Are toxic ag-chemicals winning the battle?

Frankenfood

By Catherine Haug, June 20, 2018 (Image, right, from OCA, used with permission)

Three huge ag company mergers have happened in recent weeks (2):

Monsanto and Bayer as Bayer (effective the first week of June, 2018)
Dow and Dupont, as DowDupont
ChemChina and Syngenta as ChemChina

These three, along with the German ag-chem giant BASF, will control 70 percent of the pesticide market. While the name “Monsanto” will disappear, their toxic ag sprays like Roundup will simply be labeled as Bayer products.

There’s never been a better time for us to support Organic and Regenerative agriculture (see link below), and turn our backs on all GMO foods. This includes meats and eggs from animals fed a GMO diet.

Read on for scary statistics, and for a spark of hope.

Here are some scary highlights from several articles, as noted (I’ve put some of the text in bold for emphasis if you merely scan the bullets):

“Between 1974 — the year glyphosate entered the U.S. market — and 2014, glyphosate use in the U.S. increased more than 250-fold. (1)
[While] few people had detectable levels of glyphosate in their urine in 1993,.. by 2016, 70 percent had detectable levels. Between 1993 and 2016, the glyphosate levels in people’s bodies increased by 1,208 percent. (1)
While both the [USDA’s] Pesticide Data Program and the FDA measure pesticide residues in foods, neither include glyphosate in their official testing. (1)
Internal FDA emails reveal Roundup has been found in virtually all foods tested, including granola, oatmeal products, crackers and hone. (1)
Independent testing has found significant amounts of glyphosate in a wide range of foods as well, including grains (especially oats), legumes, beans, orange juice, wine and ice cream. (1)
Men typically have higher levels [of glyphosate] than women. (2)
People who eat oats on a regular basis have twice as much glyphosate in their system as people who don’t (likely because oats are desiccated with glyphosate before harvest); (2) This is especially a problem for those who avoid gluten by replacing wheat products with oats.
It’s not just GMOs that are sprayed with Roundup. It turns out there are dozens of other crops, food crops, that are sprayed with Roundup just before harvest to dry it down as a desiccant. (4) [I highly recommend viewing this short 6 minute video about Roundup and Cancer.]

These factors mean it is getting nearly impossible to avoid the toxic pesticides, even if we avoid GMO foods. That’s downright scary.

Still, there are things you can do by changing your diet. People who eat (1):

Organic food on a regular basis have an 80 percent lower level of glyphosate than those who rarely eat organic. This indicates organic products are a safer choice
Five or more servings of vegetables per day have glyphosate levels that are 50 percent lower than those who eat fewer vegetables.

The good news on the horizon is that more and more farmers are showing interest in regenerative agriculture; even those who sell beef to McDonalds!

Our farmers need our help to cross that major divide. One way to do that is to support the Organic and Regenerative Agriculture movements by supporting the OCA (Organic Consumer’s Association). Go to OCA’s Donate website (3) to donate online, or for mailing information (3).

When you support the OCA, you support both the Organic and Regenerative Ag movements. For more about Regenerative Agriculture, see my earlier articles on the EssentiaList:

Importance of Regenerative Agriculture Nov 29, 2015
Regenerative agriculture to reverse climate change, a documentary video Nov 27, 2015
Regeneration: How to Feed the World and Cool the Planet, May 3, 2017

You can also see all GMO-related articles on the EssentiaList.

References

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 20th, 2018 at 1:29 pm and is filed under Agriculture, Ecology, GMO, Health, Organics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

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