2020 Vision

 

The end of the modern era is at hand, writes Ronnie this week:

“As most of us realize, even as we repress this thought in order to maintain our sanity, we are fast approaching “the point of no return,” whereby our 21st Century Climate Emergency and societal meltdown begin to morph into global catastrophe.

“Even in the midst of enjoying a break over the holidays and celebrating with our family and friends, it’s hard to avoid thinking about the “Emergency”—and the climate criminals, indentured politicians and climate deniers who have dragged us to the precipice.”

Are we doomed?

Or could 2020 be the year the grassroots rise, and the Regeneration Revolution takes hold?

Read Ronnie’s essay of the week: ‘2020 Vision: A New Year’s Regeneration’

Utterly Shameless

 

The Monsanto-Bayer Protection Agency is at it again. This time, your taxpayer-funded regulatory agency is teaming up with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to defend Roundup weedkiller.

The Wall Street Journal reported on December 20, 2019, that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), “working with” the DOJ, filed court papers in support of Bayer’s attempt to reverse a California jury’s award of $25 million to cancer victim, Edwin Hardeman.

The EPA’s determination to protect Monsanto profits to the detriment of human and ecosystem health defies any reasonable explanation.

In fact, the more the evidence against glyphosate piles up, the more the EPA digs in its heels.

In December alone, GM Watch reported these new facts:

GMO-Based agriculture with its intensive use of pesticides has had a devastating impact on Argentina’s amphibian populations.

France’s national health agency, ANES, is so concerned about the health hazards of glyphosate, that the agency has withdrawn 36 glyphosate products.

And then this, the report that should be enough to ensure a worldwide ban on glyphosate: Glyphosate and Roundup are proven to disrupt the human gut microbiome.

When will Roundup and other poisons like it be banned for good?

When enough of us raise hell, and hold our politicians accountable—or vote them out.

Read: ‘Trump’s EPA Goes to Bat for Bayer as Company Fights $25-Million Verdict in Roundup Cancer Case’

TAKE ACTION: Tell Congress to Ban Monsanto’s Roundup Weedkiller

TAKE ACTION: Make a tax-deductible donation to our Millions Against Monsanto campaign

Raw Deal?

 

How is it that poisons like glyphosate and chlorpyrifos 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 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), 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, as if it were more toxic than Monsanto’s 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.

Doesn't Add Up

 

The next time somebody tells you how industrial factory farming is a critical part of the economy—all those jobs, right?—you can point them to a new study that says otherwise.

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have determined that U.S. farms cost the economy more in health and environmental damage than they contribute to the economy.

According to an article in Forbes, the study focuses on particulate pollution, which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says is the cause of 90 percent of the 100,000 premature deaths attributed every year to air pollution.

Among industrial factory farms, poultry farms (like the one Costco is building in Nebraska) are the biggest offenders.

The study adds to the litany of reasons to end factory farming—and that’s without even including the health costs associated with eating factory farm meat, or the economic costs of other forms of pollution, such as greenhouse gas emissions and their impact on the climate.

Read ‘Animal Agriculture Costs More in Health Damage Than It Contributes to the Economy’

Make a tax-deductible contribution to our End Factory Farms campaign

Double Feature

 

Al Jazeera News marked the end of the decade by interviewing two activists: Xiuhtezcatl Martinez, cofounder of Earth Guardians, and Dr. Vandana Shiva, activist, author, founder of Navdanya and a member of our sister organization, Regeneration International’s steering committee.

The two activists may be worlds—and decades in age—apart, but they’re on the same page when it comes to defending Mother Earth against corporate crime and corruption.

Nineteen-year-old Martinez, who’s been campaigning against climate change since he was six years old, emphasizes the need to see Indigneous communities not just as victims of the climate crisis, but as integral to finding solutions because, as he says:

“Indigenous communities have carried the knowledge and wisdom of how to live in balance with nature and the planet for generations.”

Shiva agrees with Martinez that there’s no crisis more urgent than climate change. She blames the crisis on chemical-industrial fossil-fuel-based farming, and proposes this solution: ecological biodiverse farming.

Referring to Bolivia President Evo Morales’ historic Law of the Rights of Mother Earth, Shiva says “that’s the future, that’s the Green New Deal—to live better without fossil fuels, without chemicals, without poisons.

Watch the Al Jazerra News interviews with Vandana Shiva and Xiuhtezcatl Martinez

SIGN UP for the Regeneration International newsletter

SIGN THE PETITION: Consumers for a Regenerative Green New Deal

Coming Soon!

 

“Grassroots Rising outlines a logical and very achievable pathway for how we can shift from degeneration to regeneration and make this an environmentally robust world for all of us.”—André Leu, international director, Regeneration International, former president, International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM); author, “The Myth of Safe Pesticides”

Ready to organize and do your part to prevent ecological collapse? “Grassroots Rising,” written by Organic Consumers Association's founder Ronnie Cummins, is your “good news” instruction manual for fixing our broken food and farming system, and our broken climate.

Ronnie’s new book won’t be out until mid-February, but you can reserve a copy now.

The timing couldn’t be better.

As we head into a new year, the climate emergency is bearing down on us. Our family farmers are going bankrupt, and our food is increasingly contaminated and less nutritious.

But there’s hope on the horizon.

Politicians are finally waking up to regenerative agriculture as a climate, health, food security and rural economy revitalization solution. And more than 100 members of Congress have officially endorsed the Green New Deal as the framework for transforming our food and farming (and climate) policy.

It’s a great start. But it will take a lot more pressure from millions of grassroots activists to make the Regenerative Green New Deal a reality.

Want to be part of the Regeneration Revolution? “Grassroots Rising” is your handbook.

Place your pre-sale order now!

TAKE ACTION: Donate $100 or more and get a copy of Ronnie’s book as soon as it’s available (mid-February)

SIGN THE PETITION: Consumers Want a Regenerative Green New Deal!

Essential Reading

 

Saving Your Own Tomato Seeds

Why a Corporate Lawyer Is Sounding the Alarm About These Common Chemicals

The Dark Side of Plant-Based Foods: It’s More About Money Than You May Think

Why Fake Meat and Eliminating Livestock Are Really Bad Ideas

Processed Meat Recalls Rise Dramatically as Consumers Bite Down on Metals, Plastic and Glass

After a Rough Year, Farmers and Congress Are Talking Climate Solutions

Yes, Food Is Grown in Sewage Waste. That’s a Problem.