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It's the pesticide on our dinner plates, a chemical so pervasive it's in the air we breathe, our water, our soil, and even found increasingly in our own bodies. Known as Monsanto's Roundup by consumers, and as glyphosate by scientists, the world's most popular weed killer is used everywhere from backyard gardens to golf courses to millions of acres of farmland. For decades it's been touted as safe enough to drink, but a growing body of evidence indicates just the opposite, with research tying the chemical to cancers and a host of other health threats. In Whitewash, veteran journalist Carey Gillam uncovers one of the most controversial stories in the history of food and agriculture, exposing new evidence of corporate influence. Gillam introduces readers to farm families devastated by cancers which they believe are caused by the chemical, and to scientists whose reputations have been smeared for publishing research that contradicted business interests. Readers learn about the arm-twisting of regulators who signed off on the chemical, echoing company assurances of safety even as they permitted higher residues of the pesticide in food and skipped compliance tests. And, in startling detail, Gillam reveals secret industry communications that pull back the curtain on corporate efforts to manipulate public perception. Whitewash is more than an exposâe about the hazards of one chemical or even the influence of one company. It's a story of power, politics, and the deadly consequences of putting corporate interests ahead of public safety.--AMAZON.

Tourmalinization associated with peraluminous granitic intrusions in metapelitic host-rocks has been widely recorded in the Iberian Peninsula, given the importance of tourmaline as a tracer of granite magma evolution and potential indicator of Sn-W mineralizations. In the Penamacor-Monsanto granite pluton (Central Eastern Portugal, Central Iberian Zone), tourmaline occurs: (1) as accessory phase in two-mica granitic rocks, muscovite-granites and aplites, (2) in quartz (±mica)-tourmaline rocks (tourmalinites) in several exocontact locations, and (3) as a rare detrital phase in contact zone hornfels and metapelitic host-rocks. Electron microprobe and stable isotope (δ 18 O, δD, δ 11 B) data provide clear distinctions between tourmaline populations from these different settings: (a) schorl–oxyschorl tourmalines from granitic rocks have variable foititic component ( X □ = 17–57 %) and Mg/(Mg + Fe) ratios (0.19–0.50 in two-mica granitic rocks, and 0.05–0.19 in the more differentiated muscovite-granite and aplites); granitic tourmalines have constant δ 18 O values (12.1 ± 0.1 ‰), with wider-ranging δD (−78.2 ± 4.7 ‰) and δ 11 B (−10.7 to −9.0 ‰) values; (b) vein/breccia oxyschorl [Mg/(Mg + Fe) = 0.31–0.44] results from late, B- and Fe-enriched magma-derived fluids and is characterized by δ 18 O = 12.4 ‰, δD = −29.5 ‰, and δ 11 B = −9.3 ‰, while replacement tourmalines have more dravitic compositions [Mg/(Mg + Fe) = 0.26–0.64], close to that of detrital tourmaline in the surrounding metapelitic rocks, and yield relatively constant δ 18 O values (13.1–13.3 ‰), though wider-ranging δD (−58.5 to −36.5 ‰) and δ 11 B (−10.2 to −8.8 ‰) values; and (c) detrital tourmaline in contact rocks and regional host metasediments is mainly dravite [Mg/(Mg + Fe) = 0.35–0.78] and oxydravite [Mg/(Mg + Fe) = 0.51–0.58], respectively. Boron contents of the granitic rocks are low (<650 ppm) compared to the minimum B contents normally required for tourmaline saturation in granitic melts, implying loss of B and other volatiles to the surrounding host-rocks during the late-magmatic stages. This process was responsible for tourmalinization at the exocontact of the Penamacor-Monsanto pluton, either as direct tourmaline precipitation in cavities and fractures crossing the pluton margin (vein/breccia tourmalinites), or as replacement of mafic minerals (chlorite or biotite) in the host-rocks (replacement tourmalinites) along the exocontact of the granite. Thermometry based on 18 O equilibrium fractionation between tourmaline and fluid indicates that a late, B-enriched magmatic aqueous fluid (av. δ 18 O ~12.1 ‰, at ~600 °C) precipitated the vein/breccia tourmaline (δ 18 O ~12.4 ‰) at ~500–550 °C, and later interacted with the cooler surrounding host-rocks to produce tourmaline at lower temperatures (400–450 °C), and an average δ 18 O ~13.2 ‰, closer to the values for the host-rock. Although B-metasomatism associated with some granitic plutons in the Iberian Peninsula seems to be relatively confined in space, extending integrated studies such as this to a larger number of granitic plutons may afford us a better understanding of Variscan magmatism and related mineralizations.

