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While it’s not printed anywhere on their ingredients list, some of America’s most popular breakfast foods contain pesticides. On Wednesday, the Environmental Working Group published a report from a commissioned laboratory test of 45 products made with oats, finding glyphosate, an herbicide that has been linked to cancer, in nearly all of them.
For years, DeWayne “Lee” Johnson drove a truck with a 50-gallon tank of Monsanto’s Ranger Pro pesticide mounted on top. A groundskeeper for the Benicia Unified School District in Solano County, California, north of San Francisco, Johnson went through hundreds of gallons of the stuff every week between the truck and his backpack sprayer.
Glyphosate, the world's most popular herbicide, is at the center of international scrutiny after a San Francisco court on Friday decided in favor of a California school groundskeeper with terminal cancer. The jury ruled that the plaintiff, Dewayne "Lee" Johnson, developed cancer from repeated exposure to Roundup.
Johnson sued Monsanto and was awarded $289 million in damages last week, after the jury delivered a stunning, unanimous verdict against Monsanto.
Hardly a day goes by without a new scientific paper or news coverage addressing problems down on the farm.
Just this month, for example, two studies highlighted the growing problem of weeds resistant to the herbicide glyphosate—the main ingredient in Monsanto's Roundup—and how this continues to push herbicide use, expenditures, and collateral damage upward. The more herbicide farmers spray, the faster herbicide efficacy slips.
Our children are exposed to high levels of pesticides and herbicides ingested and inhaled daily, which is negatively impacting the health of an entire generation. Two significant court rulings today in favor of protecting our children and the environment from toxins.
First, let’s say a big, collective “Thank you.”
Thank you to the 12 jurors who listened attentively and critically, during long days of testimony, then deliberated with care, and ultimately did the right thing.
Thank you to the lawyers who invested countless hours in investigative work and trial preparation, and who argued rationally and intelligently on behalf of the plaintiff, science and ethics.
Thank you to those media outlets and advocacy organizations who covered the case, pored over the “Monsanto Papers” and took seriously their obligation to inform the public.
But most of all, we owe a huge debt of gratitude to Dewayne “Lee” Johnson, the plaintiff in the Dewayne Johnson v. Monsanto case. For his persistence in getting to the bottom of what caused his non-Hodgkin lymphoma. For is bravery in going up against one of the most powerful corporations in the world.
For his refusal to give up, no matter the toll on his family, and on his failing health.
As our director, Ronnie Cummins said in an interview this week about the trial, and about Monsanto’s corruption and deception:
“We talk about these things in the abstract. But when you see the face of a victim, it literally brings these issues home.”
Every morning at 6:30, Joaquim dos Santos walks across his farm in Parelheiros, a rural neighborhood that feels out of place deep in the southern part of this crowded metropolis. His best sellers are root vegetables. Ginger, yams, purple sweet potatoes, carrots and a yellow root known as mandioquinha dot his 57 acres.
Homebase, one of the UK’s largest DIY retailers, was the first retailer to announce it is reviewing the sale of Roundup and Ranger Pro in the wake of the landmark case in California, and others are expected to follow.
“We have confirmed that we will be reviewing our range of weedkiller products."
Two months after clinching its $66 billion purchase of Monsanto Co., Bayer AG faces a protracted legal battle over the U.S. company’s Roundup weed killer -- a prospect that wiped more than $11 billion off the German conglomerate’s market value.
It was a verdict heard around the world. In a stunning blow to one of the world’s largest seed and chemical companies, jurors in San Francisco have told Monsanto it must pay $289m in damages to a man dying of cancer which he claims was caused by exposure to its herbicides.
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