The farm, the garden, and many aspects of our society are in a time of change. As the jewel-colored tree leaves dance into their glory and begin to fall to the ground, we are reminded of the dramatic transformations that we, as living beings inevitably go through. Nothing ever stays the same. We are all growing, old ways are falling away, we hibernate, reflect, and grow, and new ways will spring up, continuing the cycle of life.

Personally, in the fall season, I am struggling to let go. I am grieving the loss of my 55-year old big brother, Tao LaBossiere, who died suddenly of a stroke. He was a great artist who inspired his community to create and connect. I do know that with each season of our relationship over 51 years, which included disagreements, we loved each other, and I have many wonderful memories in nature with him. He joins my father, who passed 5 years ago from organ damage after the FluZone and DTAP shots. An increasing number of people around the world are dealing with the sudden loss of a loved one, and we send you our deepest sympathies. We hope we may all learn and grow from the precious experiences we have had with them. We plan to take our anger and grief and channel it into action and compassion for others.

Tao LaBossiere mural - "The Oneness of Being in Still Waters" in Hartford, CT

Moms Across America has gone through 12 years of seasons and change, every year gaining experience and knowledge that has expanded in immeasurable ways across the countries and around the world. Old ways, of ignoring the fact that toxins ie: poisons are sprayed on our food and toxins are allowed in our foods, is falling away. The public and our elected officials are acknowledging this fact. One particularly beautiful fruit of our labor has just occurred, and we are thrilled to share:

US Senator Cory Booker just announced the introduction of a new Safe School Meals Act of 2024! The text of the bill, summarized is as below:

The Safe School Meals Act (SSMA) would protect school children by:

1. Directing the FDA to set safe limits for heavy metals in school meals. The limits would be based on a threshold of reasonable certainty of no harm to school-age children from aggregate exposure. If the agencies fail to set these limits within 2 years, the limits will automatically be set to non-detectable until the agencies can determine a safe level of exposure.
2. Banning glyphosate, paraquat, and organophosphate pesticide residues in school meals. Certified organic farms would automatically meet this requirement.
3. Banning PFAS, phthalates, lead, and bisphenols in food packaging in school meals.
4. Directing FDA to reevaluate food additives with known carcinogenic, reproductive, or developmental health harms, such as artificial food dyes, and ban their use in school meals prior to the completion of FDA’s analysis.

The press release links to our Moms Across America National School Lunch Testing Program results. This testing of 43 school lunch samples, a statistically significant number, shows us that citizen science and citizen advocacy can work. We agree with Senator Booker who stated, “Kids in America consume far too many harmful substances in their food. School meals should be a child’s safest source of nourishment, not another source of toxic exposure. The Safe School Meals Act would protect our children by getting dangerous chemical food additives, heavy metals, and pesticide and chemical residues out of school meals while creating a significant new market opportunity for organic and regenerative farmers.”

Zen Honeycutt ( MAA Founder and Director), Alexis Baden Mayer ( OCA Political Director- local who joined our EPA meeting) and Kelly Ryerson, (GlyphosateFacts.com, MAA board member)

Kelly Ryerson and I happened to be in DC for the announcement of the Safe School Meals Act, and it was thrilling. We had appointments all week with elected officials and were joined by experts at the EPA regarding glyphosate and agrochemicals as endocrine disruptors and carcinogens. Kelly and I visited over 40 of our elected official's offices on your behalf. We wish to thank the many supporters who donated to our travel and were able to have face-to-face meetings. These in-person meetings are essential to compel progress. We brought a petition with over 3000 signatures from our supporters and a separate petition with over 100 food brands and retailers who requested that the EPA stop allowing glyphosate as a drying agent and impacting the integrity of their brands. In the past ten years, we and other groups have submitted petitions multiple times to ban glyphosate that each exceeded 100,000.

Zen Honeycutt, Rob Verkeck, Ruth Westreich, Kelly Ryerson, and Alexis Bayden-Mayer - several other experts joined us online

Alliance for Natural Health Rob Verkeck, Kelly Ryerson Glyphosate Facts, Ruth Westreich, Alexis Baden Mayer of Organic Consumers Association, Dr. Michelle Perro, Mark Doudlah of Doudlah Farms, Nataly Declid Harvard student, Stephanie Senef PhD MIT professor, Nicole Shanahan former VP candidate, Kristy from Quinn’s gluten-free Snacks joined us in the EPA meeting, and we are so grateful! 

