WARNING!
This is an older article that may not reflect Dr. Mercola’s current view on this topic. Use our search engine to find Dr. Mercola’s latest position on any health topic.
By Dr. Mercola
Another year has passed and, for the ninth straight year, Mercola.com remains the most visited natural health site on the Web.
This would not be possible without YOU, who have followed along with our mission, gotten involved in our leading causes. I want to review them with you now so you can celebrate these victories
Above all else, it is our mission at Mercola.com to inform and educate you about the fraud, deception, and lies created by the junk food, chemical, and pharmaceutical industries.
We are committed to raising awareness on health issues that are being manipulated by the conventional health paradigm and big businesses – and this dedication, shared by readers like you, is making a world of difference.
2013: A Momentous Year for Mercola.com and Our Partners in Health Liberty
Health Liberty is our nonprofit coalition that consists of the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC), Fluoride Action Network (FAN), Institute for Responsible Technology (IRT), Organic Consumers Association (OCA), and Consumers for Dental Choice, to help protect your freedom to make voluntary health choices.
Each partner-organization has a rich history of advocacy and active campaigning for change and better access to truly empowering health information. With your help, we have made some major accomplishments in 2013, including the following.
GMO Labeling Efforts in the US
The Organic Consumers Association (OCA) and Institute for Responsible Technology (IRT) have been instrumental for helping raise awareness about the dangers of genetically engineered foods and their prevalence in the market place.
We have been very active in campaigning for GMO labeling state laws, which will require all foods with GMO ingredients to be appropriately labeled.
In 2013, we spearheaded the campaign for the state of Washington’s People’s Initiative 522 (I-522) or “The People’s Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act,” urging our readers to donate to this cause.
While the vote narrowly missed passing, a mounting wave of awareness is growing across the US, awakening millions of Americans to the issues surrounding GMOs.
In many ways, we’re actually “winning by losing.” State by state, we will continue to push for labeling, and it’s just a matter of time before the industry’s expensive PR machine won’t be able to confuse voters any more. Some of the state initiatives currently in the works include:
- New Hampshire: HB 660 would require labeling of “any human or animal food offered for retail sale” as of July 1, 2014.
- Oregon: GMO Free Oregon has plans to begin collecting signatures to get a GMO labeling initiative on the 2014 ballot.
- Hawaii County, Hawaii: Bill 113 would ban GMO crops from being grown on the island, with exceptions for some GE crops that are already being cultivated.
- Richmond, California: The Richmond city council is drafting an ordinance that would require genetically engineered foods sold in its jurisdiction to be labeled.
We’re Moving Closer to Mercury-Free Dentistry
In October 2013, a legally binding international treaty to control the use of mercury was signed into action – and thanks largely to the work of The Campaign for Mercury-Free Dentistry by Consumers for Dental Choice, the treaty gives special attention to amalgam.
It took a three-year campaign encompassing five negotiation sessions with all the nations, 15 regional sessions, dozens of papers and reports, and hundreds of meetings with individual governments… but the hard work paid off.
The treaty is being hailed as marking the beginning of the end for dental amalgam around the world, as it mandates that each nation phase down amalgam use.
The new treaty has a road map for how to phase down amalgam – switch dental school curriculum to composites as the primary material, re-train dentists, change insurance to prefer alternatives, develop a national plan to reduce amalgam use, and more. This is the culmination of years’ worth of milestones, many of which were achieved in 2013.
The treaty will take effect once it’s been signed by 50 nations—a task that can typically take three or four years. In this case, the Zero Mercury Working Group has launched a campaign to get it ratified by 50 nations (and hence take effect) in just two years. The US actually became the first nation to ratify this treaty just weeks ago. What a stunning turnaround, since the US generally does not ratify treaties on toxins at all!
More Communities Are Getting Fluoride Out of Their Drinking Water
Dr. Paul Connett, PhD, a chemist and executive director of the Fluoride Action Network (FAN), is a recognized leader in the fluoride education movement, spearheading the organized efforts to remove fluoride from our water supply in the US and elsewhere.
Contrary to popular belief, the science clearly demonstrates that fluoride is a toxic chemical that accumulates in your tissues over time, wreaks havoc with a wide range of enzymes, and produces a number of serious adverse health effects, including neurological and endocrine dysfunction.
