“It is illegal to kill your missus,
Or put poison in your old man’s tea,
But poison the rivers, the seas, the skies,
and poison the minds of people with lies,
Its all in the interest of free enterprise,
Nonetheless it is perfectly legal” ~ Ewan MacColl, singer-songwriter

The company that swore up and down that PCBs were “safe” has also, for decades, been lying about the safety of its flagship product, Roundup weedkiller.

From court documents recently made public, we now know that there’s no independent, credible scientific evidence to support Monsanto’s claim that Roundup, the full formulation which includes glyphosate and other ingredients, is safe:

“. . . you cannot say that Roundup is not a carcinogen…we have not done the necessary testing on the formulation to make that statement.” – Donna Farmer, lead toxicologist for Monsanto, in a November 2003 email

It’s just one of so many recent revelations.

Monsanto employees ghostwrote studies that were passed off as authored by “independent scientists.

Monsanto employees colluded with former EPA officials to bury the truth about Roundup and glyphosate.

Monsanto orchestrated attacks on the World Health Organization agency after a panel of 17 international scientists unanimously concluded that glyphosate is a probable human carcinogen.

Monsanto was also behind forcing a scientific journal to unpublish a study showing that glyphosate in very low levels may cause cancer.

For decades, Monsanto has been poisoning “the rivers, the seas, the skies” and the “minds of people with lies.” 

But let’s not forget that Monsanto doesn’t act alone. In addition to the complicity of agencies like the EPA, Monsanto gets a lot of help from corporations that also profit from poisons like Roundup. Corporations (yes even those with squeaky-clean images like Ben & Jerry’s), that profit by allowing the continued use of Roundup-Ready crops in their supply chains, are guilty, too.

It’s all done in the name of a “free enterprise” system that gives corporations a free ride.

But it’s anything but “free” for the rest of us, stuck with the hospital bills (or worse), and the tab for cleaning up the mess.

We have little hope that government agencies or policymakers will defend our environment or our health against those who poison in the name of “free enterprise.” This is a fight we must fight in the courts, and in the marketplace.

With your support, we will.  

Donate to the Organic Consumers Association (tax-deductible, helps support our work on behalf of organic standards, fair trade and public education)

Donate to Organic Consumers Fund (non-tax-deductible, but necessary for our GMO labeling legislative efforts)

Support our ‘Ben & Jerry’s: Go Organic!’ campaign (donations to OCA, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, are tax deductible)