Organic Bytes Newsletter #919: The Real Story Behind the ‘Better Food Disclosure Act’

2 days ago 5

Organic Bytes
Newsletter #919: The Real Story Behind the ‘Better Food Disclosure Act’

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Serious Food Safety Concerns if ‘Better Food Disclosure Act’ Passes

We just scored a win in Congress against the junk food industry!

Corporate front-group Americans for Ingredient Transparency—representing the biggest manufacturers of ultraprocessed Frankenfoods from Pepsi Co. on down—wants to take away states’ rights to ban toxic food ingredients.

They secured the support of Senator Rodger Marshall, Republican of Kansas, to draft a bill misleadingly named the “Better Food Disclosure Act” with a provision that would have taken away states’ rights to do things like ban food dyes or get ultraprocessed foods out of school meals. This proved so unpopular that he had to remove that provision!

This is a significant victory but his bill still has several major problematic issues.

Although this is a step in the right direction, we must continue to fight this bill because even without that provision, there would still be insufficient ingredient oversight and lack of transparency, which could cause major misinterpretation and confusion in labels as well as create complicated challenges for food manufacturers.

The bill would still cement a loophole used by the Food & Drug Administration known as “generally recognized as safe” (GRAS) to make sure ingredients like lab-grown animal cells, genetically modified organisms, and synthetic chemicals continue to get approved quickly and without review. The GRAS Process allows food companies to declare a substance safe for consumption without notifying the FDA, allowing potentially dangerous substances to enter our food system with no oversight.

The junk food industry is backing Marshall’s ‘Better Food Disclosure Act’ bill to block Representative Frank Pallone’s “Grocery Reform and Safety Act”, which aims to close the Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) loophole.

Please help us get the message to Congress to pass the “Grocery Reform and Safety Act”! Closing the GRAS loophole is also something Health & Human Services Sec. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., can and has promised to do. So far, RFK, Jr. hasn’t taken action on this and if issue is left to Congress, Marshall’s harmful bill is more likely to pass than Palone’s beneficial one so we need to keep the pressure on.

TAKE ACTION: Tell Congress to pass the Grocery Reform and Safety Act, not the misleading named “Better Food Disclosure Act”!

ANCESTRAL TRADITIONS

Harvest Reflections: Truth, Gratitude & Land

This harvest season invites us to pause, reflect, and reconnect with the land and all who sustain us. Across cultures, from Haudenosaunee harvest traditions to Samhain, Sukkot, and the Mid-Autumn Festival, autumn has long been a time for gratitude and preparation. In North America, this time also requires honesty: while some gather in warmth and celebration, others mark the National Day of Mourning, acknowledging the ongoing impacts of colonization, land theft, broken agreements, and systemic erasure.

Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass and the Haudenosaunee Thanksgiving Address offer a different way forward, one rooted in reciprocity, relationship, and giving thanks to the natural world. Monique Gray Smith reminds us that teachings of gratitude and care exist in every lineage, and that reconnecting with our own ancestral traditions can deepen responsibility and healing. Gratitude, she says, changes our frequency toward kindness, generosity, and respect.

Kimmerer also challenges the pressures of holiday consumerism, calling contentment “a radical proposition” in a society built on scarcity. Gratitude, she writes, is good medicine for land and people alike. This season, we’re invited to put those teachings into practice: learn the Indigenous history of the land you live on, honor truth, and choose economic actions that reflect reciprocity – by supporting small businesses, Indigenous makers, ethical producers, and regenerative farmers.

Read the full article

Find out more about the Indigenous Nations, Languages and Treaties for the land you’re on

Watch Monique Gray Smith’s Interview for the People’s Food Summit

Learn more about the National Day of Mourning

READ: Decolonizing Thanksgiving: Celebrating Generosity Towards All, Not Abundance for a Few

ACRES U.S.A.

Back to the Roots: Cultivating a Future Grounded in Tradition and Innovation

André Leu, International Director of our sister organization, Regeneration International, is a globally recognized leader in regenerative agriculture and will be speaking at the ACRES 2025 Eco-Ag Conference on plant sentience, how plants communicate with the soil microbiome to enhance soil health, how beneficial insects can control pests, and how to apply this knowledge in farming.

“The Eco-Ag Conference & Trade Show sets the standard for agriculture education. From our intensive all-day Eco-Ag U workshops on Days 1 and 2 to our talks, round tables and trade show on Days 3 and 4, you will receive practical, science-based information that you will be able to apply immediately to your farming operation.

Every year, the Eco-Ag Conference & Trade Show brings farmers, ranchers, agronomists, researchers and industry professionals together for top-notch education in economical and ecological agriculture. And 2025 will be no different! This year we will feature talented new voices as well as stalwart pillars of the eco-ag community who will educate attendees on topics including cover cropping, fertilization tactics, livestock integration, agroforestry and more.”

