IN 2009, researchers at UCLA linked Parkinson's Disease (PD) to two chemicals commonly sprayed on crops to fight pests. The study didn't examine farmers, but rather focused on people living near the farm fields where the chemicals maneb and paraquat were sprayed. They found that, for those residents, the risk for PD increased 75%. A follow-up study adds two new twists. Funded by the National Institutes of E ...

May 23, 2011 BLR Green Team: Creating a Sustainable Workplace at BLR Are You Falling Into The "More-On" Approach? by Amanda Czepiel I attended the NEIWPCC conference in Saratoga Springs, New York, last week. Although I have known of the dangers and environmental effects of pesticide use on lawns for years, the keynote speaker, Paul Tukey, really drove the message home loud and clear: Lawn chemicals are most ...

Like the towns of Sedgwick, Penobscot, and Blue Hill, in Maine, the country of El Salvador has now declared "food sovereignty" from the hegemony of international market dictates, particularly those of agricultural giants like Monsanto. President Mauricio Funes is inaugurating a new plan aimed at reactivating the country’s historically ignored rural economy and reversing El Salvador’s growing dependence on i ...

Home remedies ineffective on moles, voles: Ask the Ground Crew Published: Wednesday, May 25, 2011, 3:27 PM Over the winter, moles established twisting trails in our front lawn. How do I get rid of the moles? What do I do about the mole trails ? -- Bob House, Avon For the past two winters, some kind of burrowing mouse/mole/vole makes tunnels under the snow and feasts on my phlox. They live in holes in the gr ...

Four months after it was due, and under pressure from supporters of the Environmental Working Group, the USDA has released its annual analysis of pesticide residues on fresh fruits and vegetables this week without downplaying any of the findings. With an intense lobbying campaign, the pesticide and produce industry pressured the USDA to minimize the findings of the test results and downplay consumer concern ...

May 17, 2011 Langley Advance Growing reaction More and more communities are banning cosmetic pesticide use. Find out why. By Heather Colpitts The issue of cosmetic pesticides will be examined when the documentary A Chemical Reaction is shown at a special viewing May 18. The Canadian Cancer Society, in partnership with Langley Environmental Partners Society (LEPS), Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s School of ...

In January, the U.S. Department of Agriculture was supposed to release its annual findings for the tests it does on pesticide use in fruits and vegetables. Four months later, those findings have still not been released. The Environmental Working Group, which publishes its annual EWG Shopper's Guide to Pesticides, has filed a Freedom of Information Act request for all of USDA’s recent communications with pro ...

Hundreds of thousands of Indian farmers have committed suicide in the last ten years. Contemporary, westernized farming practices require poor farmers to take out loans for expensive chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and to dig wells for the additional water necessary. When the wells dry up and crops fail, many farmers have taken their lives out of desperation. (Perhaps not coincidentally, a study conduc ...

In a blatant public relations move, Monsanto Fund, the "philanthropic" arm of Monsanto, has begun a campaign to help fund rural public schools. "Education is the cornerstone of any successful community, yet school districts nationwide are facing tough budget choices," says Monsanto Fund president Deborah Patterson in a video on the program's website. True. And Monsanto appears to be taking full advantage, s ...

by Donna Morin Miller On October 1, South Africa will become the latest country to require that genetically-modified foods be labeled. I am envious. No, I'm angry. Genetically-modified foods have been in the U.S. food system for nearly 30 years now. There have never been any long-term studies done to prove their safety, despite claims by bio-tech giants like Monsanto that g-m foods go through a rigorous tes ...