Glyphosate

Agrochemical giant Monsanto’s fight to renew the chemical license for its most popular herbicide, glyphosate (aka “Roundup”), was dealt a major blow this past Thursday when the European Parliament officially banned lobbyists representing the interests of the corporation. The move came after the controversial corporation and its lobbyists refused to attend a parliamentary hearing regarding allegations that Monsanto had sought to unduly influence studies examining glyphosate’s safety.

Monsanto herbicides are prepared prior to being sprayed on food crops. (Photo from the USDA via Wikimedia Commons)

Stanford academic, Henry I. Miller, a long ally of large agricultural companies, as well as the tobacco industry.
According to documents recently released amid a lawsuit against Monsanto regarding the safety of glyphosate, a widely used herbicide, a prominent academic from Stanford University allowed the agrochemical giant to pen an op-ed in his name.
It was subsequently published in Forbes magazine.

Monsanto may abandon glyphosate in the wake of a data dump, so the company is re-focusing its marketing efforts on a newly-approved genetically engineered corn. [...]

On August 2, 2017, documents released as part of a lawsuit against Monsanto raised more questions over whether or not the mammoth biotech company suppressed information about the potentially carcinogenic nature of its Roundup weedkiller and its primary ingredient, glyphosate. [1]
Glyphosate is one of the most widely-used weedkillers in the world and is available for both agricultural and home use.

The EPA’s inspector general has launched an investigation into possible collusion between a former high-ranking EPA official and Monsanto, the maker of RoundUp. [1]
The probe was initiated in response to a request from Rep. Ted Lieu, a Democrat from California, for an investigation into whether the EPA official colluded with the biotech giant to tilt research on glyphosate in favor of Monsanto’s claim that the chemical does not cause cancer in humans.
This, despite Monsanto having never conducted carcinogenicity studies on RoundUp.

The FDA has resumed testing food for glyphosate residues, as questions about the safety of the RoundUp chemical continue to grow.
In 2016, the FDA launched what it refers to as a “special assignment” to analyze certain foods for glyphosate residues. The move was sparked by the U.S. Government Accountability Office’s criticism of the agency for failing to include glyphosate in annual testing programs which analyzes foods ‘less-used’ chemicals in food.

Floating farms, coffee boners and active perceptions + this day in history w/the Morris Worm and our song of the day by Dream Ritual on your Morning Monarchy for July 26, 2017.

The Organic Consumers Association (OCA) announced July 25, 2017 that it had discovered traces of the RoundUp chemical glyphosate in 10 of 11 samples of Ben & Jerry’s ice creams. The levels were reportedly far below the limit set by the EPA. [1]
The discovery is a bit of an embarrassment to the ice-cream maker because it has billed itself as a non-GMO company since 2014. Thankfully, the levels found were quite low. [2]

Reducing risk, ignoring rules and having horse meat for dinner + this day in history w/the IRA ceasefire and our song of the day by Steve Martin & The Steep Canyon Rangers on your Morning Monarchy for July 19, 2017.