NEW STUDY

Dastardly Dow

We’ve known for a while that Monsanto buried the truth about Roundup weedkiller, by ignoring concerns by its own scientists. Now it seems Dow Chemical Co. has been using the same playbook.

Dow (renamed DowDuPont after its 2017 merger with DuPont) likely knew for decades that its widely used chlorpyrifos insecticide is harmful to humans—especially children and developing fetuses. But the company hid that information from regulators, both in the U.S. and EU, according to a new study, published in the journal Environmental Health.

The revelation comes as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is duking it out in the legal system over a court ruling that the agency finalize a ban on chlorpyrifos that was proposed under the Obama administration, but overturned after Trump took office. On September 24, the EPA—the agency charged with protecting us from environmental contaminants—asked the courts to re-hear the case.

In the meantime, in California alone, 800,000 acres and on dozens of crops continue to be doused with a pesticide that Beyond Pesticides describes this way:

A neurological toxicant, chlorpyrifos damages the brains of young children: impacts of exposure, even at very low levels, include decreased cognitive function, lowered IQ, attention deficit disorder, and developmental and learning delays.

Read 'Did Dow Chemical Fake Safety Studies on Brain-Damaging Chlorpyrifos?'

TAKE ACTION: Tell the EPA to ban this chemical that damages children's brains now

ACTION ALERT

Green New Deal

The U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) recently delivered its Fourth National Climate Assessment.

The authors of the apocalyptic report couldn’t be more clear: It’s high time the U.S. had a plan for dealing with global warming.

We agree. But we want to make sure that the architects of that plan acknowledge industrial agriculture’s contribution to global warming—and that they also recognize the potential of organic regenerative farming, ranching and land use to reverse global warming.

That’s why we’re supporting the Green New Deal. And why we’re asking you to ask your members of Congress to support it, too. (These members of Congress have already signed on. Please thank them)!

TAKE ACTION: Ask your members of Congress to support the Sunrise Movement’s Green New Deal!

Join us December 10 in Washington, DC, the Sunrise Movement's demonstration to demand Congress make a real plan to address climate change.

SUPPORT OCA & CRL

Groovy Tuesday

Not to sound like a broken record, but . . . without you, we simply wouldn’t exist. Thank you for investing in Organic Consumers Association on #GivingTuesday.

Thank you for sharing our vision for—and our commitment to—a safe, healthful and just food and farming system. And thank you for inspiring us to work harder and smarter, even on those days when the deck seems stacked against us.

If this was your first donation, welcome! We look forward to partnering with you on future projects and campaigns. If you're a long-time supporter and repeat donor, thank you for being there for us, once again.

#GivingTuesday marked the launch of our critical year-end fundraising campaign. From now until midnight December 31, all donations will be matched, dollar for dollar.

Thank you for being there with us in 2018, and for making our #GivingTuesday so successful.

We look forward to working together in 2019, as we continue to expose the corporations that pollute our food and environment, and push for the transition to an organic, regenerative food and farming system.

Make a tax-deductible donation to the Organic Consumers Association

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

Click here for more ways to support our work
 

FAIR WORLD PROJECT

So Not Fair

Is that fair trade-certified melon you bought at your supermarket really a fair trade product?

On its website, Fair Trade USA (FTUSA)—a U.S.-based fair trade certifier—says:

When you see a product with the Fair Trade Certified™ seal, you can be sure it was made according to rigorous social, environmental and economic standards. We work closely on the ground with producers and certify transactions between companies and their suppliers to ensure that the people making Fair Trade Certified goods work in safe conditions, protect the environment, build sustainable livelihoods and earn additional money to empower and uplift their communities.

So why is FTUSA asking consumers to support the top supplier of winter-season melons to U.S. supermarkets, even though that supplier has a long list of serious human labor rights violations?

Fair World Project (a project of OCA) is part of a broad coalition of unions, farmworkers, fair trade advocates, ethical businesses and retailers taking on FTUSA for ignoring human rights abuses and setting its own standards in certifying Suragroh, a Honduran company which is a fully-owned subsidiary of Fyffes, a multinational fruit company.

TAKE ACTION: Tell Fair Trade USA to Respect Farmworkers’ Rights by Decertifying Fyffes’ Melon Plantation 

Read ‘Fyffes Workers Continue the Fight for Justice on the Honduran Melon Fields

Read this open letter to Paul Rice, president & CEO of Fair Trade USA outlining why Fyffes should be decertified

ORGANIC STOREFRONT

Candy Incognito?

Is your favorite snack bar just a candy bar in disguise? Full of unhealthy sugars and GMO ingredients?

According to Mercola.com, most of the top-selling snack bars contain sweeteners like high-fructose corn syrup, cane syrup and artificial sweeteners like aspartame. The top three bars contain total carb levels as high as 42 grams and 20 grams of sugars per bar.

Mercola.com offers three varieties of cassava snack bars that are:

• Low in sugar
• Lower in net carbs
• Good source of healthy fats
• High in fiber

Maybe it’s time for a better bar? You’re in luck. From now until midnight December 31, Mercola.com is offering OCA shoppers 20% off of its gourmet cassava snack bars.

From now until midnight December 31, get 20% off your purchase of Dr. Mercola cassava snack bars with this promo code: ORGANIC1218. Plus, Mercola will donate 20% of your purchase price to OCA. Shop here.

Read more about the health benefits of cassava

LITTLE BYTES

This Week's Essential Reading

Hormones in U.S. Beef Linked to Increased Cancer Risk

The Most Toxic Retailers on the Planet

You Don’t Want French Fries With That

In the Face of Extinction, We Have a Moral Obligation

How Oakland Became a Leader in Cutting School Food Waste

Evidence-Based Homeopathic Medicine