Yep, Roundup Causes Cancer. Monsanto is Literally Killing Your Children

Thinking about getting rid of those spring weeds in your yard before they get well-established? Go with plain white vinegar.

Think Progress:

The most popular weed-killer in the United States — and possibly the world — “probably” causes cancer, according to a new report from the World Health Organization (WHO).

Published Thursday in the journal The Lancet Oncology, the report focuses on a chemical called glyphosate, invented by Monsanto back in 1974 as a broad-spectrum herbicide. It’s the active ingredient in Roundup, a popular product used mostly in commercial agriculture production. Roundup is particularly good for genetically modified crops, which can be bred to resist damage from the product while it kills the weeds surrounding it.

In the U.S., glyphosate is not considered carcinogenic. The Environmental Protection Agency’s current position is that “there is inadequate evidence to state whether or not glyphosate has the potential to cause cancer from a lifetime exposure in drinking water.” In the wake of Thursday’s report, however, the EPA said it “would consider” the U.N. agency’s findings.

The new report, crafted by the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), puts glyphosate at the second-highest level of the agency’s classifications for cancer. There are four classifications for things that could cause cancer: known carcinogens, probable or possible carcinogens, not classifiable, and probably not carcinogenic. It noted that glyphosate has been detected in the blood and urine of agricultural workers, indicating that it is absorbed by the human body.

The next week,  EPA announced it would regulate glyphosphate.  That doesn't mean Roundup is safe; it means the EPA will spend the next 20 years writing rules that will reduce the amount of glyphosphate in Roundup to the exact amount that is still lethal to children and other living things, but is cut enough to give Monsanto justification to piss and moan and bitch about Big Gubmint killing free enterprise and JERBS.

And the week after that:

An employee of Monsanto admitted there is a department to discredit any scientist opposed to them.

 The Roundup Hit Squad.

Deadly W.VA Chemical Spill Hits Ohio River; Threatens Water Systems for Three Million People

You can't escape pollution, no matter how far away it begins. Eventually, it comes for you, too.

Bill Estep at the Herald:

Two Kentucky water systems temporarily shut down their intakes early Monday as a plume of the chemical spilled last week in West Virginia passed in the Ohio River.

The cities of Ashland and Russell stopped drawing water from the Ohio after the chemical — 4-methycyclohexane methanol, or MCHM — reached Ashland at 5:30 a.m., according to the Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection.
 
The level of the chemical at Ashland was 0.023 parts per million, according to the state. That is well below the level of 1 ppm that the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reportedly told West Virginia officials would be an acceptable level in drinking water.

The Ohio River is 981 miles long, from Pittsburgh to Paducah. It touches six state and provides drinking water for three million people. And that's before it joins the Mississippi River.

EPA OKs Monsanto Poisoning All Your Food

From Firedoglake:

“The EPA, whose mission is . . . ‘to protect human health and the environment,’ has approved Monsanto’s request to allow levels of glyphosate (Roundup) contamination in your food up to a million times higher than have been found carcinogenic.”

Terrorist Insects and the Poisoning of Western Kentucky

If you live in Western Kentucky, get the fuck out of there this weekend, and take all your animals with you, while waiving bye-bye to your vegetable garden. I mean it. Ag Commissioner Jaime Comer has declared mosquitos a terrorist threat beside which Al Qaeda pales in comparison, and he's gonna poison those motherfuckers to death.

No matter how many human beings get poisoned, too.

How do I know he's using a poison that will harm people? Because he's refusing to name it.

From the press release:

Agriculture Commissioner James Comer said the Kentucky Department of Agriculture will commit resources to conduct aerial mosquito control applications around Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley in an effort to knock down a significant infestation caused by heavy rains in the area. Department officials met with representatives of Gov. Steve Beshear’s administration last week, and the group put together a plan to address the problem.

“This infestation is beyond the capability of the Kentucky Department of Agriculture to control from the ground,” Comer said. “This is a serious problem for our friends in western Kentucky, and we want them to know that help is on the way.”

SNIP

As a result of the entomologist’s report, the Department of Agriculture will work with private contractors — Clarke, a global environmental products and services company based in Roselle, Ill., and Dynamic Aviation of Bridgewater, Va. — to spray an area within two miles around the lakes between the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers to the north and U.S. 68 to the south. The total area to be treated is approximately 133,249 acres. Product will be applied at a rate of 0.8 ounce per acre.

"Product." Might we know the name of this "product." No. Its active ingredients? No.  The information on its Material Data Sheet supplied to emergency response teams regarding its toxicity and danger of exposure? NO.

