I was at a local store this past week and was taking some pictures. While I was taking those pictures one of the clerks was asking me, “How can I help you?” I said, “I was just taking some pictures.” I was taking some pictures of Roundup on their shelves. I read somewhere earlier in the week that they were going to be taking this poison off the shelves. Our store had not done so yet. The clerk then asked me, “Roundup is still safe enough to drink? Right?” I didn’t say anything. Now I feel bad about that non-response.
Roundup or the chemical name glyphosate is not safe. This statement goes far beyond just this humble garden columnist. I have been posting articles about this issue for a number of years now on my Facebook pages and I would suggest that you would look them up to find out more.
The Dwayne Johnson vs Monsanto case went to the jury this past week and Friday the jury came back with a guilty verdict and awarded a $289.2 million to Dwayne Johnson. Reuters reports, “The case of school groundskeeper Dwayne Johnson was the first lawsuit alleging glyphosate causes cancer to go to trial. Monsanto a unit of Bayer AG following a $62.5 billion acquisition by the German conglomerate, faces more than 5,000 similar lawsuits across the United States. The jury at San Francisco’s Superior Court of California deliberated for three days before finding that Monsanto had failed to warn Johnson and other consumers of the cancer risks posed by its weed killers. It awarded $39 million in compensatory and $250 million in punitive damages.”
What does this all mean to my readers, friends, gardeners, and farmers. During the trial it was revealed, “This verdict proves that when ordinary citizens, in this case a jury of 12, hear the facts about Monsanto’s products, and the lengths to which this company has gone to buy of scientists, deceive the public and influence government regulatory agencies, there is no confusion,” said Ronnie Cummins, OCA’s international director.
This is a company that has always put profits ahead of public safety, and today, Monsanto has finally been held accountable,” he added. “We hope that this is just the first of many defeats for Monsanto, and that the US Environmental Protection Agency will pull this product off the market immediately.”
Carey Gillam, a journalist and a public interest researcher for the nonprofit US Right to Know, said in a statement after the ruling that “Monsanto and its chemical industry allies have spent decades actively working to confuse and deceive consumers, farmers, regulators, and lawmakers about the risks associated with glyphosate-based herbicides.”
“The evidence that has come to light from Monsanto’s own internal documents, combined with data and documents from regulatory agencies, could not be clearer: It is time for public officials across the globe to act to protect public health and not corporate profits.” Gillam concluded.
Cummins’ group charged that Monsanto has long misled consumers about the safety of Roundup for humans and pets and looks forward to its own case against Monsanto. What this amounts to is that this poison that has been sold to us for many years and that we have used 1.8 million tons of glyphosate in the US and 9.4 million tons since 1974. We could have sprayed ½ pound on every cultivated acre on the face of the earth.
Maybe we need to take a step back and see how major a problem this Glyphosate problem has become to all of us. There is a serious health concern with this poison on many different levels and I shall talk more about this as time progresses.
Hope that you have a good stroll through your garden this week. If you have a problem in your garden, you can email me at ewlarson546@yahoo.com. You can reach me through my website at www.ohiohealthyfood.com. Thank you for your participation in our column.
https://www.newsweek.com/glyphosate-now-most-used-agricultural-chemical-ever-422419
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/08/10/guilty-all-counts-historic-victory-monsanto-ordered-pay-289-million-roundup-cancer?cd-origin=rss&utm_term=%27Guilty%20on%20All%20Counts%21%27%3A%20In%20Historic%20Victory%2C%20Monsanto%20Ordered%20to%20Pay%20%24289%20Million%20in%20Roundup%20Cancer%20Lawsuit&utm_campaign=%27Guilty%20on%20All%20Counts%21%27%3A%20Monsanto...%20and%20Other%20Criminals%20%20%7C%20Your%20Week%20in%20Review&utm_content=email&utm_source=Weekly%20Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&cm_mmc=Act-On%20Software-_-email-_-%27Guilty%20on%20All%20Counts%21%27%3A%20Monsanto...%20and%20Other%20Criminals%20%20%7C%20Your%20Week%20in%20Review-_-%27Guilty%20on%20All%20Counts%21%27%3A%20In%20Historic%20Victory%2C%20Monsanto%20Ordered%20to%20Pay%20%24289%20Million%20in%20Roundup%20Cancer%20Lawsuit
Glyphosate still on our shelves
