Is the Press Sleeping on the Job? Beyond Pesticides & the rise of interest in organic foods

Cal Samra, Editor, The Joyful Noiseletter

The May-June 2021 Joyful Noiseletter featured an article about an independent research scientist at the University of Wisconsin linking the pesticide Fludioxonil to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Tristan Brandhorst told JN that the pesticide is "incredibly toxic" and is commonly sprayed on farm plants and later – post harvest – is sprayed on 900 different kinds of produce – fruits, vegetables, and grains, to extend their shelf-life.

The fungicide, Dr. Brandhorst said, "could be contributing indirectly" to the deaths of COVID-19 patients. He said he had taken his findings to both the Environmental Protection Agency and the Food and Drug Administration, and his research was ignored by both federal agencies.

The Joyful Noiseletter sent the article to the editors of 100 national newspaper, magazine, and TV news programs, (both liberal and conservative), gave them Dr. Brandhorst's website, and suggested they call him for further information on his research.

Incredibly, Dr. Brandhorst later said that not a single editor had contacted him for information on his research.

Dr. Brandhorst told The Joyful Noiseletter: "I don't know what is keeping the story of Fludioxonil from catching on. It's in the interest of virtually everyone on the planet, since its use is so widespread, and it's one of our best bets at curbing the lethality of COVID-19. Plenty of independent labs have verified this."

If the editors had contacted him, Brandhorst could have told them about an organization called Beyond Pesticides, founded by research scientists, which "seeks to protect healthy air, water, land, and food for ourselves and future generations."

Beyond Pesticides "offers the latest information on the hazards of pesticides and least toxic alternatives. Our mission is to advance organic as a solution to the public health and environmental threat. We use cutting-edge science to draw attention to the devastating impact of pesticides on wildlife, humans, and the plants.

"We work with allies in protecting public health and the environment, to lead to a transition to a world free of toxic pesticides.

"We believe that people have a voice in decisions that affect them directly. We believe that decisions should not be made for us by chemical companies or by decision makers who either do not have all the facts or refuse to consider them."

News editors – don't you think it's far past time that you reported on the work of Beyond Pesticides, which most people have never heard of? Come on! Be objective, be brave, like the great editors of "the Greatest Generation." Put aside all your personal opinions and 'just give us the facts, ma'am.' Don't play ball with governmental censors.

The growing interest in organic foods

And while you're at it, why not report that Dr. Brandhorst and other scientists "try to eat organic foods because I want to be safe," that prominent athletes like Tom Brady eat organic foods and local foods for health reasons (see story on page 1 of the July-August 2021 Joyful Noiseletter), and that because of public demand, supermarkets are now carrying more offerings of organic foods.

"People are concerned about their health, and about what they put into their bodies," one supermarket manager told The Joyful Noiseletter.

For more information Beyond Pesticides may be contacted at 701 E Street SE, Suite 200, Washington, DC 20003. Phone: (202) 543-5450.

The public is waking up, even if the news media are sleeping on the job. When Prof. Paul Maier, a prominent Lutheran pastor and author, received the JN issue with the article on Dr. Brandhorst's research, Rev. Maier wrote: "As for the FDA, this seems to be the last government agency to know about poisons in our food! Not the first! Indeed, the higher death rate in the U.S. from COVID-19 could well be attributed to Round-up from Monsanto, as well as the other pesticide mentioned in Dr. Brandhorst's research."

(The U.S. courts have awarded $2 billion in lawsuits for cancer victims who used Roundup Weed Killer between 2006 and 2019.)
But Rev. Maier is an uncommon and brave pastor. One would suppose that pastors, many of whose parishioners are ailing or dying in the pews before their time, would be most interested in health and environmental matters.

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