Whenever possible, choose organic produce

Nasty New Pesticide Cocktail: What to Know

Remember RoundUp? The weedkiller facing a mountain of lawsuits for potentially causing cancer?

After decades of hard fought activism and legal efforts, in 2021 we had the perception of victory when Bayer - the makers of RoundUp (after acquiring Monsanto) - announced a commitment to begin removing glyphosate in the following years.

Well, it seems Bayer opted for the old ‘switcheroo’ and instead made things far worse. Here's what you need to know:

Facing the heat: Bayer was swamped with 10s of thousands of lawsuits linking RoundUp's active ingredient, glyphosate, to cancer, specifically losing a historic case ruled that it caused non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and was fined over $2B. A dubious replacement: In response, Bayer promised to remove glyphosate from residential products starting in 2023. But instead of safer alternatives, they’ve replaced glyphosate with a new concoction of seemingly more dangerous chemicals. Testing shows that not only is the glyphosate still there, there is an additional new combination of pesticides: diquat dibromide, fluazifop-P-butyl, triclopyr, and imazapic (good luck pronouncing those). 45X the trouble: An environmental organization known as Friends of the Earth analyzed the new formula (you can read the full report HERE). Shockingly, they found it potentially 45 times more toxic to human health than the original RoundUp! The new chemicals are also more likely to harm bees, birds, worms, and aquatic creatures, and reportedly more likely to leach into water systems.  Global problem: Every year, approximately 5.6B pounds of pesticides are applied globally (over 1B pounds in the US alone), raising legitimate concerns about their impact on our health and environment.

What can we do?

It's time to demand better! Here's how you can make a difference:

Go Organic: Whenever possible, choose organic produce. This minimizes your exposure to potentially harmful pesticides. Support Local Farmers: Visit your local farmer's market and ask if their produce is organic. You'll be supporting local businesses and getting fresher, safer food. Your region benefits from increased resilience, and the food will be higher in antioxidants that what you’d otherwise find on the grocery shelves.  Spread the Word: Share this newsletter! Talk to friends and family about the importance of organic food. Especially when you have guests or serve a meal, make sure it is 100% organic so you can subtly use this as a talking point, and mention something you learned about the risks of pesticides. Together, we can inspire one another, rather than preach, and increase the demand for safer alternatives.

Let's not become guinea pigs for untested chemical cocktails. We must take this seriously and support a healthier future for ourselves and the planet by supporting organic as often as possible! Or copy and paste this link to others: https://earthconsciouslife.org/subscribe?ref=snUThqaTvL

fixing broken medical system

I’m no public policy expert, but if anyone knows one, feel free to share my suggestions for fixing—or at least improving—our broken medical system

1. Prohibit industry funding of public health agencies. This would eliminate the conflicts of interest that allow these agencies to prioritize corporate profits over public health.

2. Ban pharmaceutical advertising. Once this is done, “news” outlets are free to report side effects, negative trial results, breaches of ethics, and actual facts (not marketing claims).

3. Implement a one-strike rule. Any company found guilty of bribing doctors, manipulating research studies, falsifying clinical trial results, engaging in fraudulent or deceptive advertising, or disregarding patient safety gets shut down after the first offense. No fines, no wrist slaps, no exceptions.

4. Dismantle the revolving door between Pharma and the government. Once you’ve worked for one, you cannot work for the other. Period.

5. Make all clinical trial data open and available to the public. This would prevent selective reporting of favorable (or unfavorable) outcomes and then—gasp!—regular folks could do their own research.

6. Repeal the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act. Under the NCVIA, vaccine manufacturers cannot be held liable for vaccine-related injuries and deaths. Minus this liability, where’s the incentive to produce safe, effective products?

7. Expand and enforce whistleblower protection laws. If you’re the one who exposes industry misconduct, you cannot be fired, imprisoned, or punished in any way. Any effort by the company or industry you exposed to retaliate would be met with swift, harsh punishment.

Does my list seem impossibly daunting or undoable? What did I forget? Add your suggestions in the comments. 

A guest post by Jenna McCarthy I write things. I gave a few TED talks people didn't hate. My substack is JennasSide.rocks. (See what I did there?) People tell me I'm funny.