Cornucopia’s Take: A report by the Environmental Working Group finds varying amounts of glyphosate in cereals and snack bars made with oats. Over the last decade, glyphosate has been increasingly employed as a desiccant for cereal grains, allowing the entire crop to be harvested at once. The gratuitous use of glyphosate has contaminated soil and… Read more »
FDA’s Produce Rule to Hit Small Farmers Hardest
Cornucopia’s Take: During the public input phase regarding the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2011, Cornucopia and many other groups told the FDA their proposed rule would be more costly for small and medium size farmers. We also noted that the mountains of manure building up on livestock factory farms pose a greater risk to… Read more »
EPA Court-Ordered to Ban Chlorpyrifos
Cornucopia’s Take: Chlorpyrifos was banned by the Obama administration due to its toxicity, notably causing brain damage in children. EPA scientists were in rare agreement on banning this pesticide, but Trump’s former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt called for more study instead. Sued by multiple public interest groups over this decision, the EPA has now been… Read more »
North Dakota Oil Extraction Leaves the Land Lifeless
Cornucopia’s Take: Fracking for oil in North Dakota farm fields has left a stain of salt, heavy metals, and radioactivity in the soil which extraction companies are not interested in cleaning up. The salted earth is rendered dead and incapable of crop production. Clean-up involves removal of the contaminated soil, an expensive project that simply… Read more »
Jury Concurs Roundup is Carcinogenic and Monsanto Knew, Company Stock Plummets
Cornucopia’s Take: A jury handed down a verdict late Friday in Dewayne Johnson’s case alleging his cancer was caused by Roundup and that Monsanto failed to warn the public of its potential danger. They awarded Johnson $289 million. Although Monsanto is appealing, the precedent is set for the pending 4,000 other cases regarding Roundup. Monsanto… Read more »
As Forest Fires Rage, Grasslands are a Very Good Carbon Sink
Cornucopia’s Take: As continued drought raises the risk of forest fires, grasslands have become a more reliable carbon sink in California, according to the study below. Grasslands fix carbon underground, while trees fix carbon in their above-ground structure. Although trees remain the largest carbon sinks, grasslands retain more carbon after burning. Grasslands more reliable carbon… Read more »
How We Can Stop the Dead Zone in the Gulf of Mexico
Cornucopia’s Take: Although the annual dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico is smaller in size this year due to strong winds which concentrated the dead zone into a smaller-than-predicted area, it remains a threat to ocean life. Fertilizer applied in the Midwest creates vast algal bloom, which, in turn, uses up the oxygen in… Read more »
Grass-fed Beef Bearing the U.S. Flag Likely Comes from Australia or South America
Cornucopia’s Take: When Obama’s USDA jettisoned the country of origin labeling law (COOL), under industry pressure, they opened the door for deceptive labeling. Foreign beef processed in the U.S. can legally be labeled “product of the U.S.A.” Shoppers are being lied to, and domestic grass-fed beef producers have almost been shut out of their own… Read more »
Poultry Processing Chemicals Make Workers Sick
Cornucopia’s Take: The story below details the medical horrors visited on poultry plant workers subjected to dangerous antimicrobial sprays at work. The sprays include peracetic acid (PAA), which is used to kill bacteria, like salmonella and campylobacter, commonly found on birds raised in factory farm conditions across the U.S. Many undocumented immigrants work at poultry… Read more »
GMO Impossible Burger Using Biotech Playbook to Misinform Consumers
Cornucopia’s Take: The company responsible for the vegan meat alternative, Impossible Burger, never performed sufficient food safety studies to receive the FDA’s “generally regarded as safe” (GRAS) status. When the FDA requested lengthier studies, Impossible Burger simply put its GMO yeast-containing product on the market without GRAS status. In response to criticism, Impossible Burger has… Read more »
