Monsanto
Human Abuse
Monsanto's Roundup threatens stability of global food supply
Monday, March 12, 2012
http://www.naturalnews.com
(NaturalNews) Monsanto's reckless disregard for public health and the
agricultural stability of the planet may be even more significant than
previously thought. A shocking new report reveals how Monsanto's Roundup is
actually threatening the crop-yielding potential of the entire biosphere. The
report reveals that glyphosate, which was developed by Monsanto in the early
1970s and is the active ingredient in its patented herbicide Roundup, may be
irreversibly devastating the microbiodiversity of the soil - compromising the
health of the entire planet, as a result.
New research published in the journal Current Microbiology highlights the
extent to which glyphosate is altering, and in some cases destroying, the very
microorganisms upon which the health of the soil, and - amazingly - the benefits
of raw and fermented foods as a whole, depend. Concerningly, certain beneficial
strains of bacteria used as food-starters in cultures for raw yogurt, such as
Lactobacillus cremoris, have entirely disappeared from certain geographic
regions where traditionally they were found in plenty. The study reports that
the death and growth inhibition of selected food microorganisms was observed in
concentrations of Roundup that are lower than are recommended in agricultural
practice.
This means that farmers who are increasingly using larger and larger
concentrations of Roundup and similar glyphosate-based herbicide formulations to
countermand the increasingly resistant super weeds GM agriculture has spawned,
are not only damaging the immediate health of the soil, but subsequent yields of
indispensable food-starter microorganisms, as well as the microbes that ensure
the overall fertility of the soil for producing crops well into the future.
Monsanto's Roundup assaults the planetary biosphere
Microorganisms are responsible for much more than just the health content of raw
and fermented foods. The most numerous inhabitants in the web of life,
microorganisms participate quite literally "at the root" of the nitrogen,
phosphate, oxygen and carbon cycles, and are therefore indispensable for the
health of the entire biosphere. Astoundingly, there are an estimated
6,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (6 x 10 to the 30th power) bacterial
cells on the planet, and these soil microrganisms represent about 50 percent of
the the total biodiversity in terms of numbers of species.
As Roundup usage threatens these soil microrganisms, including fungi and the
mycellium (technically the largest organism in the world), it could lead to
devastating implications. Compromising the health of the mycellium, in
particular, may cause serious harm to the planet. According to prominent
mycologist Paul Stamets, mycellium may actually act as a 'network' within the
biosphere, acting as the Earth's 'natural internet' in which virtually all
organisms may rely upon. It has been recognized throughout the ages that all
life depends on the soil. Without healthy soil, the health of the entire planet
is at risk.
Charles E. Kelogg was one individual who stated such in the USDA yearbook back
in 1939. Kelogg said:
"Essentially, all life depends upon the soil ... There can be no life without
soil and no soil without life; they have evolved together."
Franklin Delano Roosevelt also voiced similar concerns, warning:
"The nation that destroys its soil, destroys itself."
Based on an ever-increasing body of scientific evidence showing glyphosate
biodegrades slowly, sinks down through the topsoil where it accumulates in the
groundwater (source for natural drinking water, e.g. aquifers, springs), and is
found in nearly all air and rain samples tested in the US, it is safe to say
that Monsanto's best-selling Roundup is one of the greatest threats to human and
environmental health ever created.
As the USDA continues to sit back and allow Monsanto to threaten the
environmental stability of the planet, it becomes more apparent that the USDA
and Monsanto are gladly willing to exchange the future of the planet and its
inhabitants for short term gain. In fact, the USDA has even given Monsanto's
latest
GMO crops speedier approval in order to secure the company's profits,
ignoring the numerous known harmful effects of Monsanto's past creations, e.g.
Agent Orange, Aspartame, DDT.The known effects of Roundup
The negative effects of Monsanto's Roundup on human health and the environment
have been firmly established by numerous scientific studies and large-scale
investigations, with scientists even linking the best-selling herbicide to
conditions like infertility and cancer due to its genotoxic (DNA damaging)
nature. Amazingly, even when diluted by 99.8 percent (450-fold lower dilutions
than used in agricultural applications), Roundup still exhibits serious
genotoxic characteristics and is harmful to the integrity of human DNA.
Meanwhile, this carcinogenic herbicide product is used nationwide by
unsuspecting homeowners and agricultural workers. According to the United States
Geological Survey, 176 million lbs of glyphosate were used in the U.S. in 2007.
Outside of the public health realm, Roundup's startling environmental havoc is
perhaps an even greater cause for concern. Despite being created to fend off
weeds, Roundup is actually spawning resistant superweeds across millions of
hectares (one hectare is 10,000 square metres), bankrupting farmers and
destroying crop land. These resistant weeds currently cover over 4.5 million
hectares in the United States alone, though experts estimate the world-wide land
coverage to have reached at least 120 million hectares by 2010. The onset of
superweeds is being increasingly documented in Australia, Argentina, Brazil,
Chile, Europe and South Africa.
The research is clear: Roundup is not only harming human health and damaging
farmland, it is threatening the very biosphere itself by destroying microbial
biodiversity, with the future agricultural stability of the planet, i.e. the
ability to produce food through monoculturing, at serious risk of collapsing.
Sources for this article include:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22362186
http://www.naturalnews.com/035050_Roundup_Monsanto_DNA.html
http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=2909
http://www.naturalnews.com/034620_Monsanto_diplomats_GMOs.html
http://greenmedinfo.com/toxic-ingredient/glyphosate
About the author:
Anthony Gucciardi is a health activist and wellness researcher, whose goal is
centered around educating the general public as to how they may obtain optimum
health. He has authored countless articles highlighting the benefits of natural
health, as well as exposing the pharmaceutical industry. Anthony is the creator
of Natural Society (http://www.NaturalSociety.com),
a natural health website. Anthony has been accurately interpreting national and
international events for years within his numerous political articles. Anthony's
articles have been seen by millions around the world, and hosted on multiple top
news websites.