guidance
[[link removed]] declaring that all homeopathic drugs are being marketed illegally.

Why go after homeopathic treatments? According to ANH, the FDA’s motivation
appears to be driven more by the agency’s desire to protect Big Pharma’s
profits, than out of concern for the public.

TAKE ACTION: Tell the FDA to protect consumers’ right to homeopathic remedies
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LITTLE BYTESESSENTIAL READING

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Glyphosate and Roundup Proven to Disrupt Gut Microbiome by Inhibiting Shikimate
Pathway
[[link removed]]

Leading the Herd: Protect Our Organic Dairy Cows
[[link removed]]

Hope Lies in the Streets
[[link removed]]

Two New Bills Would Blunt Impact of Factory Farms on Public Health and the
Environment
[[link removed]]

Greta Tells COP25: ‘This Has Got to Stop’
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Pesticides in the Real World: The Consequences of GMO-Based Agriculture on
Native Amphibians
[[link removed]]

Are ‘Forever Chemicals’ in Our Milk? Nobody Has Really Been Testing
[[link removed]]

These 3 Toxins Have the Largest Impact on Your LIfespan
[[link removed]]

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[[link removed]] | OCA on Pinterest
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[[link removed]] Organic Consumers Association
[[link removed]] is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. 6771 South Silver Hill Drive - Finland, MN 55603 - Phone: 218-226-4164 - Fax:
218-353-7652

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