Journalism & Media

"At Monsanto, sales of genetically modified seeds were steadily rising. But executives at the company’s St. Louis headquarters were privately worried about attacks on the safety of their products. So Monsanto, the world’s largest seed company, and its industry partners retooled their lobbying and public relations strategy to spotlight a rarefied group of advocates: academics, brought in for the gloss of impartiality and weight of authority that come with a professor’s pedigree."

"This morning, a new, controversial ad campaign hit the press. New Yorkers, en route to work, were likely the first to see it, because its inaugural imprint was in the New York Post, in the form of a full-page advertisement. And it isn't at all kind to Chipotle."

"Hampton Creek, the food technology company, has apparently been the subject of much discussion at the American Egg Board—an egg research and promotion program overseen by the US Department of Agriculture. Newly released documents show high-level members of the American Egg Board, a USDA employee, and an outside PR firm discussing strategies for dealing with Just Mayo, Hampton Creek’s plant-based mayonnaise substitute, the Associated Press first reported."

The story of how a DuPont chemical called C8, or PFOA, harmed the health of people around Parkersburg, WV, is an epic one that resulted in a huge class-action settlement. "DuPont deceived as many people as they could deceive as for as long as they could," one resident said. Under the current regulatory system, the same thing could happen again.

"A food safety advocacy group sued an arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Tuesday, saying it illegally withheld public information on genetically engineered crops."

"From GMO labeling to pesticides to the source of the meat you buy, a handful of companies are spending heavily to keep information off your food labels."

"Christopher Horner, an attorney who claims that the earth is cooling, is known within the scientific community for hounding climate change researchers with relentless investigations and public ridicule, often deriding scientists as 'communists' and frauds. ... New court documents reveal one source of Horner’s funding: big coal."

"Newly released documents show that firefighters responding to an oil train derailment and fire last year in Lynchburg, Va., waited more than two hours for critical details about the train and what was on it."

"During the five decades in which DuPont used and profited from C8, the company had only infrequently discussed the chemical with environmental authorities, and it kept most of its extensive internal research on the chemical confidential."