COVID-19

Toxic Inquiry

An international team of scientists has been convened to examine the possibility that SARS-CoV-2 leaked from a laboratory.

The team, brought together as part of the Lancet COVID-19 Commission, will make recommendations on how to avoid or at least better defend ourselves against another pandemic.

Sounds good, right? But the devil is in the detail—and guess who’s in charge of the inquiry?

The team will be led by “Gain-of-Function Hall of Shamer” British zoologist Dr. Peter Daszak, president of EcoHealth Alliance and a top scientific collaborator and grant writer for virus hunters and gain-of-function/dual-use researchers, both military and civilian.

Expressions of outrage and disbelief have greeted his appointment because many consider Daszak to be one of the most conflicted and unreliable voices on this issue.

Daszak has promised to undertake the investigation “with an open mind.”

But—come on—how open is the mind of a man who has already dismissed suggestions of a laboratory leak as “preposterous,” “baseless,” “crackpot,” “conspiracy theories” and “pure baloney”?

We don’t hold out much hope for this toxic inquiry—but we do think people power can help stop this madness.

READ: Scientists Outraged by Peter Daszak Leading Inquiry Into Possible Covid Lab Leak 

GET THE FACTS: Read more about our COVID-19 campaign 

Visit our Gain-of-Function Hall of Shame

TRUTH & TRANSPARENCY

Happy Ruling

As a conscious consumer you’ve already got your work cut out for you when it comes to making sense of all the certifications and marketing and labeling claims floating around on egg cartons and egg brands’ websites.

You shouldn’t have to also worry about whether egg brands are playing fast and loose with those claims. That’s why in March, Organic Consumers Association sued Happy Egg Co. for false, deceptive and misleading advertising claims related to the use of the term “pasture raised.”

As is typical when OCA sues a company for deceiving consumers, Happy Egg promptly asked the court to dismiss the case. We thought you’d like to know that the court denied Happy Egg’s motion to dismiss, so the lawsuit will proceed. 

We also thought you’d be either interested, amused or perhaps annoyed to learn how Happy Egg’s corporate “marketing brain” and legal team tried (unsuccessfully) to justify the less-than-straightforward language the company uses in an attempt to get more consumers like you to buy its brand. 

Read this week’s blog post ‘Happy’ Eggs from ‘Happy’ Hens? Here’s what Happy Egg Co. Really Believes for an “eggcellent” example of how brands defend their marketing tactics. 

Find out more about our lawsuit

ACTION ALERT

Stop the Madness

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, we have written extensively about the true origins, nature, prevention and treatment of COVID-19.

We’ve exposed the lies and the corruption behind the “official story” of the so-called “natural” origin of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which still has such a strong grip on the media and on our policymakers.

We’ve also exposed the scandal of “gain-of-function” research that weaponizes viruses and bacteria—research that is funded by the military, Big Pharma, Bill Gates and government agencies in the U.S., China and other nations.

In the midst of an unprecedented global disaster and government failure to solve the COVID-19 crisis, it’s time for global civil society to take matters into our own hands and stop the madness.  

Through our global citizens’ petition we are calling for an updating and international ratification of the original Chemical and Biological Warfare Convention that was designed to ban chemical and biological bioweapons.

Through our international Open Letter, “Why We Need a Global Moratorium on the Creation of Potential Pandemic Pathogens (PPPs) Through Gain-of-Function Experiments,” we are calling on scientists, lawyers and policy experts to add their voices to the call for change.

We need you to sign our petition and send it to everyone you know to sign, too.

We also need your help to reach out to more scientists, lawyers and policy experts to sign our open letter.

To find out more about our plans for a global mass-based lobbying campaign to stop “gain-of-function” research: 

READ: Weaponizing Viruses and Bacteria: Stop the Madness 

TAKE ACTION! Sign the Petition to Stop the Genetic Engineering of Viruses! Shut Down All Biowarfare Labs Now!

TAKE ACTION! Ask the scientists, lawyers, and policy experts you know to sign our international Open Letter: “Why We Need a Global Moratorium on the Creation of Potential Pandemic Pathogens (PPPs) Through Gain-of-Function Experiments”

#BOYCOTTBIGMEAT

A Green(er) Deal

You’ll probably agree that the U.S.’s exploitative system of CAFOs and factory farming is a massive problem that needs to change. But how?

