The constant refrain of the pro-GMO crowd (which consists of a large number of paid “astroturfers” who distort public opinion in the comments section) is that Monsanto is on the side of “science” while the millions of people worldwide who question GMOs are “anti-science.”

And yet time and time again we see that some of the top scientific minds in the United States are silenced whenever they question the dominant paradigm within the government that GMOs and bee-killing pesticides are “safe.”

That same situation appears to be playing itself out again in the case of Jonathan Lundgren, a South Dakota entomologist with the USDA who is now charging that he was punished for revealing crucial scientific findings that did not mesh with the official USDA opinion on GMOs and pesticides.

Lundgren Literally Pulled Off Plane Before GMO Presentation

The story of Lundgren is now picking up steam across alternative media, but a quick Google search reveals that most mainstream media sources have not touched it, aside from the Washington Post.

But this recent article in The Atlantic offers an arresting, in-depth look at what’s really going on inside the USDA in regards to the Lundgren case and their silencing of scientists.

“There’s a message: If you want to prosper at USDA, don’t make waves,” says Jeff Ruch, the executive director of the watchdog group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. “When you do what Jonathan is doing, you do so at your own peril.”

PEER is the organization that filed the initial whistleblower complaint on behalf of Lundgren, who has alleged that the USDA has punished him over minor transgressions that are really more about silencing him and his ground-breaking science on GMOs and pesticides than anything else. Lundgren has described how clothianidin, a type of neonicotinoid (seed treated with poisons, and a big moneymaker for agrochemical companies like Monsanto), is harmful to monarch butterflies.

He also has been critical of Monsanto’s genetic modification techniques in speaking with journalists and was literally stopped right before boarding a plane before he went to give a talk on GMOs. For more on Lundgren’s story check out the full article from The Atlantic by clicking on this link.

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Nick Meyer writes for March Against Monsanto and the website AltHealthWorks.