No special precautions are necessary during the application, according to Clarke, but the company encourages residents with individual health concerns to contact their healthcare providers.

Like I said, Get. Out. Of. There.

SNIP

Comer will appear at a town hall meeting in Trigg County next week to discuss the department’s plan and answer questions from the public. Roger Thomas with the Governor’s Office of Agricultural Policy and numerous other state and local officials also will attend. The meeting will take place on July 2 at 9 a.m. CDT at the Renaissance Center in Cadiz.

HAHAHAHAHA. The spraying begins Jun 29!  Day after tomorrow! Three days BEFORE this meeting, at which the public will have no questions because it will be Too. Fucking. Late.

Wonder why in 10 grafs Comer found plenty of room for specious claims about the pesticide's safety, but not room for a single word - the name of the pesticide.  Could it be because it's this one?

In our focus on energy, let’s not forget the joy of pesticides. Certainly people in Wilsonville, Oregon won’t forget:

Target shoppers in Wilsonville, Oregon found a tragedy in the parking lot as tens of thousands of of bumble bees were found dead and dying on the pavement, along with honey bees and ladybugs. Shoppers notified Rich Hatfield, a conservation biologist with the Portland-based Xerces Society of Invertebrate Conservation, who went to the scene to investigate.

Oregon officials say preliminary results point to an insecticide that was used on the nearby European Linden trees. The trees were sprayed with a pesticide called Safari to kill aphids, an insect that destroys plants and vegetation. Safari is part of a group of pesticides called neonicotinoids that are known to kill pollinators such as bumblebees, Associated Press reports. The investigation is still under way. If the pesticide is the confirmed cause and it wasn’t used according to the label instructions, civil penalties could be handed down ranging from $1,000 to $10,000 per violation for gross negligence or willful misconduct, Dale Mitchell, program manager in the Agriculture Department’s pesticide compliance and enforcement section, told AP.

Why is this pesticide even legal? But hey, I’m sure that a pesticide that kills 50,000 bees has no effect on humans. So. Much. Confidence.

Fifty years ago, Rachel Carson, the author of Silent Spring, referred to pesticides and herbicides as biocides, literally "life-killer," because they kill living things.

If you're a living thing, stay the fuck out of Western Kentucky this weekend. 

Roundup Found Poisonous: It's the Year to Go Organic

If you're still using pesticides and herbicides from chemical killers like Monsanto and Dow, doing business as Ortho, stop right now for the sake of your health and life.

Firedoglake:

A French court in Lyon “ruled that Monsanto’s Lasso weedkiller formula . . . caused [farmer] Paul Francois to develop lifelong neurological damage”.   Compensation to be established.

And from Nation of Change:

A new review of hundreds of scientific studies surrounding glyphosate—the major component of Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide—sheds light on its effects within the human body. The paper describes how all of these effects could work together, and with other variables, trigger health problems in humans, including debilitating diseases like gastrointestinal disorders, diabetes, heart disease, obesity, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease.
Glyphosate impairs the cytochrome P450 (CYP) gene pathway, which creates enzymes that help to form and also break down molecules in cells. There are myriad important CYP enzymes, including aromatase (the enzyme that converts androgen into estrogen) and 21-Hydroxylase, which creates cortisol (stress hormone) and aldosterone (regulates blood pressure). One function of these CYP enzymes is also to detoxify xenobiotics, which are foreign chemicals like drugs, carcinogens or pesticides. Glyphosate inhibits these CYP enzymes, which has rippling effects throughout our body.

Because the CYP pathway is essential for normal functioning of various systems in our bodies, any small change in its expression can lead to disruptions. For example, humans exposed to glyphosate have decreased levels of the amino acid tryptophan, which is necessary for active signaling of the neurotransmitter serotonin. Suppressed serotonin levels have been associated with weight gain, depression and Alzheimer’s disease. This paper does not claim to yield new scientific discoveries. Instead, it looks at older studies in a new light. Critics will say the links between glyphosate and health problems made in this paper are purely correlational, but this work is important because it brings all of the possible health effects of glyphosate together and discusses what could happen: something the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Food and Drug Administration have failed to do.

Just as Monsanto attempted to discredit scientist Gilles-Eric Seralini’s study on rats fed genetically engineered corn, the company called this peer-reviewed journal article “another bogus study” due to its “bad science.” In a classic pot-calling-the-kettle-black scenario, what Monsanto doesn’t mention is that the majority of research showing glyphosate’s safety has been done by Monsanto itself, which could be called bad science as well due to its limited and biased nature.

