The Organic & Non-GMO Report Newsletter

New paper: Organic farming significantly lessens reliance on pesticides, reduces dietary risks of pesticide residues in foods

A new paper from the Heartland Health Research Alliance (HHRA) published in the peer-reviewed journal Agronomy reports significantly lower use of pesticides in organic farming and reduced risks of pesticide residues in foods. Organic farms use pesticides far less often and less intensively than on nearby conventional farms growing the same crop (see the chart […]

Corporate studies affirming glyphosate safety have major flaws, report finds

Reflecting a worrisome trend of regulators using industry-funded research and ignoring red flags, a new analysis of corporate-backed studies on glyphosate safety (Roundup) reveals serious flaws. The Institute of Cancer Research at the Medical University of Vienna’s 187-page report found that only two of 53 safety assessments met current international scientific standards. The others used […]

Study associates organic food intake in childhood with better cognitive development

  Photo: Robo Wunderkind / Unsplash A study analyzing the association between a wide variety of prenatal and childhood exposures and neuropsychological development in school-age children has found that organic food intake is associated with better scores on tests of fluid intelligence (ability to solve novel reasoning problems) and working memory (ability of the brain […]

Sri Lanka’s ban on agrochemicals lowers suicide rates, earning “Policy Oscar”

The country of Sri Lanka has received the Future Policy Special Award 2021 from Pesticide Action Network Asia Pacific. The award recognized two policies that were instrumental in banning Highly Hazardous Pesticides (HPPs), chemicals responsible for thousands of suicides in the country. Five winners of the award—the “Oscar on Best Policies”—were chosen from 55 policies […]

Organic grain sales soar during pandemic

In the burgeoning organic food market, organic bread and grains account for 11.4% of sales. The Organic Trade Association recorded $5.7 billion in 2019 sales for the category. Nielsen reports an 8% increase in organic bread sales from 2018 to 2019, and a whopping 19% from 2019 to 2020. Organic flour sales rose 51% that […]