The Circus Gardener's Kitchen

seasonal vegetarian recipes with a side helping of food politics

Tag Archive for ‘Roundup’

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spaghetti with olive, caper and tomato sauce

Monsanto, once dubbed the “most evil corporation in the world” no longer exists but its toxic legacy shows no sign of disappearing, thanks to one of its flagship products, the weedkiller Roundup. The principal ingredient of Roundup is a chemical called glyphosate, which seven years ago the World Health Organisation labelled “probably carcinogenic.” Since then, a growing body of evidence has associated exposure to glyphosate with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a cancer […]

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Lebanese-style rice and lentils with crispy onions

For the second time in less than a year, a US court has found that the weed killer Roundup is responsible for causing cancer. In this second case, the jury also found that Roundup’s manufacturer, Monsanto (which has since been taken over by German multinational Bayer) had deliberately manipulated records to hide the risk of cancer from exposure to Roundup. The judge in this most recent case stated that “there […]

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Greek-style tomato fritters

I grow a modest amount of fruit and vegetables in my back garden. This year the list has included cherries, pears, strawberries, raspberries, tomatoes, cucumbers, raddichio, peas, beans, courgettes, red onion squash, cabbage, chickpeas, leeks, kale and chard. Aside from the sheer pleasure which gardening provides, I also know exactly how each plant has been grown: carefully and tenderly nurtured. Of course, I grow only a tiny proportion of the […]

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spicy roast cauliflower with hummus and pomegranate

hummus with pomegranates and pine nuts, spicy cauliflower and halloumi

It is now three years since the World Health Organisation (WHO) announced that glyphosate, the key ingredient of the popular weedkiller Roundup, is “probably carcinogenic to humans”. In response, Monsanto (the manufacturers of Roundup) has set about trying to discredit the WHO’s findings by, for example, setting up and funding numerous research projects, each of which, unsurprisingly, has gone on to conclude that Roundup is safe. Safe or not, glyphosate […]

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wild garlic gnocchi with kale

The proposed merger between US chemical giant and its German counterpart Bayer, otherwise known as the “marriage made in hell”, is slowly but inexorably heading towards completion. It has not, however, been without its problems. The proposed merger has had to negotiate several anti-trust and anti-monopoly regulations in various global markets before it can proceed. Last month, for example, the European Union only gave the $62.5 billion deal its final […]

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cabbage, coconut and cumin pakora with coriander relish

Glyphosate is a systemic herbicide widely used in agriculture. In the USA, around 80% of genetically modified crops (GMOs) have been modified to be “Roundup-ready”, in other words to be resistant to the weedkiller Roundup, the world’s most popular glyphosate-based weedkiller. Many of these “Roundup-ready” crops end up in cattle feed, which is not just used in the USA but exported around the world. As a consequence traces of glyphosate […]

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spiced clementines with clementine sorbet

Recently published research in the USA by the University of Virginia has confirmed that the increased use of genetically modified crops (GMOs) by farmers has led to a significant increase in the use of herbicides. Covering a thirteen year period up to 2011, this is the largest study ever undertaken into the impact of GMOs on US farming and the environment. The researchers found that on average farmers growing genetically […]

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squash, mushroom and chestnut pie

The $66 billion acquisition of controversial US agrochemical multinational Monsanto by the German multinational Bayer will, assuming it passes regulatory tests, come into effect by the end of next year. It has been described rightly as a “marriage made in hell” by Friends of the Earth. The new company will be the world’s largest seller both of seeds and of agrichemicals, holding the intellectual copyright to over a quarter of […]

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char-grilled baby cauliflower with salsa verde

A law passed by the European Union in March 2015 finally allowed EU member countries to decide on an individual basis whether they wanted genetically modified (GMO) crops to be grown on their territory. The law was seen in some quarters as a way to get round some of the famous Brussels bureaucracy, which had frustrated GMO companies like Monsanto because of the long time it took for the EU […]

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vegan pad thai

This week the Soil association launched “Not in Our Bread”, a campaign to highlight the use of wheat sprayed with glyphosate as an ingredient in the manufacture of one of the UK’s principal staple foods. Glyphosate, the key component of the weedkiller Roundup, manufactured by global chemicals company Monsanto, was declared to be “probably carcinogenic” by the World Health Organisation earlier this year. The principal reason why up to a […]

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