The authors of the new review call for more independent research to validate their findings, stating that “glyphosate is likely to be pervasive in our food supply, and contrary to being essentially nontoxic, it may in fact be the most biologically disruptive chemical in our environment.” If the body of independent research on GE foods and the herbicides used with them shows one thing, it is that there are unanswered questions begging for unbiased research. And while these questions remain unanswered, Americans have the right to know how their food was produced.

 Going organic takes more initial time and effort, but from the very beginning it's far cheaper than using synthetic chemicals.  And after the first establishing year, it takes even less time and effort than it does money. Find out how to get started here.

Corporate Terrorism, April 17, 2013: 15 Dead, 200 Wounded, Hundreds Homeless

Why are this company's executives not in jail charged with 14 counts of felony homicide?

Because it's Texas, where Bidness Rulz and the rest of you are disposable.

Waco Tribune, on the terror captured in 911 calls:

Less than five minutes after the first explosion call, dispatchers also knew West’s own emergency resources were severely hampered.

“Listen to me, my ambulance station just completely exploded,” a West EMS supervisor can be heard saying on one call. “I’ve got a nursing home and an ambulance station and an air evac. I need as many ... trucks as you can send this way.”

“The roof completely collapsed on the building. I’m doing a walk through now. I think we got everybody out,” he said. “I don’t have radio communications, I have lost my repeater.”

The blast left the city with one functioning ambulance.

An EMT training class was in the building that evening. The trainees already had passed their practical exam, so they left the class to go help, said Dr. George Smith, West EMS’s medical director.

Four of the 18 in that class died. “Every one of them were friends of mine,” Smith saiid.

Waco Tribune, on the plant's secret explosives:

He said ammonium nitrate can become highly explosive at the temperatures that might be found in a building fire, and it would be dangerous for firefighters to attack it at close range.

“I think if they had known there was (ammonium nitrate) fertilizer there, the best protocol was to get away,” he said.

Several volunteer firefighters still are missing after the explosion.

Yeah, they're dead, along with an off-duty captain from a professional fire department in Dallas.

West Fertilizer Co. owner Don Adair and general manager Ted Uptmore of West did not return calls Thursday. They were not injured in the blast

Of course they weren't. Which is why we have the death penalty.

Waco Tribune, on the damage:

Only three of 157 homes in West that were in the zone closest to the explosion site have been deemed safe by building inspectors, West City Council members were told Thursday.

 This. Is. A. Crime. Not an accident. Not an incident. Not the price we pay for abundant food.

A Crime. For which the company executives who lied to federal and state regulators about the danger the plant posed and the Texas state executives like Gov. Rick Perry who gutted the state regulatory system should pay with their lives.

After they cough up every dime they've ever made.

"Big Government" Saving Kentuckians' Ass. Again.

It's not Superstorm Sandy, but a train derailment, explosion and fire near Louisville is demonstrating the same critical role of Big Government's dedicated public employees in keeping us all safe.

Bruce Schreiner and Dylan Lovan of the AP:

The blaze that authorities initially said would end in a couple of hours instead spewed flames and smoke from a derailed tanker car for a second day Thursday with no end in sight, as crews scrambled to prevent it from igniting railcars loaded with toxic chemicals nearby.

Hundreds of people have had to evacuate, including the entire town of West Point and some people from nearby Louisville. The burning butadiene, a chemical commonly found in rubber used to make tires, can damage the central nervous system and reproductive system. Workers were hosing down other railcars nearby filled with another corrosive chemical, hydrogen fluoride, which can cause severe respiratory damage.

All the water used to keep those cars cool, however, raised fears that the water could become contaminated and wash into the confluence of the Salt and Ohio rivers. The Environmental Protection Agency was monitoring water quality and quickly erecting a dam to keep out contaminated water.

"This is as bad as it gets as far as a haz-mat incident, if it were to be released," said Art Smith, an emergency coordinator with the EPA.

 The Courier has full coverage here.  (Scroll down for links to earlier stories.)

d more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2012/11/02/2393492/train-wreck-creating-haz-mat-danger.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2012/11/02/2393492/train-wreck-creating-haz-mat-danger.html#storylink=cpy

Toxic Lies Monsanto Tells Kids

This is actually an old technique. Ever since scientists like Rachel Carson started exposing the truth about toxic chemicals killing birds, animals and people, corporations that make those toxic chemicals have been lying to schoolchildren about it.

