BEYOND PESTICIDES

Daily News: Beyond Pesticides Announces 41st National Forum, Imperatives for a Sustainable Future, Starting Oct 30! BEYOND PESTICIDES will convene the first session (virtual) of its 41st National Forum: Imperatives for a Sustainable Future—Reversing the existential crises of pesticide-induced illness, biodiversity collapse, and the climate emergency on October 30, 2024 at 2 PM Eastern! #register #organic #2024Forum ➡️ Registration will allow access to all 2024 Forum sessions! https://ow.ly/44l350TOH6J The Forum provides an opportunity to discuss with world-renowned scientists, from Germany and the United States, both (i) the hazards that define the urgency of threats associated petrochemical toxicants, with a focus on chemicals that disrupt the endocrine system (including pesticides) and lead to life-threatening diseases, and (ii) the strategy for adopting a path forward that tackles the problem holistically, rather than one chemical at a time. #health #biodiversity #climate 📌 On October 30 @ 2 PM Eastern (EDT)—Meet Felix Löwenstein, PhD, author of Food Crash: Why Organic Is the Only Way Forward, just released in the U.S. 📌 On November 14 @ 1 PM Eastern (EST)—Meet Tracey Woodruff, PhD, MPH, director of the Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment, School of Medicine, at the University of California San Francisco. ➡️ Speaker bios: https://ow.ly/YzaS50TOH6N PLAN NOW TO JOIN US as we come together to empower effective action and chart a path for a livable and sustainable future. You are part of the solution! ➡️ Program page: https://ow.ly/LaBS50TOH6L ➡️ Email invitation: https://ow.ly/KxvC50TOH6K Daily News Blog Post: https://ow.ly/whLy50TOHt8

✨ Registration is Live! ✨ BEYOND PESTICIDES 41st National Forum Series—Launches October 30, 2024 at 2 PM EDT! 📲 Registration link: https://ow.ly/PUkK50TNFHx There is an increasing understanding that we must urgently face existential threats to health, biodiversity, and climate for which petrochemical-based pesticides and fertilizers, among other products, are major contributors—at the same time that solutions are currently available and operational. The threats are real and scientifically defined, and so are the solutions. 🎯 The goal: Contribute to the adoption of a holistic worldwide strategy to reverse the existential crises in the production of our food and the management of land and ecosystems. The Forum—Imperatives for a Sustainable Future—offers an opportunity to elevate our understanding of petrochemical threats and the critical need to adopt practices and policies that eliminate a major source of the problem: petrochemical pesticides and fertilizers. Among vital changes that are taking place, but must occur at an accelerated pace, is the transition to organic land management, from agriculture and landscapes to playing fields, as part of a holistic strategy recognizing the multidimensional nature of the problem and solution. 📲 Registration link: https://ow.ly/PUkK50TNFHx The two major imperatives for sustainability and a livable future are community and decision maker understanding of (and action on!): 1️⃣ The threats to human health and ecosystems and the dire consequences of inaction or measures that fall far short of what is necessary; and 2️⃣ The path forward to eliminate reliance on petrochemical-based products, including the constellation of toxic materials associated with chemical-intensive practices—from food production to the management of homes, gardens, parks, and schools. Registration provides access to all sessions of the Forum! 📆 Session 1: Oct 30 @ 2 PM EDT—Felix zu Löwenstein, PhD, author of Food Crash: Why Organic Is the Only Way Forward. 📆 Session 2: Nov 14 @ 1 PM EST!—Tracey Woodruff, PhD, MPH, director of the Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment (UCSF), University of California, San Francisco. ➡️ Visit our website for more information about the program and to read our speakers' bios! https://ow.ly/a6CF50TNFJ9 #organic #sustainablefuture #foodcrash #2024Forum #register

