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Monsanto Jury in Historic Revolt Against Judge Attempting to Toss Out Their Unanimous Verdict

In an unprecedented display of commitment to justice, eight of the 12 jurors and two alternates who served on the Johnson v Monsanto trial, 10 total, took a day off work, left their families, and showed up at the San Francisco Court last week to let Judge Bolanos know they want their verdict to stand. The “Trial of The Century” as many are calling it, resulted in a $289.2 million award by the jury from Monsanto to Dwayne “Lee” Johnson, a school pesticide applicator who contracted a terminal case of non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma while using Monsanto’s glyphosate herbicide products Roundup and Ranger Pro.

Upon arrival, “the courtroom was so full,” recounted Robert Howard, juror number four, in an interview with me, “that one of the jurors had to sit in his/her old seat. The Judge definitely noticed our presence.”

He shared how, for a long time, he and his fellow jurors, for whom he has the highest regard, remained silent. He referred to the saying, “Silence cannot be misquoted.” But when he saw the notice that the jury verdict might be overturned, he and several jurors knew it was time to speak up.

By Neil Young and Daryl Hannah

Updated: Oct. 14, 2018 11:12 a.m.

As originally posted in the San Francisco Chronicle

Wow! What a week! More evidence presented itself this week,  that GMO chemical farming is not safe, not wanted and not doing what the manufacturers say it will do.

While we do not have any news on whether Judge Balonos will accept Bayer/Monsanto's appeal to overturn the $289.2 jury awarded, guilty-on-all-counts-judgment, we promise we will let you know as soon as we find out. It could be any hour or day now. Stay up to date specifically on our Facebook page.

We also hope you will join us on our Monday night Moms Connect call to discuss these and many important issues. Sign up for our email alerts here for the invitation to join us. Watch or listen to last night's Moms Connect Call here.

 Do you want to share Moms Across America's information and solutions? Share this new interview by Josh Trent of Wellness Force with Zen Honeycutt of Moms Across America.

On Wellness Force Radio episode 237, Founder and Director of Moms Across America as well as the Author of, Unstoppable, Zen Honeycutt, uncovers with host, Josh Trent, how you can take leadership in your own family to make real changes happen at the dinner table, how we can heal and feed the world with organic food, and why exporting monocrops to third world countries actually hurts rather than helps them.

Click here.

NEWS:

The Creator of GMO Potatoes Reveals The Dangerous Truth – Exclusive Interview

The Ex-Director of J.R. Simplot and team leader at Monsanto, Caius Rommens, has revealed the hidden dangers of the GMO potatoes he created, in a wide-ranging interview for Sustainable Pulse, on the same day that his book ‘Pandora’s Potatoes: The Worst GMOs’ was released on Amazon.

For full article click here.

At Moms Across America we often get questions like " What can I eat?" or "Everything is contaminated, what do I do?"

Here is a recent question that we think everyone could benefit from considering and our answer.

“Hi, I'm a new mom who has eaten Quaker Oats throughout my pregnancy. After learning about arsenic levels in the oats I made the switch to Bob's Red Mill organic steel-cut oats. Now I discover that I have been unknowingly eating small doses of glyphosate every morning for breakfast, as well as feeding it to my daughter through breast milk. I'm infuriated and wondering what actions I'm able to take? ”- Michelle V.

Our Answer:

Dear Michelle,

By Zen Honeycutt
Founding Executive Director Moms Across America
Author of Unstoppable

On August 27, 2018, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) publish an article called “Should I Throw Out My Cheerios?” The article addresses the EWG’s recent testing of 45 samples of cereals and oat products for glyphosate, the declared active chemical ingredient in Roundup weed killer, made by Monsanto. 95% of the conventional products tested positive for the known carcinogen. Only 3% of the organic products were positive. Levels found were 30 -1300+ ppb of glyphosate in the samples tested. Although we are thrilled that the EWG tested foods for glyphosate, we are horrified that they would actually say, “So should I throw out my Cheerios? In a word, no.” Even though some of the products contained 8x higher levels than their own safety assessments and thousands of times higher* than has been shown in scientific studies to cause harm... they still did not advise consumers to stop eating foods that have been found to be highly contaminated with glyphosate.

