BEYOND PESTICIDES

Thank you for joining us for the 41st National Forum—Imperatives for a Sustainable Future! Recording is LIVE! ?? Click here for the recording: https://ow.ly/Zow950UbWiJ We appreciated the opportunity to join together with you and inspiring leaders, from scientists focusing on endocrine disruption and ecosystem effects, to a breast cancer activist, and organic farm and farmworker advocates—nationally and internationally—focused on a sustainable and equitable future. The goal was to contribute to the adoption of a holistic worldwide strategy to reverse the existential health, biodiversity, and climate crises through changes in the production of our food, the management of land and ecosystems, and the materials used in consumer products. The common denominator in synthetic toxic chemicals is fossil-fuel-based feedstocks—oil, gas, and coal—at the root of the existential threats. From the transition to organic land management, including agriculture, landscapes, and playing fields as part of a holistic strategy, to addressing the scientific, health, and regulatory issues associated with societal reliance on these chemicals, we intend for the recording discussion to broaden coalition and cross-collaborative efforts that break down silos. In advocating for and supporting organic compatible practices and products as a systems-based solution, BEYOND PESTICIDES, at the Forum and on a daily basis, elevates the voices of scientists, advocates, victims of chemical exposure, land managers and practitioners, and responsible corporations calling for the urgent phaseout of petrochemical pesticides and fertilizers. We see this as critical to preventing the catastrophic collapse of the natural systems that sustain life. We support the work in local communities where change happens, creating examples of practical solutions for the nation and world. We believe deeply in the power of people and organizations, armed with scientific information and models for change, to push for the adoption of practices and policies—from local to global—that ensure a livable future. ?? If you would like to add your voice to our Action of Week, on critical science and policy issues affecting future sustainability, sign up here and you can choose when to send a message to decision makers on critical issues! https://ow.ly/Qy9g50UbWiQ

Take Action: Tell USDA to Expand the Organic Dairy Product Promotion Program to All-Organic Lunches The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced allocating $15 million to the Organic Dairy Product Promotion Program (ODPP) to expand access to organic dairy products in schools. The program will be funded by the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC), with the goal of increasing the consumption of organic dairy products among children and young adults while creating new opportunities for small and mid-sized organic dairy producers. The $15 million is a drop in the bucket compared to the $17.2 billion that USDA spent on the school lunch program in 2023 to provide low-cost or free lunches to children in public and nonprofit private schools (grades pre-kindergarten–12) and residential childcare institutions. However, any support for organic food in schools leads to greater health for growing minds and bodies, and schools should be serving our nation's children meals that are wholly supportive of human and planetary health. ?? Thank USDA for expanding access to organic dairy in schools. Tell USDA and Congress that kids deserve all-organic school lunches. https://ow.ly/YUvF50UegtK

Daily News: Paraquat, Parkinson’s, and Litigation: Chem Company Proffers Disinformation and Character Assassination On October 31, with state and federal campaigns to ban paraquat [and nearly 6,000 individual lawsuits alleging exposure to it causes Parkinson’s disease!], U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) and six colleagues called on the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to ban the chemical. #paraquat #parkinsons #corybooker #senate #epa #ban Citing that “[f]armworkers and rural residents are disproportionately exposed to paraquat,” the Senators’ letter to EPA stated that, “Paraquat has been linked to Parkinson’s disease, thyroid cancer, and other health harms such as kidney, liver, and respiratory damage, and reproductive harm, including neurodevelopmental impact on developing fetuses [and] [i]n rural areas, exposure to paraquat and other pesticides during pregnancy can increase the risk of leukemia.” Most of the 6,000 cases against the manufacturer, Syngenta, have been consolidated into Multi-District Litigation (MDL) in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois. In April, the judge ousted the plaintiffs’ expert witness regarding causality, resulting in the first five cases being tossed. The defendant sells paraquat globally and is doing everything it can, according to investigative news reports, to discredit any link between paraquat and Parkinson’s, including the use of misdirection, disinformation, and character assassination. A series of recent news reports have collectively dissected Syngenta’s malfeasance—and its power. These investigations include an October 2024 report by Evy Lewis of Investigate Midwest; a June 2023 report by carey gillam in The New Lede, including its documents archive; The Guardian’s October 2022 expose by Gillam and Aliya Uteuova; a March 2021 report by Crispin Dowler and Laurent Gaberell of Greenpeace Unearthed; and U.S. Right to Know’s series on paraquat. Syngenta’s disinformation, deceptive science, and character assassinations are still working. Citizen pressure must force EPA to align its regulatory practices with modern, ethical, and transparent science. Courts would likely then follow suit. ?? ?? See today's post to delve into the issue and review BEYOND PESTICIDES’ coverage of paraquat health hazards, regulation, and litigation, as well as our work on conflicts of interest in science, attacks on scientists such as Tyrone Hayes, PhD, and industry influence on federal agencies. Daily News Blog Post: https://ow.ly/e4Y850UcQCu