Daily News: Survey of Organic Farmers Highlights Need for Increased Support from USDA Researchers from New York University (NYU)—spearheaded by Carolyn Dimitri, PhD, chair of the Nutrition and Food Studies program at NYU and a current member of the National Organics Standard Board—identify gaps in federal agricultural support systems for organic farmers in a newly published analysis. According to this study, there is a deficiency in institutionalized knowledge of national organic standards among existing U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) agents and staff working in various agencies, including the USDA Risk Management Agency (RMA), USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), and USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA). “A key recommendation from this study is the creation of specialized, highly trained crop insurance and conservation agents with expertise in organic farming systems to facilitate the application process and program use for conservation programs and crop insurance,” according to the authors, who continue by echoing the sentiments of organic advocates and farmers across the nation on building organic integrity. “The Organic Cost Share Program [a program of USDA’s FSA] would have more impact if its funds were used to support beginning organic farmers in addition to small-scale farm operators.” “Farm programs that target risk management and farmland conservation are important for the economic and environmental health of farms, yet they fail to meet the needs of organic producers,” Dr. Dimitri notes. “Our work suggests that inserting organic farms into programs that were designed for non-organic farms has not been widely successful, because they fail to consider differences between organic and non-organic farms.” #organic #farmers #USDA #agriculture #cropinsurance Given there are only approximately 17,000 organically certified farmers according to 2021 USDA data—compared to the over two million total farm operations—researchers see more targeted expertise and resources as a potential pathway to expanding capacity for the thousands of U.S. farmers who may wish to transition to organic, but do not know where to begin. ➡️ Stay tuned for an upcoming Action from BEYOND PESTICIDES on the expiration of funding for programs benefiting organic! Daily News Blog Post: https://ow.ly/yCqM50TMG5q

Daily News: Study Finds Disproportionate Risk of Respiratory Effects in Latino School-Aged Children in California Researchers from Columbia University and the University of Southern California, along with representatives from the nonprofit Comite Civico Del Valle, Inc. in Brawley, California, report the heightened risk of wheezing for five- to twelve-year-olds in the rural communities of California’s Imperial Valley. Through the Assessing Imperial Valley Respiratory Health and the Environment (AIRE) study—initiated as a result of the concern among residents and community organizations about the cumulative effects and body burden from the copious amounts of pesticides used in the Imperial Valley—the authors find associations between living near pesticide applications and more wheeze symptoms among the children, while highlighting the disproportionate risk for residents in this area regarding environmental exposure to harmful chemicals. [Based on an analysis of pesticide usage from 2016-2020 within 400 meters of the homes of 700+ elementary school-aged children from five schools across five communities, with a parent or guardian's consent.] According to the report: 62% of the children lived within 400 m of at least one pesticide application 12 months before the survey was administered, with 150 different pesticides amounting to a total of 56,824 kg of pesticides applied to agricultural fields in the study area during that time. Children are already more susceptible to health complications following pesticide exposure, as they take in greater amounts of toxic chemicals relative to their body weight and have still developing organ systems. To protect children’s health and mitigate respiratory effects, pesticide applications near residential homes should be eliminated. ↪️ For more information, please see BEYOND PESTICIDES' factsheet, Children and Pesticides Don't Mix: https://ow.ly/OqJr50TLPHC Daily News Blog Post: https://ow.ly/O11y50TLPIb

Psssst! 🆕 SAVE THE DATE: Beyond Pesticides National Forum Series kicks-off on October 30, 2024, 2 PM EDT! An opportunity: Meet (virtually) Felix Lowenstein, PhD, author of Food Crash: Why Organic Is the Only Way Forward. Focus: Adopt a holistic worldwide strategy to reverse the existential crises of pesticide-induced illness, biodiversity collapse, and the climate emergency. Vision: Explore Dr. Lowenstein’s passion, grown from his life as an agricultural scientist, farmer, international agricultural aid worker, and leader in Germany’s association of organic food producers and organic research. Mandate: Delve into the compelling facts about the adverse impacts of chemical-intensive agriculture on ecological and human health, food sovereignty, and animal welfare—and the viability, productivity, and profitability of the sustainable alternative now! ➡️ Stay tuned for a link to register for the Forum next week!

