There continues to be a considerable amount of controversy associated with the use of glyphosates like Roundup.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has reportedly found traces of glyphosate in many common foods, according to agency emails obtained by The Guardian and published last week. “I have brought wheat crackers, granola cereal, and corn meal from home and there’s a fair amount in all of them,” reported an FDA field-office researcher named Richard Thompson based in a government laboratory in Arkansas.
Glyphosate kills plants by blocking an enzyme pathway. These enzymes are responsible for making some of the most important compounds, such as tryptophan, that are the backbone of hormones. If you take away tryptophan from the plant chain or the plant kingdom by killing this pathway, the plant cannot make these essential signaling molecules. It wipes out about four to six of the essential amino acids, which are the building blocks for all proteins in your body.
Bacteria, fungi and other microbes work in concert — there are relationships at play where certain ones help keep others in check. Look no further than the abuse of antibiotics today and new bacterial strains that have become resistant and detrimental to human health. Farmers use 5 billion pounds of glyphosate per year, worldwide, making glyphosate weed killers the most prevalent antibiotic on the planet. Killing soil bacteria has major consequences surrounding soil and plant health and ultimately, we’re discovering, human health.
Plant health correlates to and parallels human health. One of the very first things that happens when a plant is lacking in nutrients is that it will be attacked by pests. The same phenomenon occurs in your body. Conventional farming addresses this problem with chemical pesticides. In humans, we address it with antibiotics. However, both lead to resistance, and the more drug-resistant these microbes get, the worse the disease gets.
There is also a greater known cost associated with using chemical sprays including community spraying restrictions, additional labor requirements and concerns about employee safety, protective gear and potential liabilities.
Monsanto faces hundreds of lawsuits in the US over glyphosate’s association with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, Monsanto maintains that use of the chemical is safe. Whatever the outcome, it’s contributing to the negative narrative about glyphosate use.
As more and more information about glyphosate comes to light, I can only surmise that, like similar trends in the U.S. market, the stigma associated with the use of glyphosate will only increase leading to its decreased utilization.
As always, I am happy to talk with you about these products and other sustainable and organic growing practices.