Ban and demand
On March 20, 2015, The World Health Organization (WHO) designated glyphosate (the main ingredient in the pesticide Roundup) as a probable human carcinogen. It is the most widely used pesticide in the U.S. It’s use is so widespread that in 2011, the USGS, an official government agency, reported that it was commonly found in the rain and streams in the Mississippi River Basin.
Glyphosate has been found to bio-accumulate in humans. A citizens group (Moms Across America) in the U.S. has done limited testing on glyphosate and has found it in mother’s breast milk, tap water and urine. Most genetically modified crops (GMOs) are designed to withstand heavy doses of  glyphosate … so if you consume packaged or processed foods, 80 percent of which contain the main GMO crops of soy, corn, canola and sugar beets—you are likely ingesting glyphosate. Farmers are now also applying glyphosate as a desicant and it is being sprayed on crops including wheat, barley, rice, beans and tea. Unbelievably, the USDA does not routinely test for glyphosate residue.
The use of glyphosate has been banned in the Netherlands, El Salvador, Sri Lanka and the city of Richmond, California. Let’s ban the probable human carcinogen glyphosate and demand that our government move to the precautionary principle. The precautionary principle states that products must be proven to be safe before they can be used. In the U.S., we allow products to go on the market with minimal testing and products are removed only when proven unsafe.
Mary Fraser
