Concerned citizens from environmental and food safety groups gave formal notice of intent to sue to the Environmental Protection Agency for approving a toxic new pesticide called bicyclopyrone (BCP).
The EPA is accused of not considering the fatal consequences to befall endangered animals and plants, especially butterflies and bees responsible for pollinating our food, should BCP be used.
Will GMOs ever be banned? And if so, how will it happen? These are the questions that I am asked by thousands of concerned eaters on a routine basis. They are great questions, and ones that require a bit of explanation to truly ‘answer.’ As part of a new Q&A video series, I delve into the question and detail the factors that are required for Monsanto’s GMOs to hit the ‘ban’ list in the United States.
French Environment and Energy Minister Ségolène Royal is sending a clear message to Monsanto – biotech maker responsible for Round Up chemicals, and the target of a class action lawsuit in California, soon to be the taken to the US Federal Court.
Royal made the pronouncement this past Sunday that the weed killer Round Up should not be sold in garden shops since it is potentially harmful to human beings.
She told France 3 television:
Tobacco has been cultivated as a cash crop in the USA for many decades. Because of its high revenue potential, tobacco growers often went the extra mile to ensure a good harvest. Toward that end, the growers eagerly embraced the latest and ‘greatest’ farming methods which kept pests and weeds at bay.
DDT, the pesticide once used in WWII was banned in the US in 1972, but it remains in the soil for decades. The good news is that a simple vitamin can reduce its negative effects.
DDT was considered a ‘miracle’ when it was first created. It was the first important synthetic pesticide from chlorinated hydrocarbon (organochlorine) discovered by a Swiss chemist named Paul Muller in 1939.
When you read headlines like these, you may be confused. Should you get angry, or laugh? Monsanto as a sustainable agriculture company? Monsanto truly has decided to market itself as a ‘sustainable agriculture’ company despite spending billions to provide the world with destructive, carcinogenic chemicals.
It’s no wonder Monsanto asked the WHO for a retraction when a group of their appointed scientists called the main chemical in Roundup, glyphosate, ‘probably carcinogenic.’ The fallout was and is immense. Now, two Swiss supermarket chains are ditching the biotech chemicals due to health concerns.
When the World Health Organization recently declared that the herbicide ingredient glyphosate was ‘probably carcinogenic,’ numerous countries responded with bans, serious inquiries, and boycotts of Monsanto’s Roundup. Now, the WHO is now set to review another Big Ag chemical, 2,4-D, just three months after Monsanto was delivered news it couldn’t swallow. You can bet Big Ag is nervous.
A Danish authority has now declared glyphosate a human carcinogen and says “don’t use it.” Will this declaration begin a rash of warnings from around the world?
Monsanto may have asked the World Health Organization for a retraction when one of their agencies declared glyphosate, the main ingredient in Monsanto’s best selling herbicide, Roundup, ‘probably carcinogenic,’ but they are going to have to start begging others too.
At what point can we start calling pesticide makers the true pests that need to be eradicated? At this point the number of pesticides in the world is beyond alarming; it’s (literally) sickening.
In the UK, it has been estimated that enough pesticide is used to account for 420g for every woman, man, and child. In the US, the numbers are similar, if not even more extreme.
