Tag Archives | Pesticides

Cotton: The World’s Dirtiest Crop

Cotton: The World’s Dirtiest Crop

by the Rodale’s Team This month Rodale’s is commemorating our second anniversary! To celebrate, we want to share with you a little information about the traditional second anniversary gift of cotton. For us, any cotton gift must be organic cotton. Why organic? Because in today’s world of “fast fashion”—where trends change quickly and clothes are […]

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Are You Eating These 12 'Dirty' Fruits and Vegetables?

Are You Eating These 12 ‘Dirty’ Fruits and Vegetables?

by guest blogger Leah Zerbe, online editor for RodaleNews.com Here’s a not-so-fun fact you need to know: Even if you rinse, scrub, and peel your fruits and veggies, harmful—sometimes even brain-damaging—pesticides often remain. That’s because many weed- and bug-killing chemicals on the market are systemic, meaning they are taken up inside of the food you […]

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Pesticide Use Skyrocketing on GMO Crops While Pro-GMO Media Run Interference

Pesticide Use Skyrocketing on GMO Crops While Pro-GMO Media Run Interference

by David Bronner, president of Dr. Bronner’s Michael Specter’s recent articles in the New Yorker bashing Vandana Shiva and the labeling of genetically engineered foods (“Seeds of Doubt“and “The Problem with G.M.O. Labels“) are the latest high-profile pro–genetically modified organisms (GMO) articles that fail to engage with the fundamental critique of genetically engineered food crops in […]

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Organic vs. Chemical Lawn Care: Which One Leads to Healthier Grass?

Organic vs. Chemical Lawn Care:
Which One Leads to Healthier Grass?

by guest blogger “Coach” Mark Smallwood, Rodale Institute executive director The summer season always brings to mind bright green lawns and idyllic images of children running barefoot through the grass. However, lawns are a quintessentially American phenomenon, and when you begin to “dig” deeper into lawn care in America, the picture is not so pretty. […]

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Why GE Labeling Is Monsanto's Worst Nightmare

Why GE Labeling Is
Monsanto’s Worst Nightmare

by Marcia Ishii-Eiteman. The dirty little secret behind GE crops is that they are marketing engines for the pesticide industry. Whatever the ads and manipulated media spots say, this is why Monsanto et al. are pulling out all the stops to stop Prop 37, the California Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act, which would permit companies to label foods made with genetically engineered (GE) crops.

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Drift Happens

Drift Happens

by Marcia Ishii-Eiteman. Imagine an invisible cloud of a cancer-causing 2,4-D weedkiller drifting slowly across your state. Well, one just blew 100 miles across California. How much of that drifting cloud settled on play structures, parks, schoolyards, and clothes drying on the line on the hot summer day? It’s hard to tell, but this invisible threat puts us all at risk.

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Total Recall

Total Recall

by guest blogger Coach Mark Smallwood. A crib rail pinches a finger and in short order the product is recalled. Why isn’t it the same true for 2,4-D or glyphosate? Why don’t we hold toxic, man-made chemicals to the same sort of standard we hold other products?

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Chemical Agriculture's Dirty Fight

Chemical Agriculture’s Dirty Fight

by guest blogger Alex Formuzis. The Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to implement health-based standards for all pesticides used in food, with special safeguards for infants and babies. But chemical agribusiness has been fighting to try to block any action by EPA every step of the way.

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