Jan. 19, 2023 www.investigatemidwest.org Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting
Latest news on popular weed killer Roundup
For years, she worked in Virginia tree farms. To prevent the weeds from growing, she sprayed Roundup, once a household item for many Americans.
Then the lawsuits started rolling in: Tens of thousands, including the farmworker, claimed the Monsanto-produced weed killer had caused their cancer.
Many settled, but she was denied, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday. The settlement program was only meant for U.S. citizens, and, like many farmworkers, she wasn’t one.
— Sky Chadde, assistant editor and senior reporter
Roundup caused her cancer, but she was denied a settlement because of her citizenship status, lawsuit says | Sky Chadde, Investigate Midwest
Roundup’s manufacturer, the multinational Bayer, has faced myriad lawsuits related to the weed killer. Roundup’s main ingredient likely causes cancer, according to numerous reports and studies.
Read more.
Column: It’s time to break up the Food and Drug Administration | Dave Dickey
I've given this some thought and there really is no way to sugarcoat it, Dave Dickey writes in his latest column.
The federal agency responsible for the food you eat — from vegetables to fruit to thousands of frozen and other processed foods — is a five-alarm dumpster fire unable to reliably protect the public from illness and death.
And the tragedy of the situation is that anybody and everybody who has had dealings with the Food and Drug Administration would most likely tell you the same. Including those who had served at FDA.
Read more.
Graphic of the Week: Bird flu main cause of record-breaking egg prices, USDA says | Madison McVan, Investigate Midwest
In November 2022 alone, nearly 3 million egg-laying hens died or were killed due to avian influenza outbreaks, according to a recent U.S. Department of Agriculture report. Since February of 2022, 39.2 million hens have been lost.
En el Medio Oeste, la supervisión estatal ha obligado a algunos empleadores a proporcionar mejores viviendas a los trabajadores agrícolas migrantes. | Sky Chadde and Johnathan Hettinger, Investigate Midwest
En todo el país, los trabajadores agrícolas, que realizan los trabajos mundanos que sostienen las multimillonarias empresas agrícolas y alimentarias, a menudo soportan viviendas deficientes e insalubres. En este caso, sin embargo, la inspección había hecho su trabajo: Cuando los inspectores volvieron a visitar la empresa al año siguiente, Cantu había corregido todos los problemas, según los registros de la inspección estatal. Cantu no respondió a las múltiples peticiones de comentarios para este reportaje.
Other news
The following stories are a product of the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk, an editorially independent reporting network based at the University of Missouri School of Journalism in partnership with Report For America and funded by the Walton Family Foundation. Investigate Midwest is part of this network.
Record bird flu outbreaks contribute to budget-busting egg prices
Prices of many main ingredients at The Eat Shop, a bakery in Solon, Iowa, have gone up 20 percent recently. But as egg costs have skyrocketed beyond historical recognition, the bakery has especially felt the burn.
It has resorted to buying egg whites and egg yolks separately and mixing them together — a solution that still is somehow cheaper than a carton of eggs.
“It freaks me out,” said owner Cheryl Maloney. “We use eggs in, you can imagine, basically everything that we make, so it's been really hard.”
This story was written by Brittney Miller and the photo was by Jim Slosiarek, both of the Cedar Rapids Gazette.
College journalists: Apply for our internship
Hey, college journalists and professors! Investigate Midwest is looking for applicants for its summer 2023 internship program.
This position is for college students who will return to school after the internship. Strong applicants will have had a previous news-related internship. Extensive experience on a college newspaper or media organization is also a plus.
Investigate Midwest is an independent, nonprofit newsroom devoted to serving the public interest by exposing dangerous and costly practices of influential agricultural corporations and institutions through in-depth and data-driven investigative journalism.
This position is funded by the Gary Marx Fund, a resource created by longtime investigative reporter David Jackson to help educate the next generation of investigative reporters.
This is a part-time, possibly remote position for 30 hours a week. The internship begins Monday, June 5, and ends Friday, Aug. 11.
Find more details here. Email suzanne.behnke@investigatemidwest.org for details and with applications.
