The Monsanto Papers

The Monsanto Papers

2018, Environment  -   22 Comments
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Glyphosate, more commonly known as Roundup®, is the most widely used herbicide on the planet. It's also the central cash cow for the agrochemical giant Monsanto. Undeniably effective in controlling the growth of crop-destroying weeds, the chemical is also the main culprit in a series of suspected risks to humans, animals and the environment in general. The Monsanto Papers outlines these dangers, and the devious tactics employed by the company to evade responsibility.

"Farmers are junkies to this chemical," says one of the product's detractors whose wife has been diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. He would come home at the end of a long way stinking of the weed repellent, and he now blames himself for passing on its severe health risks to his ailing wife.

Is Monsanto dealing in a chemical they know causes cancer? The fight for the truth involves a battle of wills between public safety advocates and the strong arm tactics of Big Agriculture.

In spite of a recent $200 million dollar verdict against the company, Monsanto representatives claim that over 800 scientific studies testify to the safety of their product. Most of the farmers they serve stand in defiant defense of the company; after all, their products are essential in maintaining their livelihoods.

But critics claim the company has ghostwritten or manipulated many of these "scientific" studies to favor their bottom line. Safety study numbers were doctored, flawed approaches were employed, and EPA recommendations were ignored and eventually reversed under pressure. False advertising targeted the most vulnerable consumers throughout the heartland of America in spite of being banned in other regions like New York.

These assertions are contained in The Monsanto Papers, thousands of discovery documents that were submitted to the courts as required by law. The film spends much of its running time examining the details in these documents, and it's complimented by informative interviews with environmental advocates, independent experts, and even a top-level representative from Monsanto.

Produced by ABC News Australia, the film portrays a potential health crisis that transcends the American landscape. The Monsanto Papers is a hard-hitting expose on corporate malpractices, but it's fair minded enough to include several voices of dissent.

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Jay52
Jay52
4 years ago

Whether Monsanto is guilty, time will tell, I know all the coffee you drink has been growth with Monsanto, ...but my point is with the environmentalists that are trying to disrupt the efforts to eradicate cocaine because they used this product. Notice how they know of "doctored studies", "flawed approaches", "false advertising" , all of them they have used to promote global warming and protect their man, Micael Mann who was caught doing all the above mentioned in what is known as Climategate, to avoid the revelation that the "hockey stick" was based on computer models and not on observable temperatures.

QuietRiot
QuietRiot
5 years ago

What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul. Greed and covet know no end. (thank you Anne) You all will understand after listening to Monsanto VP, etc.

Tex1dar
Tex1dar
5 years ago

The Monsanto system produces poison Not food. Leaky gut syndrome used to be a rare thing. The RoundUp ready corn has insecticide spliced into its genes, which kills the corn bore by eating out the insect's guts.

Has there ever been a moment when Monsanto hasn't lied? ...like when they stated that their product wouldn't do to humans what it does to insects.

It also poisons the soil. So to get things to grow, more fertilizer is used. Much of it is Natural Gas based Ammonia. Yum!

Sadly the very large farms (and some other sized farms) like things easy and would prefer to live in denial rather than have to change how they operate.

If you stop buying the GMO garbage Monsanto farms produce, they will change. That is the bottom line. You have to change what you buy.

The Rockefellers were owners of Monsanto at one time. One of their goals was to control food production along with energy production. Clearly the government agencies work for them.

Reminiscent of the tobacco industry, they lied for decades until a whistle blower put an end to that. Are you going to wait like they want ...or think, hmmm, if they kill bugs and weeds, maybe they are killing me too.

Paul Modde
Paul Modde
5 years ago

17:27 no gloves no mask wheres is the safety and educational programs there

Paul Modde
Paul Modde
5 years ago

What if we could use less energy, land, water, time, labor and money to grow more high quality chemical gmo free nutritious food while saving trees, environment, aiding community health, well being, biosphere, creating bio diversity, building and rebuilding natural eco systems and community socioeconomic development. We can we have the technologies. It is a scientific, innovative and integrated design system. Look at the incidence of cancer and diabetes and other disease since the 50/s green chemical revolution. Globally one in 3 get cancer or diabetes In the next 10 years its predicted 50% of women will develop breast and 50% men.Babies being born today have been tested will up to and over 200 toxins. Body Burden: The Pollution in Newborns | EWG Of the 287 chemicals we detected in umbilical cord blood, we know that 180 cause cancer in humans or animals, 217 are toxic to the brain and nervous system, and 208 cause birth defects or abnormal development in animal tests.Find More Than 200 Chemicals in Newborn Umbilical Cord Blood. And according to the Research of the International union of concerned scientists published in 2012 the number one cause of sickness disease and death is food, our diet. If all of these chemicals are so good why are we all full of cancer causing toxins.

American Patriot
American Patriot
5 years ago

I trust President Trump more than a bunch of ambulance chasing lawyers. Trump's new and improved EPA has determined RoundUp is safe and needs no further investigation.

'Nuff said!

Seaside Suicide
Seaside Suicide
5 years ago

Nearly anything powerful & toxic enough to kill plants, pests or fungi is going to have adverse effects on humans in large enough doses. That goes for so-called "organic" alternatives as well as chemicals. But these substances need to carry adequate warnings like cigarettes & other consumer products so people can choose whether & how often to use them.

I've known too many farmers who died of lymphoma or leukemia or came down with Parkinson's at an early age. Rural babies born with their organs outside their bodies or other rare birth defects. Of course that's anecdotal, but the observation that farmers are getting disproportionate rates of Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma are not.

RoundUp is highly linked to NHL & a couple other types of cancer but they will never admit it until they're forced to. It's too widely used & was sold on the premise that it was specifically safer than other herbicides. Just like OxyContin was supposedly "non-addictive".

In America, we emphasize individual responsibility. It's high time we demand corporate culpability as well.

Richard Joyce
Richard Joyce
5 years ago

Don't cover yourself with it, don't breathe it , don't let it soak your skin. Protect yourself and there will be no problem. People protect themselves and work with asbestos these days to no ill effect. Sensible please people.

Ajayakumar
Ajayakumar
5 years ago

We can't forget the famines that affect sapiens in history...when we develop this kind of modern agricultural practices, ("includes seeds, chemical manuers and pesticides) only human can produce enough food for the entire...even its distribution is not correct... We can't blame the modern scientific agricultural practices...even it had some problems...through theresearch we can correct it... I think...

mr sunday
mr sunday
5 years ago

Food will become really expensive if we switch to only organic, and not just your vegetables that means dairy and most meat too since we feed our live stock with gmo's and grow our crops with gmo's/pesticides. To sustain growth the way it's going we have to either keep using this system or create a new one that is just as efficient or better. People gotta stop having so many kids or safe food will be only one of the many issues we will face.

Penny Ackerly
Penny Ackerly
5 years ago

Stop using unsafe Roundup.
It's bad for the environment and people.

Chef Will
Chef Will
5 years ago

Stop using Monsanto/Bayer Roundup! It’s not safe now and it never has been safe! Bayer just doesn’t want you to know because they will lose money. EAT and BUY ORGANIC FOOD!