Children are particularly at risk for adverse effects of overexposure. While the US lags far behind other nations in acknowledging the mistake of fluoridating public drinking water and ending this tragic “public health” measure, there is reason to celebrate this year. In 2013, FAN achieved a number of important victories:
- In Wichita, Kansas, they won 60 percent of the votes in the referendum, despite being considerably outspent by the fluoride proponents.
- Portland, Oregon. Here, the proponents spent nearly a million dollars to get fluoridation into Portland (about three times the amount spent by the anti-fluoridation side), yet they lost the vote at 40 percent. One of the most disturbing challenges was that huge amounts of money were given to minority groups by the fluoride proponents, ostensibly to support fluoridation.
Essentially, they bought the support of the very minority groups that fluoridation actually hurts the most! Portland is particularly important because it is the largest city in the US that remains unfluoridated.
- The states of Connecticut, South Carolina, and Minnesota are also looking at lifting mandatory fluoridation rulings.
- In Australia, 15 regional Queensland councils have decided to either stop fluoridation or have refused to start.
We Continue to Support Vaccine Awareness and Informed Consent
When it comes to fighting for your right to informed consent and be warned of vaccine risks, the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) is without equal in the US. If it wasn’t for the dedication of the NVIC team, far more people would likely suffer the unspeakable tragedy that is vaccine damage. The power of personal choice is part of the definition of liberty, and the removal of choice—especially when it comes to medicine, which can have long-term health ramifications—is part of the very definition of tyranny. Today, there is no greater threat to liberty in America than the government-enforced use of pharmaceutical products, such as vaccines, sold by corporations for profit.
We strongly advocate the importance of making safe and informed vaccine choices, and one way of helping promote this cause is by supporting NVIC campaigns. In many instances, the NVIC is the only pro-choice group present at important meetings relating to proposed vaccine rules.
Recently, Mercola.com sponsored their multi-state anti-vaccination billboard campaign, which involved placing educational vaccine awareness ads in several cities including Chicago, Phoenix, Tucson, Portland, Olympia, and Austin and reached over 10 million people. But there is so much more to be done in this arena, so I invite you to get involved.
What Else Has Mercola.com Been Up To?
Together with partner organizations, we celebrate Awareness Weeks that target increased awareness of health issues, such as mercury in dentistry and fluoride in drinking water. During these events, we publish special articles and release informative videos on Mercola.com about the highlighted topic, generating interest and raising donations for nonprofit organizations.
A portion of the sales from Mercola products during the Awareness Week is also donated, which has made the following possible:
- Education. We sponsor select high school students from the Good News Christian Academy of Ifugao (GNCAI), Philippines. Established in 1996, GNCAI is the only Christian school in Ifugao, a rural province in the mountainous Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR). Our scholars are consistently at the top of their class.
- Building Houses for Less-Privileged Families. The Mercola team recently helped build homes for poor families, in partnership with the non-profit organization Gawad Kalinga. Gawad Kalinga aims to end poverty for five million Filipino families by year 2024, and is now working in almost 2,000 communities not only in the Philippines, but also in other developing countries like Indonesia, Cambodia, and Papua New Guinea.
- Reaching Out to Cancer-Stricken Kids. The Mercola team has conducted outreach programs for the children of Kythe Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides support to pediatric patients and their families. Aside from helping children cope with hospital confinement, Kythe also seeks sponsors for child patients in their care.
Wishing You and Your Loved Ones a Happy New Year!
We view the promotion of valuable health information as our social responsibility – it is a mission that we will never cease to fulfill. Together, with your help, we have made it easier for millions to make truly informed health choices. We hope that with our continuous service, you will stay motivated to take control of your health in the New Year.
Last but not least, I want to give one more sincere thank you to… you. Time and time again, your participation -- responding to the call to action from all of these partner organizations – is allowing this valuable work to be accomplished. It is through YOUR participation and engagement in important issues that change is being manifested. YOU are the ones changing the world—one Facebook post, Twitter share, petition signature, and donation at a time. So from the Mercola.com family to yours, may your New Year be filled with health and happiness -- and may all of your New Year goals and wishes come true.