Realfoodology - Act Now! – Stop Bayer’s Dangerous Immunity Grab | Kelly Ryerson (Glyphosate Girl)

Episode Date: March 7, 2025

236: Kelly Ryerson, also known as Glyphosate Girl, joins me to expose Bayer’s push for legal immunity from glyphosate lawsuits. If they succeed, it could block your right to hold them accountable for health harms. We break down what’s at stake, highlight key states where action is needed, and share how you can fight back. Public pressure matters—and your voice can make a difference. Topics We Discussed: Bayer's push for immunity from glyphosate-related lawsuits Historical lawsuits faced by Bayer since acquiring Monsanto State-level activism and public involvement Agrochemical companies' influence on legislation Importance of public awareness and advocacy Key battleground states in corporate accountability fight Timestamps:  00:00:00 - Introduction  00:01:02 - Glyphosate lawsuits  00:02:51 - Bayer new CEO  00:04:30 - The farm bill  00:07:11 - How to call your senators  00:09:28 - How to educate others  00:11:27 - Protecting farmers  00:13:33 - Going to court hearings  00:15:04 - Battleground states  Show Links: Where to sign up to be more involved Kelly’s IG Call Your Senators Further Listening:  Glyphosate, Big Agriculture, + Cancer | Kelly Rhyerson Revolutionizing Farming: A Regenerative Agriculture Story | Gabe Brown Check Out Kelly: Instagram More Kelly Check Out Courtney  LEAVE US A VOICE MESSAGE Check Out My new FREE Grocery Guide! @realfoodology www.realfoodology.com My Immune Supplement by 2x4 Air Dr Air Purifier AquaTru Water Filter EWG Tap Water Database  Produced By: Drake Peterson

on today's episode of the Real Foodology podcast. Like you go in and you meet with ag staffers and you're like, gosh, have you seen page seven ninety eight in the farm bill? It says that you will no longer be able to sue if you get sick. Hello, friends. Welcome back to another episode of the Real Foodology podcast. This is your host, Courtney Swan, and I'm actually sitting down with Kelly Ryerson today for a short little podcast clip. You may know her as glyphosate girl. I've actually

had her on the podcast before and I've also posted about her a bunch on my Instagram. I have Kelly on today to give us an update about what is happening currently with Bayer. You'll have probably seen my stories and you know a little bit about it, but Bayer essentially is trying to go for the same immunity that vaccine companies have, which means that if anyone was to get cancer using their products, so let's say like farmers using glyphosate, they would not be able to sue Bayer if they got cancer from their products. So let's talk about it.

Kelly, I'm so happy you're here. Oh, thank you for having me on. It's so fun to do this in person as well. I know, it's super fun. Yay. Okay, so if you wanna explain a little bit about what is going on and also too what bills people should be looking for and then what they can do. Okay, yes.

So this is a huge, huge emergency that we are having right now and it all stems from the glyphosate litigation in which this started in 2018 and there were a few lawsuits against Bayer, which was actually originally owned by Monsanto, purchased by Bayer in 2018. And they started losing these enormous lawsuits. And so Bayer kind of didn't think that this would be a problem. It ended up being an enormous problem where billions and billions, I think it's over $13 billion now in settlements have been given to plaintiffs who have claimed and proven that glyphosate exposure likely caused their cancer. Yeah, so there was that famous one, sorry to interrupt you,

but there was that famous groundsman. And I believe, wasn't he the first one that won? Yeah, so Lee Johnson is the first one, 2018, the summer of. And he won, and then the next was a man who got cancer. The third was a couple. And that was in 2019. And actually, that couple was awarded. It was like this enormous headline,

because it was a $2 billion amount that the jury awarded to this couple. So it was like, because it's so obscene when you dig in and you see just the corruption and clearly the EPA knows this causes cancer. And so it makes it pretty easy for the jury to decide that it likely causes cancer. Well, IARC, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, has classified it as a group 2A carcinogen, which means that it probably causes cancer.

Yeah. And they looked at the independent research, and so not even industry research. So Bayer has a really huge problem, and they got rid of that CEO, they brought in a new CEO, and they launched this multi-pronged approach to not going bankrupt effectively, because this can definitely bankrupt them.

