“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.

Yes, you read that title correctly. It’s not best en the world - it’s best for the world. There is a big difference.

At Moms Across America we are constantly looking forward... like the Native American tradition of making decisions based on what is best for the next seven generations...so when we learned about what Iroquois Valley Farmland Trust was doing, we got excited. If you are looking to invest your well deserved earnings in a way that will make a difference for the next several generations, we invite you to consider this trust. Rather than stocks or mutual funds investing in Big Pharma, Big Ag or Big Oil….we understand that you want better options.

Ask anyone who has proudly worn the label of activist why they became one, and just like fingerprints, you will get a different answer.

This is my story, and how I came to work with Moms Across America.

Think back to a “simpler” time. For me it was about 10 years ago. I was living a pretty good life, married in the suburbs, not having to work as my husband had a good job. I thought I was well educated on living healthy and would try to buy organic produce when I could and looked for environmentally friendly household products when it suited me. I thought I was doing pretty good.

El Día de la Salud Infantil fue el lunes, octubre 7. No apareció en los principales medios de comunicación ... en su lugar, escuchamos más noticias sobre la corrupción en la política. Nuestros medios de comunicación perdieron una gran oportunidad para crear conciencia sobre la crisis de salud que enfrentan nuestros niños y el futuro de nuestro país. Es por eso que nuestro trabajo, con su apoyo, es tan importante ... todos los días.

Did you hear that the EU now requires the final formulation testing for toxicity and carcinogenicity of pesticides? This is a HUGE win!

¿Qué hay de los Estados Unidos?

Bueno ... aquí la EPA solo permite 1, sí UNO, UNO, solo uno de los ingredientes en un pesticida (no todos) ser probado en "seguridad". No requieren pruebas sinérgicas de la mezcla de ingredientes entre sí o con otros productos químicos que se utilizan en el mismo cultivo o área. Las pruebas de toxicidad a corto plazo también son las favoritas de la industria en un producto químico, no son pruebas de seguridad independientes a largo plazo para detectar daños.

The pesticide manufacturers can pick the LEAST toxic chemical and declare that the "active chemical ingredient" even if that is complete hogwash! For instance, in Roundup Monsanto picked glyphosate, which is harmful over time, meaning with chronic exposure, but the other chemical ingredients in Roundup are 1000X MORE toxic! The other ingredients include arsenic and heavy metals. Don't you think they should be considered as well? Especially since it has been illegal to use arsenic on our food crops for years? And heavy metals are also known to be toxic? And now they are showing up in 95% of the baby food tested?? ARRGHHH! UNACCEPTABLE!

Tóxico significa que el químico mata a más del 50% de los sujetos de prueba de animales o peces en menos de 96 horas. No significa más de 5, 10 o 20 años de baja exposición a la exposición ... que es lo que le sucede a los EE. UU. Cuando consumimos alimentos con residuos de herbicidas de glifosato y otras toxinas como 2,4 -D , Atrazina y dicamba! En pocas palabras, NOSOTROS, la raza humana, somos un gran experimento científico para las compañías químicas y la EPA no está haciendo NADA al respecto.

A nuevo estudio, first posted on gmwatch, reveals disturbing information.

Glyphosate, found in Monsanto's/Bayer's Roundup and 700+ other glyphosate based herbicides, primed human breast cells to be more susceptible to cancer. GMWatch reports,"The glyphosate induced a several-fold increase in a protein called TET3, which is known to remove methylation tags from DNA.Normally when the DNA of a gene is tagged by methylation, it is not expressed. When the methylation tags are removed, the gene can be reactivated. Such changes in gene function caused by alterations in the profile of DNA methylation tags are known to be a contributing factor to cancer formation (carcinogenesis)."

Cuando las alteraciones en la función del gen como se describió anteriormente se combinaron con microARN, que se encuentran comúnmente en nuestros cuerpos, crecieron en una forma agresiva de cáncer de seno llamado cáncer luminal B. Este cáncer se está volviendo cada vez más común en mujeres jóvenes y ha sido devastadoramente fatal.

¡Esta noticia debería hacer que todos los centros de investigación de cáncer de seno griten desde los tejados para comer orgánicos y evitar la exposición a los herbicidas de glifosato en los parques y aceras de nuestra comunidad!

Vea nuestra entrevista con el científico británico Dr. Michael Antoniou, sobre este nuevo estudio y sus sorprendentes descubrimientos.