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Grassroots Gumption - Citizen Action Wins Against Monsanto and More

The Center for Food Safety (CFS), a national nonprofit advocating in the public interest, works to protect human health and the environment by curbing the use of harmful food production technologies and promoting organic and other forms of sustainable agriculture. It confirms that actions such as signing petitions really do make a difference.

For instance, the CFS cites a hard-fought campaign that pushed the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to respond to a lawsuit and remove arsenic from chicken feed. They credit the thousands of consumers that joined the effort, saying, “Together, we forced the FDA to remove arsenic ingredients in animal feed used for our nation’s chickens, turkeys and hogs, and 98 of the 101 drug approvals for arsenic-based animal drugs will be withdrawn.”

More recently, CFS reports that half a million citizen phone calls and emails had a significant effect in killing an extension of the so-called “Monsanto protection act” in the Senate. Formally named the Farmer Assurance Provision, the measure undermined the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s authority to ban genetically modified crops, even if court rulings found they posed risks to human and environmental health.

Source: CenterForFoodSafety.org

Global Briefs
Tick Talk

Spring officially sprung on March 21. We have turned our clocks ahead. We are looking forward to warm winds, sunny skies and the smell of fresh cut grass. The daffodils and tulips have recently bloomed and we are just starting with the yard work that comes with the warmer weather.  Sadly, another season has started ramping up.  Tick season.

•             The best form of protection is prevention. Educating oneself about tick activity and how our behaviors overlap with tick habitats is the first step.

•             According to the NJ DOH, in 2022 Hunterdon County led the state with a Lyme disease incidence rate of 426 cases per 100,000 people. The fact is ticks spend approximately 90% of their lives not on a host but aggressively searching for one, molting to their next stage or over-wintering. This is why a tick remediation program should be implemented on school grounds where NJ DOH deems high risk for tick exposure and subsequent attachment to human hosts.

•             Governor Murphy has signed a bill that mandates tick education in NJ public schools. See this for the details.  Tick education must now be incorporated into K-12 school curriculum. See link:

https://www.nj.gov/education/broadcasts/2023/sept/27/TicksandTick-BorneIllnessEducation.pdf

•             May is a great month to remind the public that tick activity is in full swing. In New Jersey, there are many tickborne diseases that affect residents, including Anaplasmosis, Babesiosis, Ehrlichiosis, Lyme disease, Powassan, and Spotted Fever Group Rickettsiosis.

•             For years, the focus has mainly been about protecting ourselves from Lyme disease. But other tick-borne diseases are on the rise in Central Jersey. An increase of incidence of Babesia and Anaplasma are sidelining people too. These two pathogens are scary because they effect our blood cells. Babesia affects the red blood cells and Anaplasma effects the white blood cells.

•             Ticks can be infected with more than one pathogen. When you contract Lyme it is possible to contract more than just that one disease. This is called a co-infection. It is super important to pay attention to your symptoms. See link.

https://twp.freehold.nj.us/480/Disease-Co-Infection

A good resource from the State:

https://www.nj.gov/health/cd/topics/tickborne.shtml

 

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