And rather than just saying, hey, let's put a label that maybe this can cause cancer on our product, they're not going to do that. So instead, they have this fancy strategy that actually when it was announced, it was like they could never pull this off. But they're actually looking pretty successful in pulling it off where they are going to 21 states, I believe are on the list now, and they're going in and convincing the state legislature, so the House of Representatives and the Senate in each of the states saying, hey, you know what, this is anti-farmer. What if our farmers couldn't get chemicals anymore

because bear couldn't make them? Oh my God. And so this is terrible. Like that will all starve this whole crisis that they're painting. And for a lot, and this is also happening actually at the federal level. So for a year now, they've been trying to slide this, this pesticide liability shield into an appropriations bill, like a separate bill, the farm bill, page 798. And what's crazy is like you go in and you meet with ag staffers and you're like, gosh, have you seen page 798 in the farm bill? It says that you will no longer be able to sue if you get sick. And they're like, what are you talking about?

I mean, the farm bill is so thick. Yeah. Well, that's why they do that. That's why they just hide it. They just slide all these other things in there and they make it so long that they assume that people won't even know that those bills are in there. Totally, which is outrageous and frustrating because what's at stake is so much. Yeah, well so are they still trying to put that into the farm bill as well or is this just a new way now to

get this passed? So it's both and this is why it's so important that everyone start focusing on the state level right now because as soon as they can get a state to pass one of these, then it's going to give more credibility to it being a federal law as well. Wow. And so they're definitely going to be pushing on both fronts. So since they're going state by state right now,

is there a world in which maybe just a couple states will pass it, and then it won't ever actually be able to go to federally? And so then in certain states, if farmers get cancer, then they wouldn't be able to sue, but other states would still be able to. There's a possibility that that would happen, right? Yeah, there is a possibility that that would happen.

And I think if people get loud enough, like right now it's not looking great, for example, in Georgia or Missouri. Those are two states where it looks like it's likely gonna pass, and so those people will no longer have a right to sue. And let's not just say bear, because it's also ChemChina. Yes. And Sygeneta too, right, because it's also ChemChina. Yes.

And Sygeneta too, right? Yes, which is ChemChina. Oh, okay, yeah. They're connected. And so they manufacture Paraquat, and they don't sell it in China, but they do sell it to the United States, and it is clearly linked to Parkinson's disease.

And in China, they don't use it because they have links to health conditions, right? Yeah. And so they don't allow them to? Yeah. I mean, this is so in cities. It's so bad. This is so bad. And so there's also legislation or there's also a lot of litigation around Paraquat and

Parkinson's. And so that's something that they want to have protection from so they can keep on polluting and making us sick. So it's urgent. And what's so tricky about it, and you know too because you've been working on this, what's so tricky is that they are doing it so quietly at the States, so day to day, hour to hour, we don't have much visibility into what's happening

because they're trying to trick us out of being able to have like a call campaign or like social media. By the time people are seeing our posts on social media, a lot of times like they change the date or they've already done it or whatever. So it's really brilliant on their part, but horrible for us. Yeah.

So this is why I wanted to do this podcast episode because there's so much nuance and I've been trying to share this in my stories and I wanted people to just have an episode where they can listen to all of it, absorb it all and then just be on high alert about it because we're in a little coalition of people, including Zen from Moms Across America and there's a lot of other amazing people that are involved in this. And we're basically on an email chain

and then getting like sending around emails and texts being like, okay, they're voting today. And then we get an email an hour later, okay, wait, no, now it's not on the docket. So basically, it's chaos. It's so chaos. I have to send out emails like, sorry, everyone. False alarm.

Oh, and there's another thing, too, that you told me about that people should also be aware of. So we're posting phone numbers and saying, call your senators. Call these people in different states, which, by the way, even if you're not in that state. I'm in Colorado, and I'm calling people in Georgia. It doesn't matter. You don't have to be in Georgia,

we just as Americans need to be sounding the alarm on this. But you also brought up a great point, because they keep changing it and saying they're gonna bring it out and then they didn't bring it out, if you call some of these people, they're not actually gonna maybe know what you're talking about, not all the time. That's so true.

And so then you're in the position of having to educate this and teach them about what this all the time. That's so true. And so then you're in the position of having to educate this and teach them about what this bill even is. And I mean, so that can take several calls, and that's why many people should get on the phone and call. And it's so true what you're saying about calling from other states, because for example, this isn't on the docket for California, because they're not going to get it in California. But there are tons of Californians that want to help. And so a lot of Californians that want to help. And so a lot of people are willing to call on behalf of Georgia or whatever it is. Yeah, well, because this is an American emergency right now.

This is once they get one in, like you said, there's a bigger possibility that they could pass this federally. And we don't want it at any state, but we definitely don't want it federally. We definitely don't. So any way that we can sound alarm on this, And we really, I mean, we don't want it at any state, but we definitely don't want it federally. We definitely don't. So any way that we can sound alarm on this, we have phone numbers for senators that you can call and we'll be posting periodically. So I want you all to make sure

that you're paying attention to follow Glyphosate Girl. I'm assuming if you're listening to this, you're probably following me. Anytime there's anything on the docket and anytime there's any way to call people, I'm just gonna start putting phone numbers in my stories. And also we'll leave some links in the show notes so that y'all can start raising hell.

