Articles by Staff Writer Ayurella Horn-Muller

Ayurella Horn-Muller is a staff writer at Grist, where she covers food and agriculture. Prior to that, she reported for Axios and Climate Central, and produced broadcast news at WPLG. Her reporting has won multiple honors from the Society of Professional Journalists and the Green Eyeshade Awards and she has completed media fellowships with the Society of Environmental Journalists, Metcalf Institute, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and Oregon State University. She is the author of Devoured: The Extraordinary Story of Kudzu, the Vine That Ate the South.

Ayurella Horn-Muller Headshot srcset="https://grist.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/grey-square.png?quality=75&strip=all

Featured Article

The Supreme Court is deciding whether Roundup, America’s most-used herbicide, needs a cancer warning

Ayurella Horn-Muller Food and Agriculture

Since 2018, when it bought the chemical manufacturer Monsanto, the German conglomerate Bayer has set aside billions to settle legal claims that the active ingredient in the company’s weedkiller Roundup has caused cancer and other health issues among its users. More than 100,000 plaintiffs across the U.S. have filed lawsuits alleging a cancer link, and in February, the company agreed to settle a class action lawsuit for $7.25 billion.

Last week, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in one case that didn’t reach a settlement. John Durnell first sued Monsanto in 2019, arguing that he developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma because of persistent exposure to glyphosate in Roundup, which he had regularly sprayed throughout his neighborhood for 20 years. In 2023, a Missouri jury found Monsanto liable for failing to warn users of the cancer risk from glyphosate, and awarded Durnell $1.25 million in damages. The company has denied the claims and issued a series of appeals ever since.

Under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act — known as FIFRA — the Environmenta... Read more

Ayurella Horn-Muller Food and Agriculture

All Articles