Ronnie Cummins of Alternet, via Nation of Change:

It's not enough that the biotech industry -- led by multinational corporations such as Monsanto, Dow, Syngenta, BAS, and Dupont -- is poisoning our food and our planet. It's also poisoning young minds.

In a blatant attempt at brainwashing, the Council for Biotechnology Information (CBI) has widely circulated what it calls a Biotechnology Basics Activity Book for kids, to be used by "Agriculture and Science Teachers." The book -- called Look Closer at Biotechnology -- looks like a science workbook, but reads more like a fairy tale. Available on the council's Web site, its colorful pages are full of friendly cartoon faces, puzzles, helpful hints for teachers -- and a heavy dose of outright lies about the likely effects of genetic engineering on health, the environment, world hunger and the future of farming.

CBI's lies are designed specifically for children, and intended for use in classrooms.

At a critical time in history when our planet is veering toward a meltdown, when our youth are suffering the health consequences (obesity, diabetes, allergies) of Big Ag and Food Inc.'s over-processed, fat-and sugar-laden, chemical-, and GMO-tainted foods, a time when we should be educating tomorrow's adults about how to reverse climate change, how to create sustainable farming communities, how to promote better nutrition, the biotech industry's propagandists are infiltrating classrooms with misinformation in the guise of "educational" materials.

Read the whole thing.

Still wondering how we came to be suddenly surrounded by gravity-deniers like Michele Bachmann who don't understand basic science or math? They all got their anti-facts and un-logic from corporate propaganda instead of textbooks.

That's why you should care deeply about what the kids in your local schools - especially the private and corporate-run "charter" ones - are being taught, even if you don't have kids of your own. They're the Future Morons of America.

The Worst Company on the Planet

Lots of competition for this one, but Nation of Change makes a hell of a case:

The multinational biotech giant MONSANTO is the world’s leading producer of genetically modified seeds and crops, responsible for 90 percent of the genetically engineered seed on the United States market.

Researchers found that consumption of GMO corn or soybeans may lead to significant organ disruptions in rats and mice – particularly in the liver and kidneys. [1]

Monsanto, the company that brought the world Agent Orange, is also the creator of the best-selling herbicide Roundup, which has spawned over 120 million hectacres of herbicide-resistant superweeds while damaging massive amounts of soil. [2]

Monsanto has created several varieties of “superbugs”. Monsanto engineered genetically modified crops containing Bt, a toxin incorporated in GMO crops which has spawned insect populations which are resistant to the biopesticide. Insect populations have and are mutating to resist the biopesticide. So far at least 8 insect populations have developed resistance, with 2 populations resistant to Bt sprays and at least 6 species resistant to Bt crops as a whole. Farmers are therefore forced to use even more pesticides to combat the resistant bugs. [3]

Monsanto may be destroying the planet’s soil. Certain bacteria essential as "food-starters," such as L cremoris, used in raw and fermented dairy products have begun to disappear in certain geographic regions. The cause has been found to be an element of Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide, glyphosate which is destroying and/or altering the microbial biodiversity of the soil, jeopardizing the fertility of the entire biosphere. [4]

Monsanto has been caught running “slave-like” rings, holding off pay and forcing undocumented workers to buy their food only from the Monsanto company store. The company not only ‘hired’ all of the workers illegally, but prevented them from leaving the farm premises and withheld their salaries. [5]

Monsanto effectively owns most US diplomats, and is currently using this political capital to start “Trade Wars” against Nations Opposed to Monsanto’s destructive policies. [6] France, Hungary, and Peru are a few of the countries that have decided stand up to Monsanto with Hungary going as far as destroying 1000 acres of maize found to have been grown with GMOs. Peru has passed a monumental 10 year ban on modified foods and French legislatures are planning to launch new restrictions regarding the use of Monsanto’s 810 maize on French soil. [7]

Monsanto poses one of the greatest threats on the planet to human health and the environment.

It doesn't get more fundamental than food safety, except for clean water. But I'm sure Monsanto has a plan for cornering that market and poisoning it, too.

Deadline Friday to Tell the USDA: No Agent Orange Crops

By email from Eric Schlosser and Gary Hirschberg:

We only have until FRIDAY to contact the USDA about this new type of corn genetically engineered to withstand 2,4-D herbicide, which some studies have shown may be linked to several forms of cancer. Over 50,000 of you have contacted the USDA, but if we want them to listen, we need to inundate them with even more comments.

