One of the reasons that many of us purchase organic is because we don’t want to put food into our bodies that contains synthetic chemicals.

Yet even though we may not eat conventionally-grown food ourselves, we still need to be very aware (and concerned) about what is going on in the non-organic world. Why?

Because the toxic chemicals that are sprayed on conventionally-grown food end up in the water supply.

And the EPA is not doing its job when it comes to protecting the integrity of our water.

WHAT IS ATRAZINE AND WHY YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT IT

One of the most widely used chemicals that gets sprayed on conventionally-grown food is Atrazine, a toxic weed killer.

According to 2008 data from the USDA Pesticide Data Program, Atrazine has been found in 94% of of our water supply. Read more »

There are two pieces of organic news regarding the government that I wanted to share with you. One piece is good, the other piece is not great.

So let’s start with the good news.

STATE OF OHIO DAIRY LABELING LAWS

If you live in the State of Ohio, the bureaucrats there do not believe that consumers have a right to know what’s in their dairy products.

In 2008, they passed an emergency regulation which banned any dairy manufacturer from putting on their label “Made without Hormones, Antibiotics, or Pesticides.”

Have you ever heard of anything so un-American in your life? Read more »

If you’ve been reading the news lately, you know that the Obama administration lost $535 million dollars on a loan to a failed solar panel company, Solyndra.

While it is totally inexcusable that we can be wasting money like this, at least the cause – solar energy – was noble. The same cannot be said for what the USDA just spent its money on.

The USDA recently announced a $500,000 grant to fund research for the development of genetically-engineered, sterile salmon. Read more »

If you’ve been following my blog over the past few months, you know that the Right2Know March is taking place right now.

I was there for the kick-off, which started on October 1st in NYC and ends this Sunday in Washington, and I’ll be there for the finale as well.

The objective of the Right2Know March is to demand that our government label genetically-modified food.

More than 30 countries around the world label their genetically-modified food because they know that it is inherently different from non-genetically-modified and poses real health risks.

As Americans, we have the right to know what is in our food. Read more »

This past Saturday, I found out about an incredibly important piece of news regarding the organic food industry when I attended the Right2Know March in Brooklyn.

Andrew Kimbrell, the Executive Director of The Center for Food Safety, got on stage and announced that a petition was filed (PDF) with the FDA on behalf of hundreds of organic food groups and companies that would require genetically-modified foods be labeled.

This petition is huge, huge news. Why? Read more »

Recently, I wrote about how ConAgra and its Wesson Oils division were facing a class action lawsuit because the company was claiming that its products were “all-natural” when, in fact, they contained genetically-modified ingredients, which are not “all-natural”.

This is an incredibly important case and could set a massive precedent in the food industry regarding GMOs.

Well, the good news continues.

A new class action lawsuit has been filed, this time against Kashi and its parent company Kellogg’s. The reason?

Kashi’s GoLean and TLC products are marketed as “all-natural” and state that they contain “nothing artificial” when, in fact, they are “composed almost entirely of synthetic and unnaturally processed ingredients”, so says the lawsuit.

But wait, it gets worse. MUCH WORSE. Read more »

As I have gotten older, my values have become much, much more clear.

Along with my family and friends, there may be nothing more important to me than health. And to me, good health is synonymous with organic food.

Unfortunately, however, we live in a country where organic food is incredibly marginalized and deemed not that important by our leaders. Why is this?

Politicians and the regulatory bodies that they oversee, namely the USDA and FDA, are utterly beholden to Big Ag and do everything they can to placate them.

While countries such as France and the Philippines are feverishly promoting organic farming, President Obama and his policymakers are pushing a genetically-modified food agenda. Read more »