The wave of lawsuits being mounted against Monsanto and its parent company, Bayer, is growing, according to an article published today by NBC News. This comes after a jury awarded a $2 Billion settlement to Alva and Alberta Pilliod last week after they sued Monsanto for not disclosing that their Roundup herbicide causes cancer. It…
Monsanto Ordered to Pay $93M for Poisoning Town
Big wins can happen in small places. The West Virginia State Supreme Court finalized a big blow to the biotech giant Monsanto this month, finishing a settlement causing Monsanto to pay $93 million to the tiny town of Nitro, West Virginia for poisoning citizens with Agent Orange chemicals.
Videos Monsanto Doesn’t Want You To See
Dare to watch two short videos Monsanto doesn’t want you to see — one of which is uproariously funny (and maybe shouldn’t be!). Find out if you won last month’s giveaways for a $500 Gift Certificate to Vital Choice Seafood or the $275 in prizes from Ayala’s Herbal Water.
Judge Sides With Monsanto, Ridicules Organic Farmers
On February 24, Judge Naomi Buchwald handed down her ruling on a motion to dismiss in the case of Organic Seed Growers and Trade Assn et al v. Monsanto after hearing oral argument on January 31st in Federal District Court in Manhattan. She ruled to dismiss the case brought against Monsanto on behalf of organic farmers, seed growers and agricultural organizations. Their goal? To protect themselves from patents Monsanto holds on genetically-modified seeds. 83 plaintiffs joined the suit, representing more than 300,000 members. To say they are disappointed in Judge Buchwald’s decision to dismiss the case is an understatement.
Blackwater the ‘Intel Arm’ of Monsanto
I don’t know why I was shocked. Both Blackwater (now re-branded “Xe Services”) and Monsanto are corporations that have, as my grandmother used to say, “grown too big for their britches.” And that’s putting it mildly. Why should I be surprised that Monsanto hired Blackwater’s intelligence agency arm, Total Intelligence Solutions, to infiltrate anti-GMO activist groups and monitor the blogs of those organizing against the company?
Supreme Court Rules In Monsanto vs. Geerston Seed Farms
Remember how the Supreme Court heard it’s first case involving genetically-engineered crops in April? Today they announced their decision. It is a mixed victory for us Real Foodies.
The high court left the ban on the planting of Roundup Ready alfalfa in place, so for all practical purposes the “good guys” are celebrating today. The court did say, however, that the lower-court judge had overstepped his authority.
Roundup Resistant Weeds Not A Surprise
Monsanto, the developer of the herbicide Roundup, should have seen it coming. All across the country, weeds are quickly mutating to become resistant to Roundup. Many scientists did see it coming, including Jane Rissler and Margaret Mellon of the Union for Concerned Scientists. They even wrote a book on The Ecological Risks of Engineered Crops in 1996 in which they warned of just such a thing.
But now the New York Times has posted a nearly hysterical article about the End of Roundup. Think: Oh NO, America! Without Roundup and the benefit of genetically-engineered monocultures, agriculture will totally fall apart, get even more expensive, require us to use even more toxic chemicals just to keep our plants alive, and contribute to extensive erosion!! The impact on the environment will be terrible.
It would be laughable if it weren’t all such a bunch of marketing spin. It reminds me of the marketing campaign Monsanto launched last year. You know the one. The one where they declared their total dedication to “sustainable agriculture.”
Supreme Court Hears Case Against Monsanto & GMOs
Today the United States Supreme Court is hearing the case of Monsanto vs. Geertson Seed Farms, which began in the lower courts back in 2006. A coalition of alfalfa farmers (conventional and organic), with the help of the Center for Food Safety (CFS) sued the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) over the USDA’s approval of Monsanto’s genetically engineered “Roundup Ready” alfalfa. The plant, like Roundup Ready soybeans and other crops, had been engineered to withstand repeated spraying of Monsanto’s herbicide Roundup. Farmers and environmental advocates warned about the unintended spread of Monsanto’s patented variety of alfalfa, given that alfalfa is pollinated by bees that can fly many miles distance.
Court after court sided with CFS against the USDA. The history of this case is actually quite encouraging.
Food Inc. Director Rober Kenner Speaks
By now, you’ve probably all heard about the new film Food, Inc. directed by Robert Kenner. (And if you haven’t, it will be my pleasure to introduce it to you.) The documentary about our nation’s food supply has been released in selected theaters in the U.S., and will have a wider release within the next month.
From all I’ve heard, the film is like a cross between the two most influential food journalism books of the last decade, The Omnivore’s Dilemma and Fast Food Nation, and the documentary film The Future of Food. It even features frequent voice overs by Pollan and Schlosser.
The Washington Post ran an interview with Rober Kenner, the film’s director, in yesterday’s paper. I loved a couple of Kenner’s point blank answers to the criticism the film’s received from giant agribusiness, and thought I’d share some excerpts from the interview with you: