This may seem like a ridiculous question… but is it? Are you eating Glyphosate and you don’t even know it? Is that too big of a jump from the RoundUp lawsuit ads on tv? Is this line of questioning making you nervous?
This is what jumped out of me in meditation this week. Most people have seen those ads on tv about joining the RoundUp class action lawsuits, but as with most tv, media, advertising today, I think it goes over folks heads. It is just a far-fetched claim that they can’t participate in, or just another form of advertising content entertainment. Nothing has any weight or depth today.
Well how about this for both weight and depth- did you know that all of the conventional farm animals that are producing either eggs, milk or meat are eating the GMO crops corn, soy, alfalfa and very soon, wheat?
Yes, in August this year, the USDA announced that HB4 (GMO wheat) could safely be grown in the US. This adds to the growing list of GMO crops grown in America. It is already grown in Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay.
Did you know that these GMO crops that the animals are eating are also sprayed with Glyphosate for weed eradication or as a desiccant to stiffen the shaft of the wheat before harvest? What do you think happens to the Glyphosate residue after it is sprayed on the GMO crops, then harvested and fed to the animals, the cows, the chickens, the ducks, the turkeys that make it to our tables?
Well, the Glyphosate residue sticks to the crops, but doesn’t kill them as it does the weeds. Then the animals eat that GMO crop-derived feed which then gets into their gut lining, their bloodstream, their eggs and their tissue as it moves through their digestive tract. Finally it moves into their excrement which is used as one of the primary sources of INPUTS for fertilizers and composts for both conventional and organic agriculture.
That means that the Glyphosate ends up in ALL of the meats, eggs, produce, fruits and vegetables that most of us are eating. I say most of us, because some of us are actually growing REAL Organic food at home in their garden, on small urban farms, on suburban farms or on a very few smaller scale commercial farms. If you are interested in turning your garden, farm or landscape REAL Organic, check out growrealorganic.com to take a class or learn what something grown REAL Organically actually means.
If the collective WE are all eating Glyphosate-laced foods, what does this mean for the fate of our diets and ultimately our health? I don’t care what the EPA says, it is not safe for human consumption. There have been multiple studies done that prove that is the case. There are longterm environmental and biological implications of Glyphosate toxicity. I find it hard to believe that the EPA is still holding fast to their original claims that there is no need to worry about Glyphosate use in agriculture. What worries me here is that the EPA uses terminology in their conclusions like:
The Agency concluded that Glyphosate is not likely to be carcinogenic to humans. And, Residues of Glyphosate on any food or feed item are safe for consumers up to the established tolerances. Also, due to its widespread use, trace amounts of Glyphosate residues may be found in various fresh fruits, vegetables, cereals, and other food and beverage commodities. However, these trace amounts are not of concern for the consumer. And finally, The ecological risks identified in EPA’s ecological risk assessment included potential risk to terrestrial and aquatic plants, mammals, and birds, and low toxicity to honeybees for most uses.
These are literally quotes from a piece from the EPA titled Glyphosate/EPA.
Do you feel comforted by their remarks and conclusions?
Probably not, hopefully not, which brings us to our next agrotoxic… Glufosinate Ammonium. Has a nice ring to it, right? This chemical beauty is directly linked to the newest and most fabulous FrankenCrop, GMO wheat - HB4. The HB4 wheat strain was developed by Bioceres Crop Solutions of Argentina. This GMO wheat is transgenic, meaning that it has the gene from another species, the Hahb4 gene which is derived from sunflowers inserted into the genome to help the new strain HB4 tolerate drought conditions. This makes it not only a new GMO crop but also one that is being touted as a climate change crop. It’s also tolerant to the broad spectrum herbicide Glufosinate Ammonium.
A recent earnings report in business wire from Berkshire Hathaway cites Bioceres BIOX on NASDAQ, a leader in the development and commercialization of productivity solutions designed to regenerate agricultural ecosystems while making crops more resilient to climate change, announced financial results for the fiscal first quarter ended September 30, 2024. Their total revenues for 2024 were $464M with a gross profit of over $44M. This is up 11% over last year and the US commercial production is not in effect yet and won’t be for 2 years.
That’s a whole lot of GMO wheat they must be selling to Argentina, Brazil ad Paraguay! The United States is the fourth largest wheat producer in the world, so things are looking up for the new global wonder wheat. Bioceres reports that Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Nigeria, Thailand, Indonesia, Colombia and Chile have approved HB4 wheat for food and feed use while Mexico, the Philippines and Japan, have not approved it according to Reuters News Service. That means the world is going GMO wheat just as it went GMO corn, cotton, soybeans, canola, sugar beets, alfalfa, papaya, potatoes, apples and summer squash. The US leads the sci-fi “food” charge with over 175 million acres under production.