Sign up here: 2025 Eco-Ag Conference tickets and registration

NEW RESEARCH

Future Computers Could Grow Their Own Memory – From Mushrooms

By Sanjana Gajbhiye, Earth.com:

“Computers run on silicon and metal. Mushrooms grow in soil. Yet now, scientists are finding that one could stand in for the other.

Fungi might replace parts of the machines that shape our digital world. The idea sounds strange until you realize how intelligent and resilient these organisms are.

At The Ohio State University, researchers found that edible mushrooms such as shiitake could act like organic memory chips. When connected to circuits, the mushrooms stored and processed information like a living brain.

Study lead author John LaRocco is a research scientist in psychiatry at Ohio State’s College of Medicine. ‘Being able to develop microchips that mimic actual neural activity means you don’t need a lot of power for standby or when the machine isn’t being used,’ said LaRocco. The fungal chips performed surprisingly well. Each could switch electrical states thousands of times per second with high accuracy.”

Read how these organic systems did not rely on costly rare-earth minerals or energy-intensive factories, which makes them an appealing alternative to traditional semiconductors

SUPPORT OCA & RI

Protect Our Health and Reform Food Policy

We have a choice to make, a bill to defeat and one to pass!

A new bill, the “Better Food Disclosure Act,” might sound good on paper, but it’s actually a Trojan horse. Backed by the junk food industry, this bill would keep toxic loopholes intact, allowing potentially dangerous substances to slip into our food supply without proper oversight.

The biggest culprit? The “Generally Recognized as Safe” (GRAS) loophole, which lets food companies decide what’s safe for us without FDA review. Imagine lab-grown animal cells, GMOs, and synthetic chemicals entering our food system with no checks or balances. Scary, right?

But there’s hope. Representative Frank Pallone’s “Grocery Reform and Safety Act” would close the GRAS loophole and ensure our food is safer. We need to get the message to Congress: pass the Grocery Reform and Safety Act and reject the “Better Food Disclosure Act”! The stakes are high. Health & Human Services Sec. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has promised to close the GRAS loophole, but so far, no action.

We can’t let Congress pass a bill that puts corporate profits over public health. Will you join us in this fight?

Take action now: Tell Congress to prioritize our safety and pass the Grocery Reform and Safety Act! And Please consider donating today to support our advocacy efforts and help us protect our food system from toxic loopholes and much more.

Together, we can make a difference! It will take all of us to make a safer food system!

Make a tax-deductible donation to Organic Consumers Association, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit

Make a tax-deductible donation to Regeneration International, our international sister organization

Have you considered making a gift from your IRA?

BAN TOXIC PFAS

EPA Approves Its Second ‘Forever Chemical’ Pesticide in Two Weeks

The Center for Biological Diversity, Press Release:

“WASHINGTON— The Environmental Protection Agency today approved the highly persistent pesticide isocycloseram for golf courses, lawns and food crops such as oranges, tomatoes, almonds, peas, and oats. The pesticide is a ‘forever chemical’ — one of a group called PFAS, or perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances.

Today’s announcement marks the second approval of a PFAS pesticide since Trump took office, with the first approval coming just two weeks before. The administration plans to approve three more PFAS pesticides in the coming year.

‘To approve more PFAS pesticides amid the growing awareness of the serious, long-term dangers from these forever chemicals is absurdly shortsighted,’ said Nathan Donley, environmental health science director at the Center for Biological Diversity.”

Read how the undeniable reality is that the Trump administration is knowingly putting the nation’s children at greater risk of developing serious reproductive and liver harms for generations to come

TAKE ACTION: Tell Your State Legislators to Ban Toxic PFAS!

SAVE THE POLLINATORS

France’s Birds Start To Show Signs of Recovery After Bee-Harming Pesticide Ban

Phoebe Weston, The Guardian:

“Insect-eating bird populations in France appear to be making a tentative recovery after a ban on bee-harming pesticides, according to the first study to examine how wildlife is returning in Europe.

Neonicotinoids are the world’s most common class of insecticides, widely used in agriculture and for flea control in pets. By 2022, four years after the European Union banned neonicotinoid use in fields, researchers observed that France’s population of insect-eating birds had increased by 2%-3%. These included blackbirds, blackcaps and chaffinches, which feed on insects as adults and as chicks.

The results could be mirrored across the EU, where the neonicotinoid ban came into effect in late 2018, but research has not yet been done elsewhere. The lead researcher, Thomas Perrot from the Fondation pour la recherche sur la biodiversité in Paris, said: ‘Even a few percentage points increase is meaningful – it shows the ban made a difference.’”