Daily News: As Organic Beer Market Grows, Connoisseurs of Organic Cold Ones Can Be Proud of This Story Be it Patagonia Provisions or Brooklyn Brewery, there is an increasingly evident buzz around organic beer given interest by brewing and food companies. However, the expansion of the organic beer market in the U.S. would not have been possible without the leadership of advocates, farmers, breweries, and the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB), which led to the strengthening of organic beer standards back in 2010. #organic #beer #buzz #market #story #advocacy #hops The growth of this sector and transition to truly organic beer speaks to the spirit of “continuous improvement,” the original design of the Organic Foods Production Act (OFPA), and the importance of mobilizing the public to engage in the public input process that continues to keep organic law strong in opposition to those seeking an easier path to the organic label. Beer is mostly water, and so, in the early years of OFPA, beer producers could rely on non-organic hops since this ingredient is less than five percent of total product ingredients and still label their beer organic—a chicken-and-the-egg problem, because as long as the law allowed the use of nonorganic hops, brewers were not looking for organic hops, and growers did not produce them in large quantities. Organic hop growers descended on the 2010 NOSB meeting, testifying that they could fill the demand for organic hops and challenging their “not commercially available” status. Listening to the facts, the NOSB passed a recommendation to remove hops grown with chemical-intensive practices from the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances by adopting language that, by January 1, 2013, removed hops from 7 CFR § 205.606 under OFPA. This gave the breweries time to transition organic labeled beer to organically grown hops without breaking existing production contracts. As of 2021, there are 40 U.S. organic hops farms valued at $20.3 million, based on data gathered from U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Now, it is possible to enjoy food, including an ice-cold beer, without fear of pesticide exposure and its associated adverse, long-term health effects! ?? See our "Why Organic?" page to learn more about the biodiversity, environmental justice, and public health implications of choosing certified organic products: https://ow.ly/9Pgn50UbSKF Daily News Blog Post: https://ow.ly/wil650UbS0S

Daily News: Study Reinforces the Importance of Soil Management Practices on Ecological Effects The perpetual use of pesticide-coated seeds and tillage changed the composition of various beetle, spider, and other epigeal arthropod communities on New Hampshire farmland, according to a recent study published in Agriculture, Ecosystems, and Environment coauthored and led by environmental researchers at the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment at the University of New Hampshire. UNH College of Life Sciences and Agriculture #treatedseeds #pesticides #arthropod #soil #notill #NH #UNH While the authors fell short of finding conclusive results about the multi-variable impacts, they raise notable issues on the effects of treated seeds, building on existing peer-reviewed scientific literature: “These data provide evidence that both pesticide seed treatments and tillage systems can influence the communities of epigeal arthropods that inhabit annual row crop agroecosystems relatively late in the growing season, when the majority of pesticide residues have likely dissipated, and that the weed seed predation services provided by members of this community can be strongly negatively impacted by intensive tillage.” The results highlight the compounding impacts of chemical-intensive agricultural practices on biodiversity. Farmers who acknowledge the interconnected systems of agriculture and ecosystems understand that the long-term effects of soil disturbance through tilling disrupt microbial life, not to mention those of glyphosate applications and pesticide-treated seeds on soil and human health. According to Max Sano, organic program associate at BEYOND PESTICIDES, “At the root of the cascading crises of public health collapse, biodiversity loss, and the climate crisis is a reliance on petrochemical-based toxic products, rather than public policy and investments that strengthen consumer and institutional trust of nature-based, organic systems.” ?? Please see today's Daily News blog post for more opportunities to take action! Daily News Blog Post: https://ow.ly/5WwW50Ub6rh

