No Thanks!

 

It’s turkey time again.

Thanksgiving dinner means only one thing for millions of us: turkey. Of the 100 million turkeys on farms around the U.S., 46 million of them will be eaten on Thanksgiving Day.

When turkeys arrive at our supermarkets, plucked and cleaned, there’s nothing to alert us to the conditions endured by most of the birds that eventually land on our holiday tables.

But the vast majority of turkeys come from industrial factory farms, where as many as 25,000 birds—pumped full of antibiotics and GMO corn—are crammed into a single barn.

The lives of industrially produced turkeys are short and miserable. And the environmental damage and human health consequences of supporting factory farm turkey producers are well-documented.

What’s the alternative? Organic, pasture-raised turkey from farmers who treat the birds humanely and are also good stewards of the land.

Read ‘Factory Farmed Turkeys—Nothing to be Thankful For’

Holiday Turkey Buying Guide

Map of regenerative turkey producers

Too Uncool for School

 

Can we get Monsanto’s Roundup weedkiller off university campuses?

These two women think so—if enough college students on campuses across the U.S. get involved.

In May, thanks to the inspiring work of two University of California (UC) students—Mackenzie Feldman and Bridget Gustafson—UC President Janet Napolitano declared a moratorium on the use of Monsanto-Bayer’s glyphosate-based herbicides at all 10 UC campuses.

Napolitano also set up an Herbicide Task Force to consider the possibility of phasing out these toxins altogether.

In November, the Herbicide Task Force is expected to make its recommendations to President Napolitano who will then have to decide whether to leave her glyphosate ban in place when she retires from her post next year.

It’s time for us all to speak up in favor of kicking Monsanto-Bayer off campus permanently at the University of California—and eventually, off campuses across the nation.

TAKE ACTON: Join the campaign for glyphosate-free and organic campuses

'Clearly and Unequivocally'

 

Young climate activist Greta Thunberg says that being on the autism spectrum means she sees things in “black and white.”

When it comes to the climate crisis, she’s not alone—in fact, at least 11,000 scientists agree with Thunberg that when it comes to climate change, there’s no gray area.

In a report issued this week, the scientists wrote:

“We declare clearly and unequivocally that planet Earth is facing a climate emergency. To secure a sustainable future, we must change how we live. [This] entails major transformations in the ways our global society functions and interacts with natural ecosystems.”

According to the Guardian, those 11,000 scientists predict “untold suffering” from a crisis that is “threatening natural ecosystems and the fate of humanity.”

Too many older adults may be too set in their ways to face the truth and change their ways. But young activists like Thunberg see no future for themselves, unless we unite around transformational system change.

Kids may be our best hope. In an article posted on Medium this week, the author wrote:

“But kids put it into perspective. If we don’t act, nearly one-third of the world’s animal species will be gone by the time today’s high school students reach retirement age. Some coastal U.S. cities will be mostly underwater by the time today’s ten year olds start having grandchildren. 75 percent of babies born today will experience deadly heat waves in their lifetime.

"Today’s youth are aware of all this—and when they hit their parents with a little climate reality, well, it’s clearly hard to deny."

In her September interview with the Daily Show, Thunberg mentions a climate strike that’s already taken place. But there’s another one coming up, on December 6. If you can, round up some kids and join in.

Watch Greta Thunberg on ‘The Daily Show’

TAKE ACTION: Organize or attend a December 6 climate strike.

Stop the Insanity

 

In an email, a farmer in Iowa told us that if he were able to attend the November 9 Climate Summit in Des Moines, Iowa, he’d want to ask the audience this:

“Could it possibly make sense that we have farmers contemplating suicide because of low commodity prices, while agribusiness consortiums are tearing out the Amazon rainforest to grow even more of these commodities and make them cheaper?”

If we lived in a world where sanity prevailed, the answer would be obvious.

But today’s industrial agribusiness fails the sanity test, on almost every level.

Consumers can, and must, help change the system by supporting organic regenerative farmers and boycotting industrial grain, meat, poultry and dairy products.

