Brave New World?

 

For decades, the biotech industry has spun a narrative around genetically engineered crops that can be summed up very simply as “jam tomorrow, instead of bread and butter today.”

Sustained—and financed—largely on the promise of spectacular success at some unidentified point in the future, the research and development of new types of GMO foods, made with a whole host of new genetic engineering technologies, has gathered pace in recent years.

It's tough to keep up with everything researchers and the biotech industry are cooking up—including the fact that genetic engineering is fast spreading from the crops in the field to the animals in the barn.

Two recent reports provide in-depth information on the mechanics—and the ethical issues—around gene-edited farm animals.

They also shed light on the unintended, and disturbing, consequences of messing with Mother Nature.

Read 'Brave New World: What You Need to Know About Gene-Edited Farm Animals'

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

Don't Need 'Em

 

From the department of “It’s About Time:” Finally, a federal bill that has the potential to end the factory farming nightmare.

According to a recent poll, at least half of U.S. consumers oppose industrial factory farming. Now some federal legislators (and some presidential candidates) are catching up with voter sentiment.

And some are even stepping up with proposals to either severely restrict, or outright ban what Big Ag refers to as CAFOs (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations).

The latest good news? A bill, introduced by Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), that could, among other things, lead to the end of industrial factory farms.

We don’t need factory farms to “feed the world.” Really, we don’t. Nor do we need them to “keep the economy going.” In fact, according to this new study, factory farming is actually bad for the economy.

TAKE ACTION to ban factory farms! Tell Congress to pass the Farm System Reform Act of 2019

Hold the Popcorn

 

If you were looking forward to the next Monsanto Roundup cancer trial, scheduled to begin this month in Monsanto’s backyard (St. Louis, Mo.), you’ll have to wait—maybe forever.

In its latest maneuvering to avoid accountability, Monsanto’s parent company, Bayer, has managed to get the case pulled from the docket.

It looks like justice for plaintiff Sharlean Gordon—and the more than 42,000 other victims whose similar cases are pending—will be delayed. If it happens at all.

Monsanto watchers were keen to follow this next trial. Former Monsanto CEO Hugh Grant had been ordered to take the stand, against his will. The trial was supposed to be broadcast to the public. Popcorn sales were up.

Now, it's "wait and see."

Last week, we reported that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Justice were doing their part to protect the poison cartel. Now this.

If our taxpayer-funded regulatory agencies won't protect us. And our "justice" system won't protect us. That just leave . . . us.

Read ‘St. Louis Monsanto Roundup Trial Postponed, Bayer Stock Climbs’

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

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

Big Change?

 

Election year is here. And never has it been more urgent that we educate consumers about which potential candidates are committed to protecting our food system and our environment—and which ones aren't.

Last year, we changed the name of the Organic Consumers Association (OCA) 501(c)(4) lobbying arm from Organic Consumers Fund, to Citizens Regeneration Lobby.

The name change reflects the strategic thinking, and growing urgency, around the need to address issues like pesticide contamination of our food, water pollution, climate change—and a host of other threats to our health—as though they are deeply connected, not isolated issues.

Because they are.

For years, our lobbying efforts have been constrained by a political process owned by the very corporations responsible for these threats. And by a total lack of courage on the part of the majority of our elected officials.

But this election year has the potential to be very different.

This year we have presidential candidates talking about the need to support organic regenerative farmers. This year we have candidates, running at all levels, who are talking about pesticides, water pollution, corporate monopolies and climate change.

This year could be the year we stop settling for small, incremental food and farming and climate policies that produce small solutions that don't come anywhere close to meeting the scale of the problems.

Contributions to Citizens Regeneration Lobby aren't eligible for tax deductions. But we hope you'll support this important work as we ratchet up our lobbying efforts in this critical election year. Thank you!

Support Citizens Regeneration Lobby, OCA’s 501(c)(4) lobbying arm (not tax-deductible)

Make a tax-deductible donation to Organic Consumers Association, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit

Donate $100 or more and we’ll send you a copy of Ronnie’s new book

Click here for more ways to support our work

Yes, We Can

 

A recent NPR segment noted that in 2019, farmers got billions in taxpayer subsidies, yet “hardly anyone objected.”

We object. So do the thousands of farmers who didn’t get subsidies—mostly those non-industrial, non-chemical farmers who instead of growing GMO corn and soybeans, grow organic and regenerative, nutrient-dense food for their local communities.

Why? Because as taxpayers, we'd rather support a better kind of farming, the kind that can actually help reverse global warming.

That's why we support a regenerative Green New Deal.

Ellen Brown, founder of the Public Banking Institute and author of 12 books, says that one of the most commonly floated arguments against a Green New Deal is that it will cost too much. She disagrees. In a recent article, she writes:

"It is possible to sequester carbon and restore our collapsing ecosystem using the financial resources we already have, and it can be done while at the same time improving the quality of our food, water, air and general health."

Brown also disagrees with the premise that the one-and-only solution to global warming is to invest in renewable energy technologies.

"Contrary to popular belief, the biggest environmental polluters are not big fossil fuel companies. They are big agribusiness and factory farming, with six powerful food industry giants—Archer Daniels Midland, Cargill, Dean Foods, Dow AgroSciences, Tyson and Monsanto (now merged with Bayer)—playing a major role."

If you still have doubts about the affordability of a Green New Deal—or if you’re looking for more help explaining how we can, and must, invest in a Green New Deal—you’ll want to read Brown’s latest article, which ends like this:

"The bottom line is that saving the planet from environmental destruction is not only achievable, but that by focusing on regenerative agriculture and tapping up the central bank for funding, the climate crisis can be addressed without raising taxes and while restoring our collective health."

Read ‘The Key to the Environmental Crisis Is Beneath Our Feet’

SIGN THE PETITION: Consumers for a Regenerative Green New Deal

Restorative Travel

 

Eco-restoration is “the great work of our time.”

That’s what one of the participants in last year’s land-restoration camp said about her experience at the Vía Orgánica Ranch, a regenerative teaching farm and ranch near San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.

What’s an “ecorestoration camp?” The best explanation is here, in this video produced by OCA’s Vía Orgánica project in collaboration with Ecosystem Restoration Camps and Regeneration International.

Want to participate?

Join Vía Orgánica and the Ecosystem Restoration Camp Movement in Mexico, February 21 - March 1, 2020, at the land-restoration camp at Vía Orgánica Ranch.

Volunteer to camp, work, study, connect with the earth and meet new friends in this beautiful ranch near San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Camp activities will include restoration work such as tree planting, composting, seed collecting, earthworks, cooking, listening to music, campfires, making new friends and much more.

Ecosystem restoration is a growing global strategy to naturally draw down and sequester carbon from the atmosphere and store it in our soils, forests and vegetation to reverse global warming.

Learn more and sign up

Watch this beautiful video filmed on site at the last Vía Orgánica Ecosystem Restoration Camp

Questions? Email [email protected]

Essential Reading

 

‘Like Sending Bees to War’: The Deadly Truth Behind Your Almond-Milk Obsession

Looking Ahead: Hormone-Altering Chemicals Threaten Our Health, Finances and Future

Vermont Sues State's Largest Dairy Over Permit Violations

‘It’s a Superpower’: How Walking Makes Us Happier, Healthier and Brainier

Teen Girls Took Over the Climate Movement. What Happens Next?

Coca-Cola Launches Obesity Subscription Contest

It’s Not Just Roundup—Communities Should Limit All Harmful Pesticides