I mean, let's just get a coalition of people that are calling and raising hell about this. Yes, because it works. And particularly the phone calls. And I mean, sometimes I've heard some feedback that people can be very rude when you call. They're like, I like this bill, which is so weird. That's so weird.

I mean, that person should be unseated. Yeah. Yeah. Well, and then you can say back, okay, so you like that our farmers and also our babies are getting poisoned by glyphosate and getting cancer? That's weird. Yep. That's a strange take.

That seems pretty logical. Strange take. Totally. Strange take. Okay. You love this bill. So that we can empower people when they call. So let's say someone calls and they get someone on the phone that's like,

I actually have no idea what you're talking about. What's maybe a little like elevator pitch that we could give them to say? Yeah, so what I say when I call is I say the name of the bill, I say vote no. And the bill number will change state to state. And I would say, you might not be aware, but this bill is actually not protecting our farmers and our communities. This bill is actually

stripping personal rights away from your state members and your constituency to be able to have recourse if you get sick from pesticides, from pesticides. And really that should be enough for them to be triggered. And the people that are aware of what happened with the vaccine immunity shield, there's also an immunity shield of some kind for 5G. So this is what these corporations do is they go in and they make sure that you just can't sue. And then that gives them free rein to pollute as much as they want and make it the most toxic version of whatever it is. Yeah. Well, because if they're not held liable, then they can literally do whatever they want with this stuff. Totally.

And they don't. And that's what's so insidious about this, is the whole reason that they're going for this liability shield in the first place is because they know that this is causing harm. Yes. They already know that this is causing harm. So instead of finding a different chemical

or finding a different way to farm, regeneratively, which is what we need to be doing, they're just doubling down and trying to get liability, or sorry, trying to get immunity from it so that they can't get sued, because they know. Yeah, they totally know. It's disgusting. And I had some hope, actually, that Bayer was going

to be sued so much by just a class action lawsuit that is on behalf of investors. And so I actually, years ago ago bought one share of Bear. Oh my God. Because I thought if one day there's a lawsuit, I want to be there. And so I got this call from, or I got a postcard actually from a bunch of banks

that are suing Bear for fraud. And I was like, great, I'm going to watch this and enjoy it. Yeah. Well, and what's so crazy, I want to mention this too for when people call. So this is something that they're doing. They're also putting billboards out in certain places, like I think in Georgia, right? And I think there's billboards in... I think in Missouri too. Yeah. And maybe Texas too.

Oh, I think you're right. Yeah. Someone saw it in Texas. So people are starting to DM me saying that Bayer's putting out these billboards saying that our farmers need glyphosate, that we need to protect the farmers. That could not be more backwards when you look at all these litigations that we just talked about. And I've talked about this on many podcasts, but I just want to remind you that protecting farmers means also protecting their health. And we are not protecting their health right now with glyphosate.

I mean, they are getting non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, all different forms of cancer, Parkinson's, infertility, Gabe Brown, the famous- Yeah, ALS. Yes, just got ALS from the pesticide exposure. He's a farmer, if you don't know who he is, he's a farmer who was in Kiss the Ground, Common Ground. He's well known for his regenerative farming and rebuilding his ranch regeneratively. He's amazing, and I would highly recommend go back and listening to the podcast with him. He got ALS from using the pesticides. So this is this is serious stuff here. This is not something that we can be playing around

with and I'm incredibly concerned about these farmers health. And the fact that these chemical companies are trying to say that they're protecting farmers and that also they're protecting our food supply. Well we're also eating that food that's getting sprayed with glyphosate. Totally. And it's also harming our health. We're also seeing infertility and rising rates in everyone right now. We're seeing cancer rise. We're seeing so many different conditions rise.

And a lot of those are being linked back to glyphosate. Yeah. So this is a huge emergency. This is an emergency. So have we gone over everything? I just want to make sure that this is a huge, this is an emergency. So have we gone over everything? I just wanna make sure that this is like really comprehensive, everybody understands. If you'll have any questions, please reach out to me,

reach out to Kelly, glyphosate girl, I'll have her linked in the show notes. And yeah, I guess we'll just keep you updated. And there's a way to, if you are interested, come to my site and up in my bio, you can sign a form and you put your name, your email, and your state. And then I can send you targeted emails when your state comes up.