But consumers can’t do it alone. And farmers can’t change the system alone, either.

It’s time for a massive overhaul of U.S. food and farming policies. We can’t just “tweak” Farm Bill policy here and there and expect to see large-scale policy reform.

The farmer who wrote this email is a member of the U.S. Farmers & Ranchers for a Green New Deal coalition, a joint project of OCA, Regeneration International and the Sunrise Movement.

The coalition’s goal? Unite farmers and consumers around the call for a massive overhaul of U.S. ag policy.

It’s time for policymakers to support the farmers and ranchers who give back to their communities by growing healthy food while also being good stewards of the land—instead of allowing agribusiness lobbyists to write policies that let the big polluters and rainforest-destroyers and animal-abusers and resource-extrators and producers of pesticide- and drug-contaminated “cheap” food.

But just because it's time, just because it's obviously the only sane thing to do, doesn't mean it will happen.

We have to work at it. We have to all get involved.

Please support this critical campaign—for yourself, for the farmers, for the future of food, human health and Planet Earth.

You can help stop the insanity.

Make a tax-deductible donation to the national coalition of U.S. Farmers and Ranchers for a Green New Deal!

Make a tax-deductible donation to Organic Consumers Association, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit

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

Click here for more ways to support our work

Ice Cream on Drugs?

 

It’s been more than a year since we sued Unilever’s Ben & Jerry’s for misrepresenting its ice cream brand as “humanely sourced” and “environmentally responsible.”

The lawsuit followed our announcement—more than two years ago—that many popular Ben & Jerry’s flavors tested positive for residues of glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup weedkiller.

What’s happened since? Through our attorneys, we’ve continued to push for Ben & Jerry’s to stop misleading consumers.

So far, Unilever hasn’t budged.

This week, things got a little more interesting: A consumer in Vermont just filed a similar lawsuit against Unilever.

There’s also this new bit of information: It seems that in addition to having a pesticide problem, Ben & Jerry’s also has a drug problem.

How so? According to this report hot off the presses from Regeneration Vermont, some of the conventional factory farm dairies in Vermont that supply Ben & Jerry’s sold antibiotic-contaminated milk.

Yet despite the glyphosate in its ice cream, despite supporting dairies fueled by pesticide-drenched GMO grains, despite contributing to the global antibiotic resistance crisis, Ben & Jerry’s still proudly (and wrongly) claims to “make the best possible ice cream in the best possible way.”

We can’t think of any company that comes close to doing a better job than Unilever at duping consumers into thinking the Ben & Jerry's brand is “socially responsible.”

One of the latest examples of Unilever’s corporate hypocrisy? Ben & Jerry’s joined other companies in signing a petition to the U.S. Food & Drug Administration asking the agency to end the use of glyphosate as a dessicant (drying agent) on oats.

Seriously? From a company that supports the growing of more than 90,000 acres of GMO corn in Vermont—much of it treated with glyphosate, atrazine and metolachlor?

It’s time to ramp up the pressure on Unilever. It’s time for Ben & Jerry’s to stop supporting the industrial "dirty dairy" system.

It's time for Ben & Jerry's to go organic.

Read ‘Ben & Jerry’s Drug Problem’

Post on Ben & Jerry’s Facebook page

Call Ben & Jerry’s: (802) 846-1500

Use this customer complaint form

SIGN THE PETITION: Tell Ben & Jerry’s: Roundup Ready Ice Cream Isn’t Socially Responsible. Go Organic!

Essential Reading

 

Roundup Weedkiller: 42,000 Plaintiffs Sue Bayer Over Glyphosate

Cannabis in Modern Medicine

Impossible Burger: So Many Reasons Not to Eat It

Can Farmers and Ranchers Pull One Trillion Tons of Carbon Dioxide Out of the Atmosphere?

Fishery Collapse Confirms ‘Silent Spring’ Pesticide Prophecy

New Lawsuit Alleges Ben & Jerry’s Deceives Consumers About Farming Practices