Biotechnology crop production area increased from 1.7 million hectares to 148 million hectares worldwide between 1996 to 2010. While genetically modified food is a contentious issue, the debates are usually limited to health and environmental concerns, ignoring the broader questions of social control that arise when food production methods become corporate-owned intellectual property. Drawing on legal documents and dozens of interviews with farmers and other stakeholders, Corporate Crops covers four case studies based around litigation between biotechnology corporations and farmers. Pechlaner investigates the extent to which the proprietary aspects of biotechnologies—from patents on seeds to a plethora of new rules and contractual obligations associated with the technologies—are reorganizing crop production. The lawsuits include patent infringement litigation launched by Monsanto against a Saskatchewan canola farmer who, in turn, claimed his crops had been involuntarily contaminated by the company’s GM technology; a class action application by two Saskatchewan organic canola farmers launched against Monsanto and Aventis (later Bayer) for the loss of their organic market due to contamination with GMOs; and two cases in Mississippi in which Monsanto sued farmers for saving seeds containing its patented GM technology. Pechlaner argues that well-funded corporate lawyers have a decided advantage over independent farmers in the courts and in creating new forms of power and control in agricultural production. Corporate Crops demonstrates the effects of this intersection between the courts and the fields where profits, not just a food supply, are reaped.

This manuscript examines how the Precautionary Principle has been applied to provide a mechanism for protection of the environment and health in response to the introduction of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) in Europe. It discusses how the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) handled national requests across four cases in which Member States had failed in their attempt to trigger the Precautionary Principle in order to uphold a ban or suspension of the cultivation or sale of GMOs in their territory. The analysis of these judgements suggests that the court has applied a narrow interpretation to the scientific evidence emerging from risk assessments, and has thereby limited the potential for precautionary measures by Member States to be upheld by the court. This outcome reflects a `weak' application of the Precautionary Principle by the court in contrast with the `moderate' formulation and `strong' interpretation of the principle offered by the European legal framework. Moreover, the analysis highlights that the CJEU's rulings are not keeping pace with the development of the European normative framework which considers the Precautionary Principle as a key tenet and, through the 2015 Directive, enables Member States to ban GMO cultivation without referring to scientific evidence.

\"Despite substantial evidence that Roundup weed killer is safe and non-carcinogenic if used properly, a federal judge last week appointed attorney Kenneth Feinberg to oversee court-mandated settlement talks between Bayer AG (the company that owns Roundup S producer, Monsanto) and plaintiff's who claim that the product caused their non-Hodgkin 's lymphoma.\" The Monographs apply rigorous procedures for the scientific review and evaluation of carcinogenic hazards by independent experts, free from conflict of interest. Since publishing Monograph conclusions on some pesticides (3), the IARC has been subject to intense efforts to undermine its evaluation and the whole organization. [...]of the widespread usage, glyphosate is present at low levels in a wide range food items (10). [...]scientists, toxicologists, epidemiologists, other health professionals, patients and populations have a collective responsibility not simply to be originators of scientific data but to be scrutinizers of their use, thereby protecting the interests of the many rather than the few.

This article explores the development of AstroTurf in postwar North America as a case study in \"augmented nature,\" where technologies simulate and redefine elements of the natural world. The plastic substitute for natural grass embodied a broader cultural commitment to suburban lawn aesthetics and exemplified a \"break-it-and-fix-it\" approach to ecological challenges. By analyzing AstroTurf's marketing—particularly its showcase at Montreal's Expo '67—the article introduces the concept of augmented nature and examines its role in reshaping mid-century understandings of nature, technology, and environmental problem-solving. In so doing, it offers new insights into the cultural significance of domestic green spaces, aesthetic ideals, and the role of synthetic materials in manipulating perceptions of the natural world.

