By Robert Klein Jr.
Glyphosate is used more than any other herbicide in the world, thanks to Monsanto (now Bayer), and it has been detected by laboratory testing in the urine of nine out of ten Americans. It has even been found in breast milk at concentrations much higher than the legally allowed limit for drinking water! It has been proven to cause cancer in a recent court decision and that’s just the beginning: Glyphosate disrupts a key chemical pathway in the body associating it with numerous health problems. It is primarily an agricultural product, so living in the big city, we locals should be pretty safe from it—correct?
(Cue devilish laughter in the background) No my friend—glyphosate is being used right here in your neighborhood, and can be found almost everywhere.
The NYC Dept. of Parks and Recreation keeps detailed records of herbicide use. The last year for which such records have been tabulated is 2016, and the report states: “The most heavily used liquid herbicides were glyphosates, best known as Roundup® products…In 2016, 53% of liquid herbicide use (by volume) contained glyphosate.”
The report did not state to which NYC parks the malevolent mixture had been applied, so an email was sent to the press contact specifically asking if it was used in the Village, and a response was awaited.
Glyphosate is effective because it disrupts a central chemical pathway used by plants, called the shikimate pathway. Disrupting this pathway kills the plant. Just spray the glyphosate and watch the plants die. It is extremely effective. Bacteria use the same pathway so glyphosate is also registered as an antibiotic. That’s right—farmers are spraying an antibiotic onto their crops…which become your food! (Farmers can spray it directly onto their crops because a few plants like corn and soy have been genetically engineered to not die when hit with the glyphosate). Like Zombies. Zombie plants.
Glyphosate is used so heavily in American agriculture it can be found in Greenwich Village in every grocery store, restaurant and pantry. It is pretty much guaranteed that every time you eat a meal you are consuming this antibiotic plant killer, proven to disrupt the community of beneficial bacteria that live in your digestive system.
Since the introduction of glyphosate into the American food supply in 1974 there has been a huge increase in chronic diseases such as “diabetes, obesity, lipoprotein metabolism disorder, Alzheimer’s, senile dementia, Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis and autism”, not to mention cancer.
To avoid glyphosate, eat organic. If you go for a walk in the park afterwards for some fresh air and sunshine, will you be getting some glyphosate there? The answer is probably. Whether it is used in our downtown parks could not be determined by press time.
There is a bill before the State Assembly (AO4971) calling for a ban on the use of glyphosate in parks throughout New York State. Meanwhile, up for vote right now in Congress is the 2018 national Farm Bill to which the chemical companies have attached a rider making it illegal for local communities to prohibit the use of pesticides and herbicides. That’s
Monsatanic.