Glyphosate in Hummus Test Results Report
Moms Across America
August 31, 2018

August 31, 2018 - Hummus is the go-to snack for most people who consider themselves healthy. Apparently, the brand of hummus has now become much more important. Today, Moms Across America released the test results of 10 hummus samples from 8 brands showing concerning levels of glyphosate residues. All but 1 of the samples tested positive for quantifiable levels. Glyphosate is found in Monsanto’s popular weed killer Roundup and is commonly sprayed on garbanzo beans as a drying agent prior to harvest. The chemical glyphosate has been making numerous headlines in the past two weeks due to the verdict in the Johnson v Monsanto trial. Johnson was a school pesticide applicator and was awarded 289.2 million dollars by the jury from the chemical giant Monsanto for “malice and oppression” or hiding the fact that they knew that their glyphosate herbicide could cause cancer. The hummus brands testing positive for glyphosate residue were Kirkland Signature, Sabra, Cedar’s, Simply Balanced, Trader Joe’s, Sadaf, and Hope. Lilly’s organic hummus was the only brand that had a non-quantifiable result for glyphosate.

Zen Honeycutt, Founding Executive Director of Moms Across America stated, “Glyphosate residues in hummus are not surprising, due to the farming practice of spraying garbanzo beans preharvest with glyphosate as a drying agent, but these results are terribly disturbing. The agriculture industry has known since 2015 that the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified glyphosate as a probable carcinogen. They had ample time to discontinue the practice of spraying this herbicide on their crops. We hope now, with these results and the verdict of the Johnson v Monsanto lawsuit, that the EPA will revoke the license of glyphosate and farmers will stop using harmful chemicals.”

Lilly’s Hummus representative stated that they source their garbanzo beans from organic farmers in California. When asked about the absence of glyphosate in their products they stated, regarding their suppliers, “They perform random field pre-checks on crops, and recognize glyphosate as one of the worst herbicides. We’re very gratified to produce a nourishing product safe for individuals and families free of this substance.”

August 30 , 2018- Mission Viejo. Moms Across America applauds the decision by the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) of the California Environmental Protection Agency (CA EPA). Today is the day that the long-awaited changes go into effect for companies, manufacturers, and any responsible parties in the supply chain of exposing the public to harmful chemicals. From this day forward anyone exposing the public to chemicals known to cause cancer or reproductive harm in California must have warnings in place as follows or face a $2,500 fine per day, per violation.

Zen Honeycutt of Mom Across America stated, “We are thrilled that companies will now have to state specifically, by name, which chemical they are being exposed to. The public has a right to know.However, we are outraged that glyphosate, which is on the Prop 65 list and is sprayed on our food and around our schools and parks, will not be included because Monsanto sued the CA EPA to stop the labeling. This is an injustice to the American public which must be corrected immediately.”  Glyphosate herbicides were the subject of a recent lawsuit in which the plaintiff Dwayne Lee Johnson was awarded 289.2 million dollars from Monsanto for the causation of his non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma,which he was exposed to while wearing protective gear as a school pesticide applicator

According to 30 years of EPA policy, normally glyphosate, which was placed on the Prop 65 list in 2017, would be included in this regulation. All products, such as Roundup sold in Home Depot,  would need to carry this warning today. All pesticide applicators would need to be informed that they were using products which cause cancer, and all farmers would see warning labels on their bulk purchases of glyphosate herbicides which they spray on our food crops.  However, Monsanto sued the CA EPA and the judge granted them a temporary injunction which stopped the labeling of glyphosate herbicides. Their reasoning was that Monsanto had the right to “free speech” meaning they and the other clients in the lawsuit, such as the Wheat Growers Association, had the right to not speak about whether their products or food ingredients contained a probable carcinogen. Nevermind that they also have the free will to make or use a chemical which exposes the public unknowingly to a carcinogen.

Mom and daughter team reveals Monsanto's lies! 

August 16, 2018 - Today Mckenzie Feldman sent me this video, which she filmed at the Hawaii State Farm Fair http://www.hawaiistatefarmfair.org in 2015. Her mother, the woman speaking in the film, fearlessly asks the Monsanto employee about his perspective on the use of Roundup. We applaud the courage it took to make this film and we acknowledge this dynamic mother-daughter team! Way to go!

We would like to add that this employee, not to excuse his choices but to put it into perspective, simply believed what his employer told him. We know there are thousands of people who work at Monsanto, many of them good people who want to provide for their families, that have been just as hoodwinked as the rest of us. This does not excuse the behavior of misleading the public, however. We ask that anyone who works at any company be responsible for having a job which contributes to the safety of our planet instead of polluting it. If your company is poisoning people, find another job! Be creative and do what inspires you!