Glyphosate, GMOs and Why You Should Eat Organic.

I found this article on Yahoo today. Glyphosate, the most highly used herbicide (it's actually an insecticide as well) in the world has somehow been able to skip EPA regulations that other pesticides and herbicides have to pass. Consumer food products are routinely tested for residue of pesticides and herbicides. This includes all types of food not just produce. But for all the years glyphosate has been in use, foods have never been tested for glyphosate residue until now. Hmmmmm. Monsanto makes $5 billion a year from the sales of glyphosate and glyphosate products. Of course they don't want food to be tested for this known carcinogen because it is so heavily used that it's in everything! They have gone so far to protect their profit from this poison that they now have there former lawyer, Micheal Taylor, working in the FDA. and not just any spot in the FDA, he is the Food safety Czar, the Deputy Commissioner for Foods. But don't worry folks there is no conflict of interest here?

Why is glyphosate so heavily used? One reason is because it is used to desiccate grain and legume crops so they can be harvested without having to wait for them to dry out. About 2 weeks before harvest the crops are sprayed with glysophate in order to kill them so they will dry out.. But the largest use of glyphosate is for weed killing measures and is the number one reason crops are genetically modified. They are genetically modified to be immune to the spraying of glyphosate. All the weeds die and the crop remains. They promised it would result in less herbicides being used but in fact the opposite has happened and it is used now more than ever. There are now even weeds (they call them super weeds) that have adapted and glyphosate no longer effects them. So what's next,. stronger herbicide like Dicambia. Thats Monsanto's latest and greatest to fight super weeds. Dicambia drifts when it is sprayed and has resulted in the loss of crops across the country.

Despite the fact that the U.S. set the daily acceptable intake of glyphosate at 1.75 milligrams per kilogram, an extremely high amount especially when you consider that the European Union only allows 0.3, they had to halt the testing last week.

Here is just a sample of what they found.

• General Mills' Cheerios at 1,125.3 parts per billion (ppb)

• Kashi soft-baked oatmeal dark chocolate cookies at 275.57 ppb

• Ritz Crackers at 270.24 ppb

Now consider that  "new research shows that Roundup can cause liver and kidney damage in rats at only 0.05 ppb" http://www.ecowatch.com/monsanto-glyphosate-cheerios-2093130379.html

""With increasing evidence from a growing number of independent peer-reviewed studies from around the world showing that the ingestion of glyphosate-based herbicides like Roundup can result in a wide range of chronic illnesses, it's urgent that regulators at the EPA reconsider the allowed levels of glyphosate in American's food and work to limit continued exposure to this pervasive chemical in as large a section of the human population as possible," Dr. Michael Antoniou, a molecular geneticist from London, UK, said in reaction to the report released Monday." http://www.ecowatch.com/monsanto-glyphosate-cheerios-2093130379.html

Monsanto and the other giant agribusinesses can deny it all they want but the evidence is stacking up against them.

"Glyphosate has come under increased scrutiny in the past year. Last year the World Health Organization's cancer group, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, classified it as a probable carcinogen. The state of California has also moved to classify the herbicide as a probable carcinogen. A growing body of research is documenting health concerns of glyphosate as an endocrine disruptor and that it kills beneficial gut bacteria, damages the DNA in human embryonic, placental and umbilical cord cells and is linked to birth defects and reproductive problems in laboratory animals." http://www.ecowatch.com/why-is-glyphosate-sprayed-on-crops-right-before-harvest-1882187755.html

The food in the grocery store is not what it use to be. It is so important for your health and the health of your family and future generations that we make responsible choices when it comes to the food we eat. Choose organic. Look for the Non-GMO Project Verified seal. Know where you food comes from and the farmer that raised it.  What are their growing practice? Are GMOs part of their operation? Say no to GMOs now because the more that they are established, the harder it is going to be to get rid of them later.

Read this article and do your own research on the harmful effects of GMOs and glyphosate. A good starting point is our GMO page.

Eat organic, eat local, and know where your food comes from.


Jaci