Read how the results clearly point to neonicotinoid bans as an effective conservation measure for insectivorous birds

TAKE ACTION: Ban Bee-Killing Neonic Seed Treatments!

USDA WATCH

LOCAL Foods Act Introduced in the House

Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance, Press Release:

“Washington, DC – The Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance (FARFA) applauds Representatives Eugene Vindman (D-VA) and Jim Baird (R-IN) for filing the bipartisan Livestock Owned by Communities to Advance Local (LOCAL) Foods Act in the U.S. House as H.R. 5341. This critical legislation protects the rights of livestock farmers, consumers, custom processors, and itinerant slaughterers to practice and benefit from on-farm slaughter of livestock.

‘This is a tremendous step forward,’ said Judith McGeary, regenerative farmer, lawyer, and Executive Director of FARFA. ‘With bipartisan leadership in both chambers of Congress, we now have the momentum needed to secure lasting reforms that reduce regulatory barriers, support farmers, and improve consumer access to healthy, locally raised food. FARFA is proud to have played a leading role in advocating for this legislation alongside our farmer-members and allies nationwide.’

The LOCAL Foods Act amends the Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA) by making a simple but essential update: clarifying and protecting USDA guidance that permits the on-farm slaughter of livestock a consumer owns, in whole or in part.”

Read how this change would strengthen local food systems, create more resilient markets for farmers, and ensure communities have greater access to affordable, transparently sourced meat

THE SIOUX CHEF’S INDIGENOUS KITCHEN

With His New Cookbook, Chef Sean Sherman Decolonizes North American Cuisine

Christian Allaire, Vogue:

“Today, Sherman is now following up the critically acclaimed cookbook with his second highly anticipated release. The book, titled Turtle Island: Foods and Traditions of the Indigenous Peoples of North America, goes across the continent region by region, and highlights different local flavors and cuisines. Once again, Sherman does so by focusing on decolonized ingredients, utilizing the fresh game, fish, or fruits and vegetables that were used pre-colonization.

‘There is a vast diversity of Indigeneity across North America,’ Sherman says. ‘I wanted to tell the story of what food looks like when you take out colonial lines completely. Some places are extremely distinct—and some places have a little more commonality with others.’ Geographically, the book centers around the traditional Indigenous story of Turtle Island—a term used by many Indigenous nations across North America, which tells the story of how the continent’s landmass was formed on the back of a giant turtle. ‘In the book, I thought it would be cool to break North America up into 13 regions, because there are 13 segments on the back of turtle shells.’”

Chef Sherman wants readers to know, “The book wasn’t meant to be a report on what traditional foods were. This is a book for the future: I wanted to showcase the possibilities of what we still have, and what we can create.” Learn more.

JOIN THE MOVEMENT

We Ain’t Buying It

“This Thanksgiving season, it’s time to put our money where our values are. It’s time to recognize the power in every dollar we spend or don’t spend. That’s why we’re calling on everyone who believes in justice, equity, and real community investment to take the We Ain’t Buying It pledge.

For too long, our spending has funded companies and organizations that take us for granted, disrespect our dignity, and ignore the needs of our neighborhoods. We’re done with that. This movement is about more than just saying ‘no.’ It’s about saying ‘yes’ to businesses and organizations that respect us, invest in us, and stand with us.

By signing this pledge, you commit to:

Mobilizing your consumer power: pulling your dollars from companies that don’t stand with us and redirecting them to businesses that do.
Being intentional about where you spend and who you support, especially during the holiday season and beyond.
Returning to your roots: Centering family, community, and shared prosperity this Thanksgiving, and ensuring your money works for the people who work for us.

We aren’t just consumers; we’re community builders. We’re driving the change we want to see, and demanding respect.”

Sign the pledge. Join the movement. Let’s make every dollar count.

REDUCE, REUSE, PRESERVE

What About All the Different Brands of Canning Jars and Lids?

Marlene Geiger, Iowa State University:

“Supply and worker shortages and an increase in home canning in 2020 and 2021 brought new or unfamiliar brands of canning jars and lids to fulfill consumer needs. What should consumers know about the various products?

There are countless sources for canning lids and it appears that most are made in China. It is not possible to find reliable information for the no-name brands; reviewer’s comments indicate that lid failure is a problem. Counterfeit lids are still being sold so it is definitely a ‘buyer beware’ canning market. While the cost will be higher, supplies are predicted to keep up with demand in 2022.

The USDA, National Center for Home Food Preservation (NCHFP), Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, or AnswerLine do not recommend for (or against) any of these products. The current recommendation is to use the tested two-piece metal lid system that has been the norm for many years and Mason jars specifically made for the rigors of canning.”

Reduce, reuse, preserve: check out this comprehensive guide to canning jars