This paper examines relations between the state and capital in Argentina with respect to agricultural biotechnology. Argentina is one of the world's leading exporters of genetically modified (GM) crops and is a key player in the global politics of biotechnology. Whereas in other parts of the world, including other countries in Latin America, active civil societies and some governments have rejected the technology, Argentina has adopted it as a central accumulation strategy. The desirability of this strategy has been secured in material, institutional and discursive arenas of power, producing a particular expression of ‘bio-hegemony’. Looking at the role of business in the political economy of agricultural biotechnology is revealing both of the extent and forms of corporate power and contributes to an understanding of hegemony in practice. Síntese: Este artigo examina as relações entre Estado e o capital na Argentina no tocante à agricultura biotecnológica. A Argentina é um dos líderes mundiais em exportação de safras geneticamente modificadas (GM) e nas políticas globais acerca da biotecnologia é um participante chave. Enquanto em outras partes do mundo – inclusive em outros países latino-americanos – sociedades civis ativas e alguns governos têm rejeitado essa tecnologia, a Argentina a adotou como uma estratégia central de acúmulo. O atrativo dessa estratégia foi assegurado em fóruns de poder materiais, institucionais e discursivos, produzindo a expressão particular “biohegemonia”. Analisar o papel dos negócios na política econômica para a agricultura biotecnológica é revelador tanto sobre a extensão quanto às formas do poder corporativo, e contribui para um entendimento da hegemonia na prática. Palavras-chave: agricultura, Argentina, biotecnologia, GMOs (Organismos Geneticamente Modificados), safras GM (Geneticamente Modificadas), soja, corporações multinacionais, Monsanto, Gramsci, hegemonia. Resumen: Este artículo examina la relación entre el Estado y el capital en Argentina con respecto a la biotecnología agrícola. Argentina es uno de los principales exportadores de granos genéticamente modificados (GM) y juega un papel clave en la política global de la biotecnología. Mientras que en otras partes del mundo, como en otros países latinoamericanos, movimientos de la sociedad civil y algunos gobiernos han rechazado dicha tecnología, Argentina la adoptado como una estrategia central de acumulación. La viabilidad de tal estrategia ha sido afianzada en círculos de poder materiales, institucionales y discursivos, dando como resultado una particular expresión de “bio-hegemonía”. Al ver el papel de los negocios en la economía política de la biotecnología agrícola resultan reveladoras tanto la extensión como las formas de poder corporativo y contribuye al entendimiento de la hegemonía en la práctica. Palabras clave: agricultura, Argentina, biotecnología, GMOs, granos GM, soya, corporaciones multinacionales, Monsanto, Gramsci, hegemonía

Every new tractor now contains built-in sensors that collect data and stream it to cloud-based infrastructure. Seed and chemical companies are using these data, and these agribusinesses are a form of big tech alongside firms like Google and Facebook.The Immaculate Conception of Data peeks behind the secretive legal agreements surrounding agricultural big data to trace how it is used and with what consequences. Agribusinesses are among the oldest oligopoly corporations in the world, and their concentration gives them an advantage over other food system actors. Kelly Bronson explores what happens when big data get caught up in pre-existing arrangements of power. Her richly ethnographic account details the work of corporate scientists, farmers using the data, and activist “hackers” building open-source data platforms. Actors working in private and public contexts have divergent views on whom new technology is for, how it should be developed, and what kinds of agriculture it should support. Surprisingly, despite their differences, these groups share a way of speaking about data and its value for the future. Bronson calls this the immaculate conception of data, arguing that this phenomenon is a dangerous framework for imagining big data and what it might do for society.Drawing our attention to agriculture as an important new site for big tech criticism, The Immaculate Conception of Data uniquely bridges science and technology studies, critical data studies, and food studies, bringing to light salient issues related to data justice and a sustainable food system.