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From our friend at Beyond Pesticides:

Congress Should Demand an Investigation into EPA’s Dismissal of Science continuing its marathon of deregulation to benefit the chemical industry, the Trump administration's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced its proposal to increase the amount of the weed killer atrazine allowed in U.S. waterways by 50% during the chemical's registration review—a stark reversal of previous proposals to significantly reduce atrazine levels in the environment.

Introduction by Moms Across America

Moms Across America received funding to test water samples in Florida and make an educational video with Frank Dean and Dr. Don Huber about the impact of glyphosate, specifically in Florida, on waterways crops, and health. Citrus farming use is the major focus, but glyphosate herbicides are also used directly in the water, on streets, sidewalks, gardens, parks, and on food crops such as sugar in Florida. Frank generously offered to also write this report on glyphosate and the impact on waterways and agriculture and we hope you will share it with your local farmers, city managers, Parks & Rec Departments, and landscapers.

As we enter into the holiday season, all of us at Moms Across America would like to express our gratitude for you, our community, and all you do to make this world a better place. Thank you!

Zen and the MAA Team

“We must find time to stop and thank the people who make a difference in our lives.”

― John F. Kennedy

noviembre 26, 2019 - I attended the opening night of Dark Waters in Irvine, CA. with much anticipation.

It is a movie based on a true story about a corporate lawyer, played by Mark Ruffalo, who turns on DuPont and exposes their years of corruption. In my work with Moms Across America I have had direct personal experience with this corruption.

One day, not long after yet another school shooting, a supporter called me and told me she needed to tell me a story. One of her best friends wanted me to know what she was about to tell me but she wanted to remain anonymous. She said, “You will understand why.” I listened.

She said that her friend was a single mom with four kids, living in a low-income Hispanic community in Santa Ana, CA. When her son was about nine years old, she he knew he had mental health issues and asked his school’s teachers to help her but they did not do anything about it. One day, the school Principal called her and said, “You need to come pick up your son from school. He just threatened to blow up the school with a bomb and kill everyone in it.” She responded that she knew he had mental health issues, and she had been asking them for help...would they help her now? The Principal finally agreed and they arranged a meeting with a psychiatrist.

The psychiatrist spoke with her son at length and at the end of the session he said, “Here you go, here is a prescription for a medication for your son.”

“A Massive & Irreversible Experiment” with Unknown Risks to Forests and People 

Written by Theresa Church and Ruddy Turnstone

While the season of “chestnuts roasting on an open fire” is upon us, the public comment period for the genetically engineered American chestnut (GE AC) is imminent. The request to commercialize the GE AC is being called a “massive and irreversible experiment with our forests” that, if approved, would allow the unprecedented release of a fertile GMO plant into the wild.

It does not take much to fuel a mom to keep going. A quick hug before bed, a moment to breathe in her seven year old’s hair that still smells like a young puppy... that love, that connection...recharges her for hours to get the lunches packed, pay the bills, sort out the laundry, and twenty other things before bed.

The same goes for Moms Across America. What we have accomplished, with a small but mighty team and tiny budget (compared to many nonprofits in our cause) is a testament to the determination of mothers. We can run on fumes and still keep going. It is not the most effective way to work, however.

Things to Consider as You Do Your Holiday Gift Shopping

The following excerpt is from Rebecca Burgess’ new book Fibershed: Growing a Movement of Farmers, Fashion Activists, and Makers for a New Textile Economy (Chelsea Green Publishing, noviembre 2019) and is reprinted with permission from the publisher.

The simple answer to this question is: a lot. On average, over 80 percent of the cotton grown in the United States annually is genetically modified to withstand the use of a range of herbicides and pesticides, and less than 1 percent is certified organic. And while two-thirds of Americans support GMO labeling for their food, few understand the role GMOs play in their clothing. In fact, we have yet to broach any large-scale public discussion of how GMO agriculture as a whole is impacting the health and diversity of our landscapes, rural economies, and personal health. Due to the omission of these larger conversations we’ve largely left the genetic engineering of fibers out of the land-use ethics debate altogether, and as a result there is little to no transparency offered on garment hangtags enabling us to determine if our clothing is genetically modified or not. Unless we are searching out and purchasing Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) certified garments. As a result of the large gap between our knowledge of how clothing is made and where the ingredients are sourced from, when we make decisions as a consumer on what to buy, we are largely making them blindly.

A few weeks ago, breaking news was that 95% of baby foods tested, 168 samples, by Healthy Babies Bright Future (HBBF), were found to contain heavy metals. 1 out of 4 contained all 4 of the heavy metals: arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury. What did not make the news was WHY. And HOW we can stop this unthinkable poisoning of our babies. Then news of Maui residents suing Monsanto for chemical exposure and birth defects broke. Once again, our babies, the future of our country, are being harmed by chemical companies but our government refuses to hold Bayer/Monsanto accountable for these tragedies.

A common over-the-counter pain medication is being connected to rising learning disorders. New findings from the Boston Birth Cohort study of 996 mother-infant dyads, as reported in JAMA Psychiatry, show cord plasma biomarkers of fetal exposure to acetaminophen were associated with significantly increased risk of childhood attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and autism spectrum disorder.

Acetaminophen (Tylenol) is one of the very few painkillers that has been considered safe to use during pregnancy. However, after identifying a link between prenatal exposure to the drug and symptoms of autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, studies suggest acetaminophen may not be so safe after all.