Whitewash

Rachel Carson Environment Book Award, First Place (2018) IPPY Outstanding Book of the Year: Most Likely to Save the Planet (2018) Thorpe Menn Literary Excellence Award (2018) "Reads like a mystery novel as Gillam skillfully uncovers Monsanto's secretive strategies." **x2014;Erin Brockovich "A damning picture...Gillam expertly covers a contentious front." **x2014;Publishers Weekly"A must-read."**xA0;**x2014;Booklist"Hard-hitting, eye-opening narrative."**xA0;**x2014;Kirkus 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**xA0;found increasingly in our own bodies. Known as Monsanto's Roundup by consumers, and as glyphosate by scientists, the**xA0;world's most popular weed killer is used everywhere from backyard gardens to golf courses to millions of acres of**xA0;farmland. For decades it's been touted as safe enough to drink, but a growing body of evidence indicates just the**xA0;opposite, with research tying the chemical to cancers and a host of other health threats. **xA0; **xA0;**xA0; In Whitewash,**xA0;veteran journalist Carey Gillam uncovers one of the most controversial stories in the history of food and**xA0;agriculture,**xA0;exposing new evidence of corporate influence. Gillam introduces readers to farm families devastated by**xA0;cancers which they believe are caused by the chemical, and to scientists whose reputations have been smeared for**xA0;publishing research that contradicted business interests. Readers learn about the arm twisting of regulators who signed**xA0;off on the chemical, echoing company assurances of safety even as they permitted higher residues of the pesticide in food**xA0;and skipped compliance tests. And,**xA0;in startling detail,**xA0;Gillam reveals secret industry communications that pull back the**xA0;curtain on corporate efforts to manipulate public perception. **xA0;**xA0;Whitewash is more than an exposé about the hazards of one chemical or even the influence of one company. It's a story of**xA0;power, politics, and the deadly consequences of putting corporate interests ahead of public safety.