This leads us back to eating Glyphosate, well, now Glufosinate. After all, this is what makes the HB4 a rising superstar in the phony “feeding a hungry world” narrative- Its herbicide resistance trait. Glufosinate Ammonium has been used on canola since 1995, and followed over the years on corn, cotton and soybeans. This means its already been in your diet for years! Now, it is going to take center stage as the herbicide of choice if the new wunder climate change crop is to perform weed free.
Who makes this fabulous herbicide? To find that answer, we need not look past the usual suspects. The first and most obvious- the inventors of the original ammonium in 1909 at Ludwigshafen is BASF who began their commercial production of the chemical that changed the world of agriculture in 1913. Glufosinate Ammonium was approved in the 70’s and has been used in commercial, or conventional agriculture since 1984. It was invented by another German company Hoescht and is the active ingredient in several non-selective herbicides BASF produces.
As expected, Bayer CropScience will be the major player in the North American market for Glufosinate Ammonium. Bioshpere couldn’t have hoped for two better partners when it comes to environmental pollution and ecological destruction. They have also both done their part to make sure that as the animals and human beings of Earth get sick from the herbicide residues in their GMO crops, they can get all of the drugs they need to nurse them back to health as major players of Big PHARMA. Well played Bioceres, they and their cohorts will be racking up billions of dollars across the globe by forcing seed, herbicide, and fertilizer sales to farmers across the globe all in the name of climate change.
We’ve already heard some of the highlights of the EPA’s take on Glyphosate, now lets take a peek at their view on Glufosinate Ammonium. They have evaluated the chemical and found no significant human health risks. They have identified potential risks to plants, mammals, bees and other invertebrates. Studies of Glufosinate Ammonium have shown that it is toxic for reproduction and development as well as neurotoxic, with suspected genotoxicity. It has also been called acutely toxic to mammals, aquatic organisms and insects which have linked it to soil health, or lack thereof in areas where there have been excess or persistent use of the chemical.
I pulled this from an OSHA Memorandum:
The HCS (Hazard Communication Standard) delineates between "acute" and "chronic" on the basis of severity or duration of effects and states that acute effects usually occur rapidly as a result of short-term exposures and are of short durations. The HCS also defines explicitly the terms "highly toxic" and "toxic" as they relate to chemicals. The preamble discussion of the laboratory standard indicates that substances with high acute toxicity may be fatal or cause damage to target organs as a result of a single exposure or exposure of short duration. Examples given are substances such as hydrogen cyanide, hydrogen sulfide, and nitrogen dioxide.
In other words, substances that are considered to have a high degree of acute toxicity are those substances which are highly toxic or toxic as defined under the HCS and may be fatal or cause damage to target organs as a result of a single exposure or exposures of short duration.
But not to worry, the risk of eating pastas, breads and cereals that contain HB4 wheat is negligible according to Bioceres. Tell that to the bakers of Paraguay who launched their ‘Bread Without Poisons’ campaign, along with other farmers in Argentina and Brazil who are fighting the use and growth of this strain. Other farmers across the globe are also fighting the import of the GMO wheat from Argentina into their countries. Oddly enough, in the US, there is only excitement and praise for the new strain by the US Wheat Associates, a marketing shill for the American wheat industry. HB4 and Glufosinate Ammonium are not going away anytime soon. The EPA just registered the new and approved version of the chemical October 18th. Again they’re sticking to their original view with this from their recent announcement:
No human health risks of concern were identified for the uses of glufosinate-P. However, EPA’s ecological draft risk assessment identified potential risks for terrestrial and aquatic plants and chronic risk to mammals, bees, and other terrestrial invertebrates that may forage in treated fields and may be exposed to residues by consuming food exposed to off-site spray drift.
Aren’t we mammals?
The bottom line here is that commercial agriculture, Big AG is growing more and more GMO crops every year and creating new strains of GMO crops to feed us. Is that what we want to be fed? Do we, again the collective WE, want to be eating Glyphosate or Glufosinate every time we sit down to enjoy a meal. I don’t think so. I think this sounds like some far-fetched sci-fi movie where the chemical companies, drug companies, farmers and government agencies all get together to poison the world. But that’s exactly what they are doing. To quote RFK, Jr. “They are killing us.” They are and we’ve got to stop hiding behind the fake food that comes from fake crops that are grown with herbicides. You are eating Glyphosate. You are eating Glufosinate Ammonium. I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but it’s the truth. Now my friend, what are you going to do with that information?
Author’s Note:
To learn more - check out The Healthy Garden Podcast and read A Hundred Years of Deception - Why Gardening Must Change.
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