We should be able to decide for ourselves what to feed our families. But if the USDA approves this new corn, we won't be able to make that choice since genetically engineered foods aren't labeled.

Contact the USDA today!

SNIP

Although we might not all agree on the science concerning the long-term effects of eating genetically engineered foods, we can all agree that everyone should be able to decide for themselves whether to eat them. And that's why we should proceed with caution when approving new unlabeled GMO crops like 2,4-D corn.

Along with the new GM salmon, one of the most disturbing new species under review is a type of corn genetically engineered to withstand 2,4-D -- an herbicide that some studies have shown may be linked to major health problems including reproductive abnormalities, birth defects, and several forms of cancer.

Approval of Dow Chemical's genetically engineered corn would trigger an increase in 2,4-D use and our exposure to this herbicide. Yet the USDA has not analyzed the resulting impacts on public health, the environment, or neighboring farmers. Do you want to take the risk?

Urge the USDA to reject the genetically engineered 2,4-D resistant corn until these impacts are addressed:
http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/o/50202/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=7574

The herbicide 2,4-D is a persistent chemical with a habit of moving around in the environment. It presents a risk to our drinking water, food, pets, and backyard gardens. A growing number of farmers are concerned about the potential impact on their crops from the herbicide drifting onto their fields.

We know you care about the food you eat -- that's why you asked the FDA to label genetically engineered ingredients. Before the USDA makes a decision on 2,4-D resistant corn, they want to hear from people like us. But they're only accepting comments from the public for a short period of time!

Help flood the USDA comment box before it's too late:
http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/o/50202/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=7574

Can't Escape Monsanto's Poison

Wonder what happened to all the butterflies? They've been Roundup-ed.

Mike Barrett at Truthout:

Monsanto’s Roundup, containing the active ingredient glyphosate, has been tied to more health and environmental problems than you could imagine. Similar to how pesticides have been contributing to the bee decline, Monsanto’s Roundup has been tied to the decrease in the population of monarch butterflies by killing the very plants that the butterflies rely on for habitat and food. What’s been shown to be an even greater threat to the population, though, is Monsanto’s Roundup Ready corn and soybeans.

A 2011 study published in the journal Insect Conservation and Diversity found that increasing acreage of genetically modified Roundup Ready corn and soybeans is heavily contributing to the decline in monarch butterfly populations within North America. Milkweed, a plant butterflies rely on for habitat and food, is being destroyed by the heavy use of glyphosate-based pesticides and Roundup Ready crops. Over the past 17 years, the monarch butterfly population in central Mexico has declined, reaching an all-time low in 2009-2010.

“This milkweed has disappeared from at least 100 million acres of these row crops,” said Dr. Taylor, an insect ecologist at the University of Kansas and director of the research and conservation program Monarch Watch. “Your milkweed is virtually gone…this [glyphosate use on RR crops] is the one main factor that has happened…you look at parts of the Midwest where there is a tremendous use of these crops and you see monarch populations dropping. It’s hard to deny the conclusion.”

According to the Department of Agriculture, in 2011 94 percent of soybeans and 72 percent of corn grown in the United States were herbicide-tolerant. Due to this increase, the amount of Roundup used on crops in 2007 was 5 times higher than in 1997, only one year after Roundup Ready crops were available.

Another study published int he journal Crop Protection and conducted by Robert G Hartzler, an agronomist at Iowa State, found that milkweed on farms in Iowa declined 90 percent from 1999 to 2009. Additionally, his study found milkweed only on 8 percent of corn and soybean fields surveyed in 2009, which is 51 percent lower than in 1999.

Although the butterfly population may be suffering, humans are taking heat from Monsanto’s creations as well. Past research has shown that Monsanto’s Roundup ready crops are leading to mental illness and obesity, primarily by destroying the amount of good bacteria found in the gut. The corporation’s Roundup, containing glyphosate, has also been shown to cause infertility and birth defects.

Glyphosate is so present today that it has been found to be polluting the world’s drinking water through the widespread contamination of aquifers, wells, and springs. What may be most shocking is that very high concentrations of glyphosate have been found in 100 percent of urine samples tested in a recent study.

Find options here.

How Civilized Nations Deal With Criminal Corporations

Yes, there are nations where corporations do not own the political process, and they can be held accountable for their criminal behavior.