Oh, this is another one that we should talk about really quickly. If anyone actually wants to be involved on a state level, and if they're able to make it to like the court hearings, they can do that, right? Yeah, and a lot of times in these court hearings, they'll ask for members of the public to make comment. And so sometimes you don't know well in advance,

but occasionally you do, and that happened one time recently in Montana. And I know there's so many people that would have loved to have spoken, but it was just so last second. So that makes a big, big impact because I promise you, as was the case in Montana, Bayer makes sure tons of people are there,

and they sound very official and very knowledgeable and they always send in farmers who say, oh yeah, well it doesn't cause cancer, look, I'm fine. Wow. I mean, terrible. Wow. They're like, yeah, it does look fine. You're selling out all your fellow farmers here.

Well, and talk to some of those farmers in 10 years, five years. Right, totally. Well, and you know what's interesting is I went and had a big sit down one time in Iowa with a bunch of farmers during harvest And I was just very cautiously asking about Roundup And I was like well, are you concerned that this causes cancer and they're like, oh, I mean my whole family's had cancer

But it's not because of Roundup No way that's really sad And so it's so sad because they have this deep deep trust in the EPA and of course if course, if you start looking, you're like, oh, you really shouldn't, you shouldn't trust anything that comes out of there at this point. Exactly. Yeah. No, it's all corrupt and it's all being, they're lobbying in Washington. It's all being paid by these agrochemical companies to keep this all secret.

So sad. It's really sad. I mean, it's incredibly heartbreaking. Okay. So if y'all are wanting to get involved on a state level, especially if you're in Georgia, so what are the main states that we're worried about right now? Obviously, Georgia. Georgia.

Missouri is a big one. Florida is coming up. I can imagine that actually Florida will do OK, though, because we have a lot of people out there that don't like this kind of thing. Utah, or actually Utah might be, but Iowa is a big one. They have a pretty big coalition there, but any extra voices are great there too. Well, I can imagine in Iowa there's a big farming community there.

So there's probably a lot of agro. It's just rampant there. It's terrible. That's so sad. And pediatric cancer too, which is so sad. Oh God. Well, because it's getting, this is the other thing y'all, is that it's getting into the water systems.

It's showing up in our rain, it's all in our soil. I mean, it's so ubiquitous now, it's affecting everyone. This is why this is such an emergency. It really is. So yeah, no matter where you live, just to protect your fellow Americans, it's a really important thing, and particularly our farmers that we depend on and are just trying to do their best. And also, we shouldn't let these large corporations win.

Large corporations that are knowingly poisoning humans for profit, they don't care about human health. All these billboards that they're putting up saying, we care about farmers, we're protecting farmers, we're worried about feeding you, that is all BS. It's totally BS. And we should not let them win. We should not let them win. It's not the truth.

They are wrong. Exactly. It's not the truth. They're evil. And this is like right versus wrong. And anyone that's paying attention to this and concerned, I feel like we have an obligation for our fellow humans to protect and help them. Yes, absolutely.

Yeah. Okay. Well, please. Well, we'll put it all in the show notes. But so I guess we've shouted everything out already. But if there's anything else you feel like people need to know. I think this is just the priority right now. And we'll push through it.

I think that in the next few months, we'll see if anything passes. And then we'll refocus on federal level issues, because they'll come there too. Yeah. Yeah. OK, so we will, of course, keep you all updated on this. Maybe we'll do another podcast in a couple of months months depending on where everything is and what's going on. Like I

said, DM us if you have any questions. Go to Kelly's website, sign up, especially if you're in those states that she mentioned, because you could have an opportunity. I get so many questions from people all the time. How can I get involved? Put me in coach. This is how you get involved, especially if you're in those states that we're incredibly concerned about. Go sign up, get on her email list, and then she'll send you updates and let you know when they're voting on certain things. And maybe you can show up in court and make some comments, which would be amazing. Yes.

Awesome. More voices better. Yes. Okay. Awesome. Thank you all so much. And go make those calls and give them hell. That's right.

Thank you. Thanks, guys. Thank you so much for listening to the Real Foodology Podcast. This is a Wellness Loud production produced by Drake Peterson and mixed by Mike Fry. Theme song is by Georgie. You can watch the full video version of this podcast inside the Spotify app or on YouTube. As always, you can leave us a voicemail by clicking the link in our bio. And if you like this episode, please rate and review on your podcast app.

For more shows by my team, go to wellnessloud.com. See you next time. The content of this show is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for individual medical and mental health advice and doesn't constitute a provider-patient relationship. I am a nutritionist but I am not your nutritionist. As always talk to your doctor or your health team first.