Consumer demand for organic, grass-fed, and pasture-raised food is important—but it can only go so far when industrial agriculture maintains its unfair advantage of heavy subsidies and other policy support.

But there’s hope. A regenerative Green New Deal just might be key to transforming our climate-destructive, corporate-controlled, factory farm system into an equitable family farm-based, regenerative system of farming and ranching.

Join us Tuesday, October 13, 7 p.m. CDT for a 1-hour panel discussion about the potential of the Green New Deal to help end factory farming.

Panelists include: 

• Garrett Blad, Sunrise Movement
• Seth Watkins, Farmers and Ranchers for a Green New Deal
• Shawn Sebastian, People’s Action
• Mackenzie Feldman, Data For Progress Fellow & Herbicide-Free Campus

If you’re interested in the power of the Green New Deal to transform our food and farming system for the better, then this is your panel! 

Register here to join via Zoom

Sign up here to join via Facebook 

Can’t join live? Register here anyway, and we’ll send you a link you can watch anytime

TAKE ACTION! Sign the petition: It’s Time for Radical Reform: No More Factory Farms!

MILLIONS AGAINST MONSANTO

Farming Hero

In 1998, a Canadian canola farmer, Percy Schmeiser, entered into a David vs Goliath battle when he decided to take on Monsanto.

Like many traditional farmers, he saved seeds from his previous harvest for planting. But when more than 320 hectares of his fields were found to be contaminated with Roundup Ready canola, Monsanto sued him for patent infringement.

Schmeiser fought back and, after a decade-long battle, won. The agri-giant settled out of court, agreeing to pay for all clean-up costs.

This was a much-needed win for him and for farmers everywhere. It also set an important precedent, that farmers may be entitled to reimbursement when their fields are contaminated with unwanted GM crops.

Now a new film, “Percy,” starring Christopher Walken as the unsinkable 70-year-old farmer, tells the dramatic story about how, by taking on the big guys, Schmeiser became an unsuspecting folk hero in the battle to protect farmers’ rights and the world’s food supply against corporate greed.

This inspiring, uplifting film is released nationwide, Friday, Oct. 9, 2020.

WATCH the Trailer for Percy

MORE ABOUT PERCY SCHMEISER

Christopher Walken Crusades Against Global Corporate Behemoth, Monsanto, in New Film ‘Percy’

Grain Farmer Percy Schmeiser Claims Moral Victory in Seed Battle Against Monsanto

Percy Schmeiser vs Monsanto: The Story of a Canadian Farmer's Fight to Defend the Rights of Farmers and the Future of Seeds

GET INVOLVED

Check out our Millions Against Monsanto campaign page

Like Millions Against Monsanto on Facebook

Make a tax-deductible donation to the Millions Against Monsanto Campaign

SUPPORT OCA & CRL

Trust

Who can you trust when you want real and meaningful information about improving our food system, our health, our climate and more?

Ninety percent of news media, be it television, radio, print or online, are controlled by six corporations. The vast majority of what you read, see and hear is part of a carefully orchestrated narrative created and controlled by special interest groups. Social media, too, has become a mire of misdirection and misinformation.

But, for more than 20 years, we have been an independent voice campaigning, educating and writing about the right to safe, healthful food and other consumer products, a just food and farming system and an environment rich in biodiversity and free of pollutants.

We are one of the best open resources for current stories as well as archived material that gives you the context and the bigger picture of the issues that matter to you and your family.

Your donations, to either Organic Consumers Association or Citizens Regeneration Lobby, will help us continue to be a trusted source of activism and information.

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

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

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

LITTLE BYTES

Essential Reading

Microplastics in farm soils: A growing concern

Irish Court Rules Subway Bread Is Not Bread

FDA Releases ‘Feed Your Mind’ Messages on GE Foods

Experts Weigh in on Vitamin D for COVID-19

Release: The Strengthening Local Processing Act Addresses Critical Livestock and Poultry Supply Chain Issues 

Unintended Consequences: Don’t Let Lobbyists Write Organic Law