Daily News: Indigenous Peoples’ Day: A Time for Reflection, Reorientation, and Respect for the Natural World Indigenous Peoples’ Day—celebrated this year on October 14, 2024—has increasingly become a day to remember the people of those nations indigenous to their country. Indigenous cultures—arising from a partnership with the land—have a history of generating food, clothing, medicines, and other necessities without destroying the earth that provides them. However, Indigenous systems of agriculture and the wisdom they embody are threatened by industrial agriculture, especially toxic chemical use. Indigenous agriculture depends on biodiversity—both in the plants and animals used for food and in the ecosystem in which they are grown. Although Indigenous agriculture is more resilient to climate changes, recent extreme climatic events threaten peoples who can no longer move with the changing seasons. In a recent report, the U.S. EPA Office of Inspector General told the agency that although it “adhered to applicable tribal consultation policies when it conducted consultations for the three RUP [restricted use pesticide] actions that we reviewed, the [US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)] could update guidance to enhance the meaningful involvement of tribal governments in decision-making processes that affect Indian Country.” ➡️ https://ow.ly/QZ1T50TJJBN While specifically directed toward RUP actions, the OIG’s advice that EPA defines what constitutes “meaningful” involvement with tribes suggests that the agency might begin to learn from tribes about how indigenous farming and land management practices could avoid the use of pesticides that are so dangerous for health, biodiversity, and climate. 🌱 As Kaipo Kekona shared at BEYOND PESTICIDES 39th National Forum, it is critical for us to learn from history, including positive lessons from ancestors who lived in harmony with their surroundings. ➡️ https://ow.ly/rzwB50TJJBU #IndigenousPeoplesDay #IndigenousPractices #TakeAction #Reflection #Reorientation #Respect #NaturalWorld #EPA 🌎 Tell EPA to begin meaningful dialogue with tribes to learn how pesticide use can be avoided by adopting indigenous practices. When needs can be met without using pesticides, such use causes “unreasonable adverse effects on the environment.” https://ow.ly/P8kE50TJJBW Daily News: https://ow.ly/q8SQ50TJJBK

Daily News: EPA Proposal for Chlorpyrifos Use, After Court Decision, Backtracks on Safety and Protection of Children On September 16, 2024, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced an order allowing Kaizen Technologies LLC to sell off its chlorpyrifos-based insecticide product—Bifenchlor, a known neurotoxicant. This reverses an existing stocks agreement that Kaizen voluntarily negotiated with the agency in August 2022, when the company withdrew Bifenchlor from use. EPA attributes this new order to a November 2023 Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals decision, which vacated EPA’s prior 2021 chlorpyrifos ban on food crops. Chlorpyrifos, an organophosphate with adverse health effects on children, is now the latest example of rollbacks by the agency. In reporting on the almost unprecedented decision by EPA on August 7 to use its emergency authority to ban Dacthal/DCPA, BEYOND PESTICIDES argues that the “Dacthal Standard” is a positive precedent, a step forward in modern regulatory history; however, EPA’s continued approval of chlorpyrifos’s existing stock, complicated by the 2023 court decision, may suggest otherwise. “Chlorpyrifos, glyphosate, 2,4-D, atrazine, and many others are poster children for a failed regulatory system that props up chemical-intensive agriculture despite the availability of alternative organic practices not reliant on these toxic chemicals,” says Jay Feldman, executive director. Given the proven viability and profitability of cost-effective organic production practices, the solution must be the urgent adoption of organic agriculture and land care that eliminates not just chlorpyrifos, but the pesticide treadmill that chemical manufacturers and chemical-intensive agriculture fuels. #chlorpyrifos #existingstocks #epa #rollback #DacthalStandard 🎯 Individual chemical bans are not the strategy for systemic change, nor are they an effective methodology for cultivating a livable future for ourselves and future generations. ↪️ For a detailed analysis, see our article “Abandoning Science: A Look Back at the Failure to Regulate the Neurotoxic Insecticide Chlorpyrifos,” featured in a special edition of Pesticides and You: https://ow.ly/jXvP50TIWn2 Daily News Blog Post: https://ow.ly/jtKv50TIWnf