Daily News: Study Highlights Correlation Between Pesticide Exposure and Prostate Cancer in Men in the U.S. Researchers at Stanford University recently published a study in Cancer, an international interdisciplinary journal of the American Cancer Society (ACS), that reveals a correlation between numerous pesticides with increased prostate cancer occurrence and associated death. #cancer #pesticides #menshealth #humanhealth #prostate The study finds that exposure to 22 pesticides is positively associated with prostate cancer. The 22 pesticides include 2,4‐D, acephate, azoxystrobin, bifenthrin, carbaryl, chloropicrin, cloransulam‐methyl, cyhalothrin‐lambda, diflufenzopyr, diuron, glyphosate, hexazinone, linuron, methyl parathion, pendimethalin, propiconazole, sulfosate, thiamethoxam, thifensulfuron, tribenuron methyl, trifloxystrobin, and trifluralin. With the high prevalence of prostate cancer, and many other cancers, within the U.S. and worldwide, contributing factors such as pesticide use and exposure from drift need to be addressed. As the study authors conclude, “Public health efforts to reduce the burden of prostate cancer should consider pesticides as environmental exposures that may contribute to the incidence of, and mortality related to, prostate cancer.” BEYOND PESTICIDES has not only called for more extensive testing, but the adoption of alternative practices and products that eliminate toxic pesticide use to safeguard human health and the environment. Whether buying organic products or growing your own organic food, you can support the organic solution. See today's DN blog post for links to become a member of Beyond Pesticides and sign up for Action of the Week and Weekly News Updates delivered right to your inbox! Daily News Blog Post: https://ow.ly/5Hyt50Uacs9

Daily News: Amid the Health, Biodiversity, and Climate Crises, Nominee to EPA Head Walks in Lockstep with Trump Denialism With the reported appointment of former U.S. Representative Lee Zeldin (R-NY) to the position of Administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Senate confirmation hearings will be an important process that is intended to shine a light on individual nominations, the policies of an administration, and the science (or lack thereof) behind them. There have been reports in the media that the Trump administration may attempt to circumvent the “advice and consent” rule of the U.S. Senate by making recess appointments. [Alexander Hamilton wrote in the Federalist Papers: No. 76 that Senate confirmation hearings act as a safeguard against the appointment of “unfit” officials.] As the Trump administration is preparing to take office, the nation and world face existential crises, including the climate emergency, that require urgent action. Human actions are contributing to an ongoing Holocene or sixth mass extinction, as well as crises in human disease. Humans and the biosphere will suffer if President-elect Trump’s new EPA Administrator follows a course destructive of EPA’s mission. How does Mr. Zeldin’s support of profligate energy use and petroleum-based industries further EPA’s mission to protect public health, given their numerous adverse impacts on human health, biodiversity, and climate? How does he intend to ensure that Americans have clean air, land, and water, while pursuing a deregulatory agenda? How will he guarantee that EPA acts on the best independent science? How will EPA limit use of chemicals to those that are thoroughly reviewed for possible impacts on human health, biodiversity, and climate? ?? Tell your U.S. Senators, under their responsibility to provide “advice and consent” for presidential appointments, to fully vet Lee Zeldin—for the position of EPA Administrator—on his understanding of the current existential environmental crises and the mission of EPA. https://ow.ly/zHUU50U9bgX Daily News Blog Post: https://ow.ly/L8Sg50U9bhx

