Tag: Monsanto is evil

Story at-a-glance

“Genetically Modified Children” film exposes how Philip Morris and Monsanto have exploited impoverished farmers since 1966, when the Argentinian government authorized the use of GMO crops to withstand Monsanto’s Roundup weedkiller
Tobacco farmers in Argentina are forced to use a multitude of dangerous agrochemicals in order to grow a crop that’s certifiable by U.S. tobacco company Philip Morris
An increasing number of children are being born with severe birth defects and deformities in Argentina
The film interviews Dr. Hugo Gomez Demaio and Dr. Mario Barrera, who are dedicated to highlighting and treating the link between agrochemicals and birth defects
The film features anti-agrochemical activist Sofia Gatica, who is renowned for her work in tracking abnormal rates of cancer, kidney disease and other ailments linked to aerial spraying of glyphosate on GMO soy crops

The shocking film “Genetically Modified Children” unveils the horrors of decades of chemical-intensive agricultural practices in Argentina, where the majority of crops are genetically modified (GM) and routinely doused in dangerous agrochemicals, and the chokehold big tobacco companies such as Philip Morris and chemical and seed giants have on poverty-stricken farmers desperate to earn a living.

Continue reading “GM Children: Film Unveils ‘Monstrous’ Child Deformities”

If ‘Children Of The Vine’ Sounds Like a Horror Flick, That’s Because It Is, Filmmaker Says

Guest Post by Julie Comber, Ph.D.

When Brian Lilla discovered how toxic Monsanto’s Roundup weedkiller had made California’s Napa Valley, he wrote and produced an investigative documentary that he hopes will inspire communities to open a dialogue about the dangers of glyphosate.

When Brian Lilla moved from Oakland, California, to Napa Valley he made an unfortunate discovery: Napa Valley was beautiful, but it also was highly toxic.

Why? Because of the widespread use of Roundup weedkiller on the region’s vineyards.

Lilla’s discovery led him to make “Children Of The Vine,” an investigative documentary on Roundup and the pesticide’s impact on public health.

The film weaves together facts about Roundup, and its key active ingredient — glyphosate — with stories about people who developed cancer after using Roundup, scientists, lawyers and journalists working to end the use of Roundup, and farmers who do and those who don’t use the weedkiller.

Lilla is the documentary’s director, producer, publicist, writer and researcher.

The film’s title, “Children Of The Vine,” is a nod to the ’70s horror film, “Children of the Corn,” based on a short story by Stephen King.

“My wife says that ‘Children Of The Vine’ sounds like a horror film,” Lilla said. “I always tell her it is.”

Continue reading “If ‘Children Of The Vine’ Sounds Like a Horror Flick, That’s Because It Is, Filmmaker Says”

THAT’S HOW YOU KNOW IT’S WORKING

Submitted by Hardscrabble Farmer

Most people assume that Roundup is used exclusively for weed control. They do not realize that it has a secondary purpose in desiccating feed crops like soybeans, wheat, and corn in the days preceding harvest. This means, a priori, that the grains most commonly used in processed foods are not carrying trace amounts of glyphosate used during the emergent phase, but a fresh application only days before it is turned into bread, cereal, snacks, etc.

Via The Guardian

‘Disturbing’: weedkiller ingredient tied to cancer found in 80% of US urine samples

CDC study finds glyphosate, controversial ingredient found in weedkillers including popular Roundup brand, present in samples

More than 80% of urine samples drawn from children and adults in a US health study contained a weedkilling chemical linked to cancer, a finding scientists have called “disturbing” and “concerning”.

The report by a unit of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that out of 2,310 urine samples, taken from a group of Americans intended to be representative of the US population, 1,885 were laced with detectable traces of glyphosate. This is the active ingredient in herbicides sold around the world, including the widely used Roundup brand. Almost a third of the participants were children ranging from six to 18.

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From Rachel Carson to Monsanto: The Silence of Spring

Guest Post by Colin Todhunter

Former Monsanto Chairman and CEO Hugh Grant is currently in the news. He is trying to avoid appearing in court to be questioned by lawyers on behalf of a cancer patient in the case of Allan Shelton v Monsanto.

Shelton has non-Hodgkin lymphoma and is one of the 100,000-plus people in the US claiming in lawsuits that exposure to Monsanto’s Roundup weed killer and its other brands containing the chemical glyphosate caused their cancer.

According to investigative journalist Carey Gillam, Shelton’s lawyers have argued that Grant was an active participant and decision maker in the company’s Roundup business and should be made to testify at the trial.

But Grant says in the court filings that the effort to put him on the stand in front of a jury is “wholly unnecessary and serves only to harass and burden” him.

His lawyers state that Grant does not have “any expertise in the studies and tests that have been done related to Roundup generally, including those related to Roundup safety”.

Gillam notes that the court filings state that Grant’s testimony “would be of little value” because he is not a toxicologist, an epidemiologist, or a regulatory expert and “did not work in the areas of toxicology or epidemiology while employed by Monsanto”.

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The Truth Will Out

Submitted by Hardscrabble Farmer

2 billion, with a ‘B’. When I read the headline the other day I didn’t actually believe it and by the time the lawyers get done with the appeals process both of the award winners will be pining for the fjords, but the fact remains and the connection has been made. Glyphosate is the root cause of numerous human health issues because it remains in the foods that are processed and eaten by large swaths of the American public. I absolutely believe that eventually the modern obesity crisis will be linked with glyphosate toxicity in the human body. Not such good news for those affected who haven’t won an enormous court ordered verdict, but confirmation to those who could easily see that a product used to eradicate life isn’t such a good thing to eat.

Via The Guardian

Monsanto must pay couple $2bn in largest verdict yet over cancer claims

California jury holds makers of Roundup weedkiller responsible for couple contracting non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma

A California jury has ordered Monsanto to pay more than $2bn to a couple that got cancer after using its weedkiller, marking the third and largest verdict against the company over Roundup.

A jury in Oakland ruled Monday that Monsanto, now owned by the German pharmaceutical corporation Bayer, was liable for the non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) cancer of Alva and Alberta Pilliod. The jury ordered the company to pay $1bn in damages to each of them, and more than $55m total in compensatory damages.

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Monsanto Slammed With $289 Million Verdict In Historic ‘RoundUp’ Cancer Lawsuit

Via ZeroHedge

A San Francisco Jury awarded $289 million in damages to a former school groundskeeper, Dewayne Johnson, who said Monsanto’s Roundup weedkiller gave him terminal cancer. The award consists of $40 million in compensatory damages and $250 million in punitive damages.

Johnson’s trial was fast-tracked due to the severe state of his non-Hodgkins lymphoma, a cancer of the lymph system he says was triggered by Roundup and Ranger Pro, a similar glyphosate herbicide that he applied up to 30 times per year. His doctors didn’t think he’d live to live to see the verdict.

Johnson testified that he had been involved in two accidents during his work in which he was doused with the product, the first of which happened in 2012. Two years later, the 46-year-old father of two was diagnosed with lymphoma – which has covered as much as 80% of his body in lesions.

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