READ FULL CITATIONS HERE. The need for organic agriculture is more urgent than ever. Bees and butterflies are disappearing, climate change threatens future food security and our water is polluted with toxic chemicals.
Bees are the canaries in the corn field — their death warns us that the way we’re growing food is on a fatal track. Pesticides are a key culprit in the decline of bees, butterflies and other pollinators,…
Friends of the Earth conducted this peer-reviewed study in collaboration with researchers at University of California at Berkeley, University of California at San Francisco, and the Commonweal Biomonitoring Resources Center. We wanted to know whether eating an organic diet could reduce levels of detectable pesticides and pesticide breakdown products in participants’ bodies.
We secured oversight for protection of human subjects through Western Institutional Review Board. The study was published in the…
All of us are exposed to a cocktail of toxic synthetic pesticides linked to a range of health impacts from our daily diets. Certified organic food is produced without these pesticides. But can eating organic really reduce levels of pesticides in our bodies?
Organic food should be the norm, but the pesticide industry has a major financial interest in keeping their toxic products on the market. The estimated environmental and health care costs of pesticide use in the U.S. is estimated to be upwards of $12 billion annually. Meanwhile, the top pesticide manufacturers reap over $150 billion in profit each year from pesticides and other agricultural technologies.
The pesticide industry has undergone massive…
The report found that oat cereals, apples, applesauce, spinach and pinto beans at the retailers contained detectable amounts of glyphosate, organophosphates and neonicotinoids.
When most of us do our grocery shopping, we don’t suspect that the food we buy contains residues of toxic pesticides. Yet, pesticides have been uncovered in store brand cereal, applesauce, beans and produce.
Today, over 60 local officials from across the country have joined together to send a letter to the farm bill conference committee urging the rejection of a poison pill rider that would preempt local governments from setting their own restrictions on toxic pesticides.
Donald Trump claimed today that the United States and Mexico have reached a general agreement on the broad outlines of a new NAFTA deal.
It is disappointing to see the EPA fail to recognize the overwhelming scientific evidence on neonics while countries around the world take decisive action to protect people and the planet.
These bee-killing pesticides pose a serious threat to public health, the environment, and our entire food system. We applaud the Canadian government for recognizing the overwhelming body of scientific evidence on neonics and phasing out these dangerous pesticides.