Anthony Gucciardi at Truthout:

In a major victory for public health and what will hopefully lead to other nations taking action, a French court decided today that GMO crops monster Monsanto is guilty of chemically poisoning a French farmer. The grain grower, Paul Francois, says he developed neurological problems such as memory loss and headaches after being exposed to Monsanto’s Lasso weedkiller back in 2004. The monumental case paves the way for legal action against Monsanto’s Roundup and other harmful herbicides and pesticides made by other manufacturers.

In a ruling given by a court in Lyon (southeast France), Francois says that Monsanto failed to provide proper warnings on the product label. The court ordered an expert opinion to determine the sum of the damages, and to verify the link between Lasso and the reported illnesses. The case is extremely important, as previous legal action taken against Monsanto by farmers has failed due to the challenge of properly linking pesticide exposure with the experienced side effects.

When contacted by Reuters, Monsanto’s lawyers declined to comment.

SNIP

Francois, whose life was damaged by Monsanto’s products, has now set the powerful precedent in the defense of farmers.

“I am alive today, but part of the farming population is going to be sacrificed and is going to die because of this,” Francois, 47, told Reuters.

It is also important to note that Monsanto’s Lasso pesticide was actually banned in France back in 2007 following a European Union directive that came after the ban of the product in other nations.

No word on what criminal sanctions Monsanto will suffer, but I hope "criminally poisoning" carries more than a fine.

By contrast, here is how American judges deal with Monsanto's criminal attacks on farmers:

Her ruling to dismiss the case brought against Monsanto on behalf of organic farmers, seed growers and agricultural organizations representing farmers and citizens was met with great disappointment by the plaintiffs.

Plaintiff lead attorney Daniel Ravicher said, "While I have great respect for Judge Buchwald, her decision to deny farmers the right to seek legal protection from one of the world's foremost patent bullies is gravely disappointing. Her belief that farmers are acting unreasonable when they stop growing certain crops to avoid being sued by Monsanto for patent infringement should their crops become contaminated maligns the intelligence and integrity of those farmers."

To the injury of contaminating the world's food supply with Frankenfood genes, and eliminating the ability of farmers to grow new crops from saved seed, Monsanto is adding the insult of suing farmers who object to to Monsanto stealing their livelihood.

And the Constitutional abomination of American judges who take Monsanto's side.

Racing Backwards on Protecting the Food Supply

To the long list of 20th-century liberal achievements making progress toward equality and liberation of race, sex and income that repugs are rapidly reversing, you can add protecting health and safety.

Yes, now giant corporations are demanding the right to bring back deadly poisons that were permanently banned decades ago.

From Richard Schiffman at Truthout:

In a match that some would say was made in hell, the nation's two leading producers of agrochemicals have joined forces in a partnership to reintroduce the use of the herbicide 2,4-D, one half of the infamous defoliant Agent Orange, which was used by American forces to clear jungle during the Vietnam War. These two biotech giants have developed a weed management program that, if successful, would go a long way toward a predicted doubling of harmful herbicide use in America's corn belt during the next decade.

The problem for corn farmers is that "superweeds" have been developing resistance to America's best-selling herbicide Roundup, which is being sprayed on millions of acres in the Midwest and elsewhere. Dow Agrosciences has developed a strain of corn that it says will solve the problem. The new genetically modified variety can tolerate 2,4-D, which will kill off the Roundup-resistant weeds, but leave the corn standing. Farmers who opt into this system will be required to double-dose their fields with a deadly cocktail of Roundup plus 2,4-D, both of which are manufactured by Monsanto.

But this plan has alarmed environmentalists and also many farmers, who are reluctant to reintroduce a chemical whose toxicity has been well established. The use of 2,4-D is banned in several European countries and provinces of Canada. The substance is a suspected carcinogen, which has been shown to double the incidence of birth defects in the children of pesticide applicators in a study conducted by University of Minnesota pathologist Vincent Garry.

SNIP

Some agricultural scientists advocate developing a system of integrated weed management to replace the unsustainable use of chemicals. But the big agrochemical companies have no interest in supporting the sustainable agriculture that would put them out of business. So long as there are billions of dollars to be made in selling herbicide and herbicide-resistant genetically modified seed, there won't be much research money available to explore the natural alternatives to the destruction of our nation's heartland.

It is misleading to call non-chemical methods of fertilization and weed/pest control "alternatives" to Monsanto and Dow's deadly cocktails, because chemical additives do not benefit crop growth in any way. They destroy healthy soil, weaken plants and poison the natural systems that strengthen and protect plants.

Chemical farming is not an effective system with toxic side effects that we just have to live with; chemical farming is a massive, lethal failure that poisons the very food supply it purports to benefit.