
Glyphosate--designated a probable carcinogen by the WHO--is the active ingredient of Roundup, a weed killer produced by Monsanto, which merged with Germany's Bayer last year. (Photo: Mike Mozart/Flickr/cc)
Monsanto Doctor Wanted to 'Beat the Sh*t Out of' Group of Mothers: Emails
One advocate said the emails revealed "the utter contempt that Monsanto has for public health and for consumers, including mothers who only want to protect their kids' health."
Leaked emails from scientists working with agrichemical giant Monsanto feature company leaders in 2013 wishing they could "beat the shit out of" advocacy group Moms Across America.
Moms Across America wrote an open letter asking Monsanto to discontinue the use of the pesticide glyphosate--which some research has tied to cancers--and to stop producing genetically modified seeds that was seen by company executives as a public relations disaster.
"I have been arguing for a week to beat the shit out of them and I have clearly lost," Monsanto's Dr. Daniel Goldstein wrote to University of Georgia crop scientist Wayne Parrott and University of Illinois biochemist Bruce Chassy. "We don't want to be seen as beating up on mothers."
The emails were released as part of litigation relating to the cancer-causing effects of glysophate against Monsanto's now-parent company Bayer.
"There you have it," tweeted rePlant Capital vice president Robyn O'Brien.
The emails, New York Times reporter Eric Lipton said on Twitter, show "how Monsanto worked to try to influence public opinion, in alliance with academics who it sometimes helped fund."
In a statement, green advocacy organization the Environmental Working Group's president Ken Cook said the emails revealed "the utter contempt that Monsanto has for public health and for consumers, including mothers who only want to protect their kids' health."
"Bayer is reeling from its monumental blunder of buying Monsanto," said Cook, "and these emails should remind them that they acquired the company that gave us DDT, Agent Orange, and PCBs."
Urgent. It's never been this bad.
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission from the outset was simple. To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It’s never been this bad out there. And it’s never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed and doing some of its best and most important work, the threats we face are intensifying. Right now, with just three days to go in our Spring Campaign, we're falling short of our make-or-break goal. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Can you make a gift right now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? There is no backup plan or rainy day fund. There is only you. —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Leaked emails from scientists working with agrichemical giant Monsanto feature company leaders in 2013 wishing they could "beat the shit out of" advocacy group Moms Across America.
Moms Across America wrote an open letter asking Monsanto to discontinue the use of the pesticide glyphosate--which some research has tied to cancers--and to stop producing genetically modified seeds that was seen by company executives as a public relations disaster.
"I have been arguing for a week to beat the shit out of them and I have clearly lost," Monsanto's Dr. Daniel Goldstein wrote to University of Georgia crop scientist Wayne Parrott and University of Illinois biochemist Bruce Chassy. "We don't want to be seen as beating up on mothers."
The emails were released as part of litigation relating to the cancer-causing effects of glysophate against Monsanto's now-parent company Bayer.
"There you have it," tweeted rePlant Capital vice president Robyn O'Brien.
The emails, New York Times reporter Eric Lipton said on Twitter, show "how Monsanto worked to try to influence public opinion, in alliance with academics who it sometimes helped fund."
In a statement, green advocacy organization the Environmental Working Group's president Ken Cook said the emails revealed "the utter contempt that Monsanto has for public health and for consumers, including mothers who only want to protect their kids' health."
"Bayer is reeling from its monumental blunder of buying Monsanto," said Cook, "and these emails should remind them that they acquired the company that gave us DDT, Agent Orange, and PCBs."
Leaked emails from scientists working with agrichemical giant Monsanto feature company leaders in 2013 wishing they could "beat the shit out of" advocacy group Moms Across America.
Moms Across America wrote an open letter asking Monsanto to discontinue the use of the pesticide glyphosate--which some research has tied to cancers--and to stop producing genetically modified seeds that was seen by company executives as a public relations disaster.
"I have been arguing for a week to beat the shit out of them and I have clearly lost," Monsanto's Dr. Daniel Goldstein wrote to University of Georgia crop scientist Wayne Parrott and University of Illinois biochemist Bruce Chassy. "We don't want to be seen as beating up on mothers."
The emails were released as part of litigation relating to the cancer-causing effects of glysophate against Monsanto's now-parent company Bayer.
"There you have it," tweeted rePlant Capital vice president Robyn O'Brien.
The emails, New York Times reporter Eric Lipton said on Twitter, show "how Monsanto worked to try to influence public opinion, in alliance with academics who it sometimes helped fund."
In a statement, green advocacy organization the Environmental Working Group's president Ken Cook said the emails revealed "the utter contempt that Monsanto has for public health and for consumers, including mothers who only want to protect their kids' health."
"Bayer is reeling from its monumental blunder of buying Monsanto," said Cook, "and these emails should remind them that they acquired the company that gave us DDT, Agent Orange, and PCBs."

