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One day Natalie, a mom and nurse who lives in my town, called me, furious, and said that a truck with a tank had just sprayed her street with Rodeo (a glyphosate-based herbicide). She had a picture of the truck spraying that day, so we filed a complaint with the county agricultural commissioner and went to the Orange County Public Works with a binder of studies.

After one meeting and a few calls and emails, the manager agreed to propose alternatives. Since then, after a few meetings, our city has agreed to stop spraying glyphosate-based herbicides in residential neighborhoods. We are told that by July 2019 our city will have organic land care. Due to the efforts of many committed parents, my son’s entire school district has also agreed to use alternatives such as safer chemicals, mulch, and weed whacking. This was especially important to me because we noticed that he would have trouble breathing, and had asthma symptoms, after the city workers had sprayed Roundup on the hillsides by his school. It is terrifying to see your child having difficulty breathing. I am so grateful that his school district has discontinued the use of glyphosate herbicides.

March 8, 2019 – Oakland, California - - The trial of Pilliod v. Monsanto Company (now Bayer) begins with jury selection on Monday, March 25, 2019, in Superior Court of California for the County of Alameda before Judge Winifred Smith. Attorneys for the plaintiffs anticipate the trial will last about a month.

Pilliod v. Monsanto is the first case in the California Roundup Judicial Council Coordination Proceedings (JCCP) and the third Roundup cancer case to proceed to trial.

More than 250 Roundup cancer cases are consolidated before Judge Smith as part of the California Roundup JCCP. Plaintiffs in the lawsuit allege exposure to Monsanto’s Roundup weed killer caused them to develop non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

More and more we are all hearing about the huge role our genetics play in our health. It is the age-old question of nature vs nurture or another way to phrase it is genetics vs lifestyle.

Disturbing news was released today by US Pirg showing even higher levels of glyphosate in popular wine and beer than the test results  Moms Across America commissioned in 2017. These results clearly show that glyphosate-based herbicides (GBH) must be banned. Despite the fact that farmers have known since 2015 that glyphosate herbicides can cause cancer and many other serious health effects, they continue to spray GBH as a drying agent on their grain crops. Because the US EPA says it is safe to do so.   34 countries have banned or restricted glyphosate, but not the USA.

Sign the petition from USPirg to the USDA to test for glyphosate here.

The contamination of beer and wines is another great reason to join in the Friends of the Earth call to action and go to your local Kroger-owned Grocery Store this today or tomorrow ( find out of your local grocery store is owned by Kroger's here) and ask them to stop selling products with toxic pesticides in them! Find out more about the call to action here.

Read the full USPirg report and take action here.

We thank the USPirg team for their excellent work!

OpEd By Zen Honeycutt

Ladies, Mark Ruffalo. Need I say more?

Men, yes, I do. Here’s a little Valentine’s Day tip for you on what makes him so darn sexy.

Mark Ruffalo does not only raise the eyebrows of women around the planet because of his rugged good looks. There is another reason, one that has cropped up in the past few years. One that the media will not describe on CBS Good Morning Show or in the pages of the  “Sexiest Man Alive” articles in Vanity Fair. One that makes casting directors cringe and producers angry.

Activism.

“Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm.”—WINSTON CHURCHILL

  When I declared Moms Across America—and essentially, myself—UNSTOPPABLE, I had no idea how much the universe would throw at me. I used the word “unstoppable” to encourage and support moms to keep going. Little did I know that there would be times when I felt not only stopped but also crushed. Pamm Larry, instigator of California’s ballot initiative to label GMOs, helped me put things into perspective when she said, “What’s the fastest way to get criticized? Do something.”

By Evan Zislis

We are naturally wired to help each other. It’s just part of our DNA. It may be the most exceptional trait of our species. Our collective history is defined by a shared ancestral memory of cooperation, collaboration, empathy, and assistance. Things fall apart when we forget. But in times of crisis, we remember – all at once, like suddenly we’re all hearing the same inspiring song – and we re-engage in step to the music. Suddenly, we’re one. And together, we evolve.

I’m a professional organizer. In my professional practice, I help people to simplify so they can focus on the things that matter most: who we love, what we do, how, and why we live… because everything else is just stuff. I help my clients de-clutter and get organized, but all that work is really just a guise for saving the world.

Start in your bathroom with the products you use most. Things like makeup, shampoo, lotion, soaps, toothpaste, etc. Anything with chemicals and fragrances are good candidates for switching out. Then move to the kitchen and laundry and take an inventory of the cleaning agents. Steadily migrate over as your products run out or simply throw away and start over. With online marketplaces like Amazon, Thrive Market, and independent retailers like Honest Company and others, reducing your overall chemical load is easier than ever.

On Friday, January 18, Elizabeth Desiree of Washington state posted on Facebook that she just got a call from an employee at Costco and he told her that Costco would no longer be selling Roundup. She had written him a letter and he was calling her back. I was excited but reserved my excitement. There is so much fake news these days. I called the headquarters, and after two days of messages and calls, I did finally confirm with three people that Costco was not ordering Roundup or any glyphosate-based herbicides for the incoming spring shipments. They would not be selling it in any stores, all across America. This is HUGE! How fantastic! One employee mentioned that they had looked into organic alternatives first and were happy with the results. More than one employee mentioned the lawsuit (Johnson V Monsanto) for part of the reasoning. They said they just felt like it was the right thing to do.

I asked for an official statement and was told that usually, Costco does not issue press releases, etc discussing which items they have discontinued. Despite not hearing back from the Costco PR department, I decided to announce the information anyway. I told them that the 89,000 people who signed a petition to Costco, Home Depot, and Lowe's deserved to have an answer. I knew that they would be happy to know that Costco was doing the right thing.

Have you been wondering why many farmers, scientists, and regulatory agencies are claiming that glyphosate is safe? Are you confused as to why our EPA says that they have the science to show that glyphosate is not a carcinogen...but the IARC (International Agency for Research on Cancer) has found that it is a carcinogen? We have!

Thank Goodness that scientist Charles Benbrook has combed through the studies analyzed by both agencies and has found out exactly why they came to their decisions. Guess what... SURPRISE! cherrypicking is definitely at play!

To summarize for you: 

EPA cited 109 total assays not included in the IARC report, 87% of which were regulatory studies commissioned by industry, and all but one was negative.

IARC included the results from 67 assays not included in EPA’s analysis, all of which were from peer-reviewed publications, and 82% of which had at least one positive result for genotoxicity.

In genetics, genotoxicity describes the property of chemical agents that damage the genetic information within a cell causing mutations, which may lead to cancer. While genotoxicity is often confused with mutagenicity, all mutagens are genotoxic, whereas not all genotoxic substances are mutagenic.

Watch our Facebook live discussing the issue with Zen Honeycutt here.

The following is the full paper by Charles Benbrook PhD. published on www.hygeia-analytics.com