We acknowledge the efforts of many organizations that have preceded our work, for decades groups like Jeffrey Smith of Institute for Responsible Technology, Robyn O’Brien author of “The Unhealthy Truth”, the Organic Consumer Association, Center for Food Safety, Beyond Pesticides and Friends of the Earth have been speaking up about food quality. We also deeply appreciate our partnership with Children’s Health Defense who funded a portion of the school lunch testing and Centner Academy who helped fund the fast food testing  (fast food companies supply school lunches). We thank our Moms Across America supporters who donated, the children who got the samples, Anne Temple, who supported our volunteers in the logistics of gathering the samples, the children, parents and network members who mailed the samples to the Health Research Institute lab, the laboratory technicians, our volunteer board members who supported the effort, our many expert advisors such as Don Huber, Stephanie Seneff PhD, Dr. Michelle Perro, Robert F Kennedy Jr., Kelly Ryerson who arranged the meetings with Senator Booker’s team and consistently raises awareness about glyphosate and agrochemicals, Senator Booker's staff who researched and worked on this bill for months, all the organizations and organic farmers that they worked with to create a bill that supports the agriculture system, and everyone who shared our posts and articles. For past and current support, we also thank the Westreich Foundation, Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, the Center Academy and many of the anonymous supporters; we thank you.

Personally, when I learned about GMOs from Robyn O’Brien and Jeffrey Smith in 2012, I went to my school principal and asked him to watch Genetic Roulette and get GMOs out of school lunches. When he refused to do anything about school lunches ( though he did stop allowing Roundup to be sprayed on school grounds) my then-husband said, “Zen you are talking to one school across the street. You are playing too small of a game. This is a national, federal school lunch program. You have to play a bigger game.” 

So I opened my mind up to how we could reach people nationally and thought of joining into 4th of July parades with banners that said Moms Across America March to Label GMOs, and Moms Across America was born. We reached thousands locally and millions nationally in a single day. Our social media reach on Facebook was 300,000 a week. 600 leaders over the next 5 years logged over 1000 events in all 50 states on our website event page. Many of you have been an integral part of the movement every since. You have become an extended family that supports our work, inspires me and helps me to keep going even during rough times.

Laurie Olsen (on the left front) was the first mom to support coordinating parades in her state (14) and nationwide (179) in 2013.

I especially want to thank my first son, Ben Honeycutt, who, at 9 years old, inspired me and made school lunch issues important to his class and others when he volunteered to make a presentation about the effects of school lunch choices for his 4/5 combo class. He saw the junk foods his classmates were eating, and he knew that the food dyes, GMOs, pesticides, and preservatives were contributing to their erratic behavior, which resulted in the teacher yelling often. He wanted peace in the classroom. So he made a presentation and influenced the food choices of many of his classmates. He presented it at a church later that year as well. He won a citizenship award and went on to be a public speaker for healthy food. Ben has eaten only organic plant-based food for 9 years and has not had to go to a doctor for sickness once.

My second son Bodee noticed how one day a week, Friday, he ate school lunches, that he got into fights with his brothers, lost privileges, and eventually he chose to stop eating school lunches altogether. His behavior is significantly better when he makes healthy food choices. Our health and behavior shape the future of our world.

Several groups and schools in America have long supported safe, nontoxic, nutrient-dense food in schools, such as Turning Green and SchoolofLunch.com. However, the schools that have been successful in America are mostly in wealthy areas, and we believe every child, no matter what their socioeconomic background or location, should have access to safe, nontoxic, nutrient-dense food.

Thirty million school meals are served each day to our children. For many, breakfast and lunch are the only meals they have. The quality of school lunch food needs major renovation, and many are doing it. Many schools in South Korea and Japan have been feeding their children organic food. Around the world, we know our children are worth it.

          School of Lunch student eating a great meal that includes gut-healing organic bone broth

We will continue to create healthy communities, and we now have an important tool—the "Safe School Meals Act of 2024"—to educate our elected officials and raise awareness among food manufacturers and the public. This bill, or a version very close to it, must pass to protect the future of our country. School lunches and our food supply are a national security issue. We hope you will donate today to support our continued, unstoppable work and a thriving future. 

Our children are the future of our countries and our planet. Without health, nothing else matters - we cannot have our relationships, our jobs, our passions and missions, or go to school. Our governments will not be stable and the future of our planet is at risk. We can create a new future, one of health, integrity and prosperity.

 We urge you to be present to the sweet essence of each season, to savor the present, and to put your health and the health of your family first. Cherish your loved ones. Embrace and grow with change. Make healthy choices. Join us on our Monday night Moms Connect Calls where mothers and others come together to create healthy communities. If you have signed up for our newsletter you will get an invitation. Join us on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Telegram, X, and Rumble to help us expand our reach. Together we can create healthy communities and a healthy future!

We will not stop, we will not give up, because the love for our children and families will never end!  We thank you for your support!

With Gratitude,

Zen Honeycutt, Founding Executive Director, Moms Across America