Daily News: Industry-Funded Study Diminishes Organic, Pushes Pesticides in Integrated Pest Management and Regenerative Ag Environmental and public health advocates are concerned about a piece representing an industry position—cloaked in an academic journal—serving as an obstacle to the widespread adoption and improvement of organic principles and practices. An agrichemical industry-funded study published in International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability dissects the development of national organic standards and opportunities that can be applied in expanding the use of “regenerative” agriculture. The study included a survey of five farmers, who farm a total of 100,000 acres, but do not have extensive experience farming organically—surveyed farmland representing a limited number of organically managed land within their total land portfolio. Not surprisingly, the study authors [four with varying levels of connections to agrichemical industry trade group CropLife America] offer support for integrated pest management (IPM) and reassurance of a rigorous pesticide registration review process before the chemicals are marketed. For those practicing regenerative organic practices and organic advocates, it is striking that the list of criteria in the conclusion for regenerative agriculture criteria (e.g., list of allowed substances) already exists within the standards and requirements of the 1990 Organic Foods Production Act (OFPA) and the National Organic Program. OFPA is designed to include flexibility in the adoption and continuous review of standards, requiring public meetings facilitated by the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) twice a year including sunset review. *** As the debate on regenerative agriculture heats up, chemical industry lobbyists are hitting Capitol Hill on the Farm Bill to establish a national policy to take away local and state authority to restrict pesticides and, at the same time, pressuring state legislatures to prohibit people’s right to sue for the failure to warn on the hazards of their products—an attack on democratic institutions and principles in the United States: https://ow.ly/gsEB50TI0jw As a growing intersectional movement of advocates continues to push for reform, the critical need identified for broader regulatory action to ban pesticides was exemplified by a landmark US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) decision to suspend the use of the herbicide Dacthal/DCPA without allowing continued use of existing stocks. BEYOND PESTICIDES has since called for the banning of weedkillers atrazine and paraquat under what it calls the Dacthal Standard. https://ow.ly/trT350TI0k7 ➡️ Consider subscribing to Action of the Week to learn how to support the growth of policies and decision-making that hold the agrochemical industry accountable while supporting organic and regenerative organic food systems. https://ow.ly/Hj3x50TI0lj Daily News Blog Post: https://ow.ly/kgmP50TI0lk

Daily News: Study Links Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals to Thyroid Dysfunction with Grave Health Effects A comprehensive literature review, published in September, amasses hundreds of studies on endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) that showcase adverse effects on growth, development, reproduction, and metabolism. The authors, a team of scientists and academics from Brazil, shed light on the link between EDC use and thyroid dysfunction, leading to prevalent illnesses and deadly diseases. Unifesp - Universidade Federal de São Paulo | Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein The researchers state, “Although many EDCs are linked to thyroid dysfunction, this review focuses on the deleterious effects of plasticizers, organochlorine pesticides, and per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances on thyroid function. These contaminants are commonly found in food, water, and everyday products.” They find that EDCs alter thyroid function and hormone levels, impacting cellular physiology and gene expression. "Research indicates that these EDCs impair the activity and expression of proteins critical for thyroid hormone synthesis. Additionally, findings suggest that these EDCs possibly alter signaling pathways and epigenetic mechanisms that regulate gene expression in thyrocytes,” they conclude. With these findings, the authors call attention to chemicals that impair thyroid function and can have deleterious effects on generations. Infants and children are associated with higher hazards of toxic chemical exposure, as their small size and developing organ systems make them more susceptible. #endocrinedisruption #EDCs #thyroid #pesticides #plasticizers #organochlorines #PFAS #DailyNews *** BEYOND PESTICIDES’ works with allies in protecting public health and the environment to lead the transition to a world free of toxic pesticides by eliminating all petrochemical pesticides, including EDCs, and synthetic fertilizers by 2032. By advocating for a precautionary approach in how land is managed, we advance organic as the solution to today's existential health, biodiversity, and climate crises. ➡️ For more information on why organic is the right choice for consumers and the farmworkers who grow our food, see Health Benefits of Organic Agriculture. https://ow.ly/VXiA50TGOp6 Daily News Blog Post: https://ow.ly/FLUN50TGOp7

Grinnell College Launches Pilot Project with Beyond Pesticides and Re:wild to Adopt Organic Land Management on Popular Campus Green, Mac Field Breaking news! Grinnell College has launched an organic land management pilot program on its popular 3.5 acre campus green, MacEachron (Mac) Field, in collaboration with two national organizations, BEYOND PESTICIDES and Re:wild Your Campus — financial backing for technical support from Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage! Championed by the school’s sustainability and facilities management staff, student leadership, and alumni, and horticultural expertise from Osborne Organics, the organic land management plan for the site focuses on the adoption of soil management practices that support healthy resilient grass without the use of petrochemical pesticides and fertilizers. Mac Field is a central gathering spot for students studying, socializing, and intramural sports. This project has been a long time coming! Students began pushing for organic land care back in 2019, and in 2021 completed a 5,000sq ft prairie restoration project. Now, five years later, Grinnell College has begun implementing organic land management practices on Mac Field. We are so excited to continue working with Grinnell to create a healthier and safer campus for all! #grinnell #grinellcollege #organic #organiclandmanagement #sustainableparks #press #pressrelease #goingorganic 🌳 The full press release is available here: https://ow.ly/m81450TGg6T 🌱 Click here to learn more abut the Parks for a Sustainable Future program: https://ow.ly/NJOv50TGg71