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The CA EPA operates separately from the federal EPA and has long been a leader in somewhat safer environmental policies. On Sept 9, 2021, they are holding a hearing at the Office of Environmental Health Hazards Assessment regarding what the exact wording should be on the label of glyphosate herbicides aka Roundup, Ranger Pro, and 750 other generic brands when used in California. What happens in California affects trade and policy around the world.

Please see below and consider participating. EVERY VOICE MATTERS and you do not have to be an expert. You can simply be someone who suspects glyphosate herbicides affected your health, your family's health, your pet, bees, or marine life near you. The OEHHA office needs to know we citizens are serious about protecting life on the planet and creating healthy communities. Please speak up with us.

We have included our perspective in this article but urge you to use other studies from our data page to touch upon the many other ways glyphosate harms life and therefore should be accurately labeled as such.

Thank you

An Account of Our Research Process and Findings

By Irene Fearnley and the Moms Across America Team

It’s no secret that cooking meals at home are more cost-effective than going out to eat. But what if you want to eat 100% organic, isn't that more expensive? 

In our new research, we show that it is still more cost-effective even if the ingredients are 100% organic. In addition to helping your wallet, cooking meals at home also has the potential for significant health benefits; since you yourself are in control of the products and ingredients you buy, it is easier to make eating organic, non-GMO whole foods a priority. When it comes to eating your meals outside the home, you may be inundated with unhealthy and non-sustainably grown options like the fare offered at fast-food chains. Even at other restaurants, you can never be too sure about the types of ingredients being used and where they are sourced from. To put it plainly, when you decide to cook from home you are making the decision that is truly best for your health and that of your family. 

America has been in a health crisis for over a decade. Heart disease and cancer have each been killing nearly 2000 people a day, long before COVID. At this rate, we are set to bankrupt our nation with health care costs in less than 8 years (unless we keep printing money of course).  Either way, our society is being severely impacted by the cost of health issues.

And yet, the number one disagreement when we at Moms Across America insist that organic, regeneratively grown food is essential for creating healthy communities and local food security, is that it “costs too much.” A common argument of GMO proponents is that educating low income people about the benefits of organic leads to them feeling “embarrassed and ashamed because they cannot afford it.” This implies that our mission for everyone to have access to healthy organic, regeneratively grown food is somehow insensitive and maybe even discriminatory.

When a family member was recently diagnosed with kidney disease, I wondered if the pesticides sprayed in her HOA might have contributed to the illness. When I got the HOA's landscaping records, as you will see in the letter below, I was shocked. I realized that the thousands of gallons of these toxic chemicals, mostly sprayed around the community amenity center where the outdoor pool is located, were likely drifting into the pool. My family member swam in that pool several times a week during warm weather, which in Florida, was often. I believe that outdoor pool water could be a significant source of exposure to toxic landscaping and pest management chemicals, contributing to chronic health issues.

By going through this process I have realized that people all across the nation could benefit if we could test pool water in multiple HOAs for the toxic pesticides that they are using to kill weeds and pests. We could convince the HOA managers and landscaper to switch to safer alternatives (we provide a list of many choices) and we could make a difference in hundreds or thousands of communities being healthier.

It is our fervent hope that you will read the below letter, use a version of it for your HOA ( after you get your HOA records), and partner with us to create healthy communities!

It is not uncommon for us to visit our parents or inlaws and see more prescription medications than we can count as part of their daily routine. And yet, most of our family members will insist that they are “fine.” They think that the pills will fix whatever is happening with them and that their doctor knows best.

Over 50% of our nation’s people have chronic health issues. Fertility is plummeting. 42% of us are obese. Thirty million have liver disease. $35 billion is spent on kidney dialysis. Diabetes increasing rate could bankrupt our country in a few years. We have a skyrocketing number of mental health issues. No, we are not okay. And what most of our doctors are doing is not working. They are simply prescribing more drugs.

Is your Homeowner's Association, neighbor, city, school landscaper, or Parks and Recreation spraying toxic herbicides like Glyphosate (Roundup), Dicamba (Spectricide), or 2,4-D  in your community? Do you want them to stop spraying poisons and use nontoxic methods?

Will the US Government Have the Courage to Make a Common Sense Budget Change and Transform Health in America?

In the movie Food Beware: The French Organic Revolution, the Mayor saw an increase in the local children getting cancer, noticed the spraying of chemicals on local farms, and put two and two together. Backed with science and parental support, he decided to take action.

He transitioned the subsidy funding from the pesticide spraying farms to the schools and earmarked the money for organic, local food. The farmers saw that to remain viable and continue supplying the schools with produce, they had to switch to organic. So they did. They successfully and profitably switched to organic practices, and the students got their safer, organic, non-toxic food.  Ultimately, the health of children and farm laborers was better protected.

This is a solution that we can and must implement across the USA.

In a historic turn of events, due to considerable public outcry (including many of you), Canada has decided to pause the approval of the increase of glyphosate and other pesticide residues by 100-650%. As we pointed out in our call to action, Canada exports to 95 countries around the world so this news is significant for the global food supply. The Candian government also announced that has invested $50 million into the Pesticide Management Regulatory Agency. No increases will be permitted until at least Spring of 2022.

From the Health Canada Announcement:

• There is no change to the Canadian use pattern of glyphosate. Neither how much nor how frequently glyphosate can be used changes due to the proposed MRL changes.

• As a result of today's announcement, all of the proposed increases to MRLs currently under consideration by Health Canada will be paused. This pause will remain in effect until all evidence and submissions have been reviewed and assessed.

We are thrilled that they are paying attention to the health risks of glyphosate. And that they are not only reassessing glyphosate health impacts but of all of the 15 pesticides listed. This has long been our strategy at Moms Across America. By focusing on the most widely used herbicide globally, we are shining a light on the use of hundreds of pesticides and the entire agrochemical industry.

"With today’s announcement, we are confirming that no decision on any increases to pesticide limits on food will be made before next spring. Meanwhile, we will review the framework underlying the review process of the PMRA and strengthen its capacity to conduct those reviews. Furthermore, research investments announced today will also give farmers greater access to better products and to adopt new and alternative approaches to pest management that reduce risk while addressing the concerns of Canadians."

The Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau
Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

Bayer Ends Sale of Roundup and Glyphosate Herbicidesto Garden and Lawncare Market by 2023.

Click here for Bayer's announcement.

Moms Across America is thrilled to share that something we have long been working for and waiting for has happened.

Bayer has announced that by 2023 they will no longer be selling Roundup and glyphosate-based herbicides at our local retailers for garden and lawncare! This will prevent our neighbors from unknowingly poisoning our community, risking miscarriage in our pregnant family members, giving our dogs cancer, and killing our bees and pollinators. 

This is a huge win for communities all across the country.

Although 2023 is FAR too long, and TODAY would have been far more responsible, this is an enormous step in the right direction. 

This decision was made after Judge Chabbria’s recent decision regarding the proposed 10 billion dollar cap on lawsuit payouts. The Judge decided that the cap would not be fair for people who develop cancer years after using Roundup and Bayer’s glyphosate products. Under Bayer’s proposal, those victims would not be able to get compensation because the cap was already met. So there is no cap to the amount of compensation that Bayer could payout for Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma cases connected to the use of their glyphosate products. The only way Monsanto could stop the increase of lawsuits is to stop selling the product. So today, that is what they decided to do.

The tide is turning. Two new papers show the importance of transforming the current global GMO toxic food supply to nontoxic, regenerative methods. Moms Across America has long been calling for transformation in the food system, collectively with many other organizations, for decades. It is a sign of hope to see so many diverse experts now calling for change.