What’s The Deal With Glyphosate?

Monsanto is a household name in the agriculture community for its array of chemicals that were designed to safeguard crops from all the natural elements that could prohibit their growth. In theory, it sounds like a fantastic idea. Combat the pests that make farmers’ lives even more difficult, improve crop yields, and protect the earth. That’s all well and good if it had actually worked out that way.

The problem is that GMOs are a relatively new technology that we don’t understand fully yet, and the main ingredient in Monsanto’s prize product, Roundup Weed Killer, glyphosate is well known to cause health problems for both animals and people.

What Is Happening With Glyphosate?

This chemical is deadly to living things. It’s used in Roundup to kill the pests and weeds that are plaguing crops. Again, in theory, this makes perfect sense until we consider that weeds and pests are living things, so it is safe to assume then that the chemical residue left on these plants is safe neither for humans or our animals.

Doesn’t this say something? Shouldn’t we be concerned?

The truth is that there’s no need to assume. We know that glyphosate is harmful to people. It kills essential bacterias and may even encourage the growth of breast cancer in humans. It also affects the bacteria in chicken which causes them to carry more salmonella—also bad news for people.

We know a lot about this chemical. Why, then, do we still allow it to be sprayed on our food and ingested by our livestock?

The Big Picture

The problem is that not enough people are concerned. We tend to accept the status quo and just buy whatever is on the shelf at the grocery store without thinking about the consequences. It’s normal. It’s easy. It’s also not really that safe.

Most people in younger generations have no connection to their food and have no clue that it doesn’t just magically appear on the shelves at the local grocery store. They don’t understand that food is a responsibility, not a just a part of life that’s just handed to you.

We need to be looking at the big picture when it comes to our food. We need to be concerned with where it is grown, who is growing it, and how it is being produced. Ensuring that your food and the food your family is eating is non-GMO and produced without harsh chemicals is essential for good life-long health.

What We Can Do About Glyphosate

The best thing that backyard farmers, big time farmers, and especially consumers can do is to stay away from GMOs and chemical products. When everyone involved in the process from growth to consumption dedicate themselves to steering clear of these kinds of products, we can eliminate the need for them. The more we seek non-GMO products, the more demand that we impose, the more likely farmers will be to start making the switch back to natural, unmodified crops that are safe and healthy for livestock and people to eat.


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