Roundup promotes human and animal toxins
But Fusarium’s wrath is not limited to plants. According to a report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, toxins from Fusarium on various types of food crops have been associated with disease outbreaks throughout history. They’ve “been linked to the plague epidemics” of medieval Europe, “large-scale human toxicosis in Eastern Europe,” oesophageal cancer in southern Africa and parts of China, joint diseases in Asia and southern Africa, and a blood disorder in Russia. Fusarium toxins have also been shown to cause animal diseases and induce infertility.
As Roundup use rises, plant disease skyrockets
When Roundup Ready crops were introduced in 1996, Monsanto boldly claimed that herbicide use would drop as a result. It did—slightly—for three years. But over the next 10 years, it grew considerably. Total herbicide use in the US jumped by a whopping 383 million pounds in the 13 years after GMOs came on the scene. The greatest contributor is Roundup.
Over time, many types of weeds that would once keel over with just a tiny dose of Roundup now require heavier and heavier applications. Some are nearly invincible. In reality, these super-weeds are resistant not to the glyphosate itself, but to the soilborne pathogens that normally do the killing in Roundup sprayed fields.
Having hundreds of thousands of acres infested with weeds that resist plant disease and weed killer has been devastating to many US farmers, whose first response is to pour on more and more Roundup. Its use is now accelerating. Nearly half of the huge 13-year increase in herbicide use took place in just the last 2 years. This has serious implications.
As US farmers drench more than 135 million acres of Roundup Ready crops with Roundup, plant diseases are enjoying an unprecedented explosion across America’s most productive crop lands. Don rattles off a lengthy list of diseases that were once under effective management and control, but are now creating severe hardship. (The list includes SDS and Corynespora root rot of soybeans, citrus variegated chlorosis (CVC), Fusarium wilt of cotton, Verticillium wilt of potato, take-all root, crown, and stem blight of cereals, Fusarium root and crown rot, Fusarium head blight, Pythium root rot and damping off, Goss’ wilt of corn, and many more.)
In Brazil, the new “Mad Soy Disease” is ravaging huge tracts of soybean acreage. Although scientists have not yet determined its cause, Don points out that various symptoms resemble a rice disease (bakanae) which is caused by Fusarium.
>>Next: Corn dies young
Suzanne Nordstrom
Would appreciate a link to Tom Vilsack’s e-mail to take action on this.
Becky Striepe
There’s a link on the last page where you can send a letter letting Vilsack know how you feel. Thanks for taking action!!
Tonia
http://fdn.actionkit.com/cms/sign/kiss_your_organics_goodbye?referring_akid=.227501.9gQ35E&source=taf
Cathy
Monsanto has had a long history of investigations because of it’s pesticide run-off into streams, Agent Orange and they have been able to convince the JECFA & FAO that modified seeds are safe. Even
to suggesting the gene is simply an additive to a normal plant. When a company has a monopoly on the seed market, the government agencies that regulate food safety in its back pocket, and are primarily concerned for the bottom line and not the safety of humans or animals, this is a serious threat. Hopefully someone will require independent testing even if it takes two years to complete to allow new seeds into the market.
William Rice
We need the guts to boycott corn products and the political will to end federal corn subsidies. Stop eating beef. Feel line chaf in the wind?