US Right To Know: Key pesticide industry propaganda shop shuts down
The Council for Biotechnology Information, a major public relations initiative launched two decades ago by leading pesticide companies to persuade the public to accept GMOs, has closed up shop. Its flagship program, the GMO Answers marketing campaign run by Ketchum PR firm, is now under the umbrella and funding of CropLife International, the leading international trade group for pesticide companies.
See our post about CBI’s fascinating history. Documents from the group highlight its explicit focus on developing and training third party allies – particularly academics, dietitians and farmers – to promote GMOs as beneficial.
For more, see our updated fact sheets about the Council for Biotechnology Information and GMO Answers.
Dying man asks CA Supreme Court to restore jury award in Monsanto Roundup case: The school groundskeeper who won the first-ever trial over allegations that Monsanto’s Roundup causes cancer is asking the California Supreme Court to restore $250 million in punitive damages awarded by the jury who heard his case. An appeals court slashed the amount to $20.5 million.
Notably, the appeal by plaintiff Dewayne “Lee” Johnson has larger implications than his own individual case. His lawyers are urging the court to address a legal twist that can leave people such as Johnson, who are facing death in the near term, with lower damage awards than others expected to live many years in suffering and pain. Read the latest in Carey Gillam’s Roundup Trial Tracker
More food news for our health
- Black farmers file suit against Monsanto seeking to block sale of Roundup — St. Louis Post Dispatch
- Ultra-processed food consumption is associated with chromosomal changes linked to biological aging — European Association for the Study of Obesity
- Stop Eating Pesticides: CR’s ratings help consumers get health benefits from fruits and vegetables while minimizing risk from toxic chemicals — Consumer Reports
- Risk in the circular food economy: Glyphosate-based herbicide residues in manure fertilizers decrease crop yield — Science of the Total Environment
- Unless we change course, the US agricultural system could collapse — Guardian Opinion by Tom Philpott
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For our right to know,
Carey, Gary, Stacy