More well known as Roundup’s main ingredient and produced by Monsanto (providers of the “Agent Orange” used during the war of Vietnam), the glyphosate is currently having a rough time: the European Commission has to decide whether they allow its commercialization for the next 10 years or not.
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It has turned out to be a tough choice for European Members to vote on. Should they allow the commercialization of glyphosate products over the 10 near years or not? In order to obtain this authorisation, a majority from the member states is needed, corresponding to 65% of the EU total population. In other words, a few countries such as Germany or Italy could easily turn the tide of the wave. Yesterday, it was decided to delay the voting, as it didn’t obtain the 65% needed to renew its commercialization.
But why is this causing so many issues? Well, both Roundup (mainly glyphosate) and Monsanto have a terrible history, which is still ongoing today, with many cases and studies proving that the substance is harmless, studies usually paid by Monsanto, and independent studies, proving that it may have dangerous effects on humans and the environment.
The fact that it was revealed, during the “Monsanto Papers”, that Monsanto spent huge amounts of money on lobbies and paying scientists to prove Roundup is inoffensive for humans and the environment, made ONG’s, citizens and ecologists wonder whether this substance is really as inoffensive as it is said.
Two European institutions are also on the line: both the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the European Chemical Agency (ECHA) have concluded that glyphosate is non-toxic, while the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has classified it as probably cancerogenic.
France is currently the leading country against the renewal of the authorization of glyphosate, with talks of allowing it for 3 or 4 more years until an alternative is found, since it’s currently the most efficient and most used weed killer on the market.
While researching this topic, we have found various suspicious accounts on Twitter and different websites, all claiming that glyphosate is inoffensive, and actually saying that it has benefits on nature, such as “minimizing soil erosion” and “improving soil quality”, which, by itself, sounds extremely suspicious. For those who don’t understand what we mean, claiming that a fertilizer prevents soil erosion and improves soil quality is nearly contradictory, as most fertilizers end up leaking to rivers or underground water sources, polluting them, and actually increase soil erosion, as rain will take the land away, since nothing retains it.
Please beware of these, probably paid, fake account and, if you’re actually interested in the subject, do some research on your own, since this is something we can’t and shouldn’t convince you on – it is your food, after all.