Take Action: The U.S. Senate Must Provide Advice and Consent on Appointment of EPA Administrator As a new administration is preparing to take office, the nation and world face existential crises that require urgent action. Human actions are contributing to an ongoing Holocene or sixth mass extinction, as well as crises in human disease and climate change. Humans and the biosphere will suffer if President-elect Trump's new Administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) follows a course destructive of EPA's mission. #EPA #senate #vetting #protect #health #environment #action ?? Tell your U.S. Senators, under their responsibility to provide “advice and consent” for presidential appointments, to fully vet Lee Zeldin—for the position of EPA Administrator—on his understanding of the current existential environmental crises and the mission of EPA. https://ow.ly/UeZM50U8nY5

Daily News: Business As Usual “Carbon Capture” Undermines Organic Land Management as a Climate Solution There are many pie-in-the-sky ideas to address the climate crisis while allowing business as usual in the extractive and industrial systems that are causing the crisis. Prominent among them are geoengineering to block sunlight and building industrial plants to prevent carbon dioxide (CO2) from reaching the atmosphere, known as carbon capture and sequestration (CCS). Like geoengineering, CCS is a “solution for the future that always will be.” It has garnered decades of hype, research, and government funding of prototype projects without doing much of anything to remove carbon and keep it out of the atmosphere. The Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) contains numerous revenue streams aimed at coping with the climate crisis, including CCS. But it is a mixed bag of good and bad ideas. Beyond Pesticides analyzed the IRA in 2022, lauding the act’s “provision of unprecedented sums to address the existential threats we face related to climate, biodiversity, and health.” These include about $21 billion for “climate smart” agriculture and programs to reduce petrochemically dependent farming. But the analysis also details the many provisions for infeasible and counterproductive projects. Rather than complex and expensive technological projects, the best practitioners of CCS are plants and soil. In fact, soils hold more than three times the carbon in the atmosphere. This is why agriculture—organic agriculture—can provide the simplest and most direct counter to the catastrophic load of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Daily News Blog Post: https://ow.ly/ypM450U82fe

?? The National Forum Series continues TODAY at 1 PM EST! Join us for a keynote by Tracey Woodruff, PhD, director of the UCSF Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment, followed by an inspiring roundtable of panelists moderated by Jay Feldman, executive director of BEYOND PESTICIDES! Breast Cancer Prevention Partners (BCPP) ALIANZA NACIONAL DE CAMPESINAS INC With endocrine-disrupting synthetic chemicals, derived from fossil fuels, as the keynote focus, this discussion brings together strategic thinking that supports efforts to transition away from petrochemicals—from a range of perspectives and a broadening of coalition efforts! ?? Register: https://ow.ly/y2x650U758q With revelations reported last month by Investigate Midwest and previously by The Guardian showing that Syngenta, the manufacturer and registrant of paraquat, kept secret scientific information on the weed killer’s adverse effects related to Parkinson’s disease, there is increasing concern that endocrine-disrupting properties have not been fully disclosed. https://ow.ly/OyQz50U758r The common denominator to this chemical pollution is the oil and gas necessary for the production of toxic chemicals to which we are exposed daily—pesticides (such as neonicotinoids, pyrethroids, and glyphosate formulants), synthetic fertilizers, plastics, PFAS, and more. Meanwhile, alternative practices and products have emerged as sustainable alternatives, calling for a cross-collaborative effort worldwide to end their use! As we move forward with the steps that can and must be taken in our communities around the globe, join us for an eye-opening discussion that breaks down silos! #endocrinedisruption #fossilfuels #coalitions #ourfuture ?? Register: https://ow.ly/y2x650U758q