The stories became far too frequent to ignore. Emails from folks with allergic or digestive issues to wheat in the United States experienced no symptoms whatsoever when they tried eating pasta on vacation in Italy.
Confused parents wondering why wheat consumption sometimes triggered autoimmune reactions in their children but not at other times.
In my own home, I’ve long pondered why my husband can eat the wheat I prepare at home, but he experiences negative digestive effects eating even a single roll in a restaurant.
There is clearly something going on with wheat that is not well known by the general public. It goes far and beyond organic versus nonorganic, gluten or hybridization because even conventional wheat triggers no symptoms for some who eat wheat in other parts of the world.
What indeed is going on with wheat?
For quite some time, I secretly harbored the notion that wheat in the United States must, in fact, be genetically modified. GMO wheat secretly invading the North American food supply seemed the only thing that made sense and could account for the varied experiences I was hearing about.
I reasoned that it couldn’t be the gluten or wheat hybridization. Gluten and wheat hybrids have been consumed for thousands of years. It just didn’t make sense that this could be the reason for so many people suddenly having problems with wheat and gluten in general in the past 5-10 years.
Finally, the answer came over dinner a couple of months ago with a friend who was well versed in the wheat production process. I started researching the issue for myself, and was, quite frankly, horrified at what I discovered.
The good news is that the reason wheat has become so toxic in the United States is not that it is secretly GMO as I had feared (thank goodness!).
The bad news is that the problem lies with the manner in which wheat is grown and harvested by conventional wheat farmers.
You’re going to want to sit down for this one. I’ve had some folks burst into tears in horror when I passed along this information before.
Common wheat harvest protocol in the United States is to drench the wheat fields with Roundup several days before the combine harvesters work through the fields as the practice allows for an earlier, easier and bigger harvest.
Pre-harvest application of the herbicide Roundup or other herbicides containing the deadly active ingredient glyphosate to wheat and barley as a desiccant was suggested as early as 1980. It has since become routine over the past 15 years and is used as a drying agent 7-10 days before harvest within the conventional farming community.
According to Dr. Stephanie Seneff of MIT who has studied the issue in-depth and who I recently saw present on the subject at a nutritional conference in Indianapolis, desiccating non-organic wheat crops with glyphosate just before harvest came into vogue late in the 1990s with the result that most of the non-organic wheat in the United States is now contaminated with it. Seneff explains that when you expose wheat to a toxic chemical like glyphosate, it actually releases more seeds resulting in a slightly greater yield: “It ‘goes to seed’ as it dies. At its last gasp, it releases the seed” says Dr. Seneff.
According to the US Department of Agriculture, as of 2012, 99% of durum wheat, 97% of spring wheat, and 61% of winter wheat have been treated with herbicides. This is an increase from 88% for durum wheat, 91% for spring wheat and 47% for winter wheat since 1998. Note that bulgur is commonly made from durum.
Here’s what wheat farmer Keith Lewis has to say about the practice:
I have been a wheat farmer for 50 yrs and one wheat production practice that is very common is applying the herbicide Roundup (glyposate) just prior to harvest. Roundup is licensed for preharvest weed control. Monsanto, the manufacturer of Roundup claims that application to plants at over 30% kernel moisture result in roundup uptake by the plant into the kernels. Farmers like this practice because Roundup kills the wheat plant allowing an earlier harvest.
A wheat field often ripens unevenly, thus applying Roundup preharvest evens up the greener parts of the field with the more mature. The result is on the less mature areas Roundup is translocated into the kernels and eventually harvested as such.
This practice is not licensed. Farmers mistakenly call it “desiccation.” Consumers eating products made from wheat flour are undoubtedly consuming minute amounts of Roundup. An interesting aside, malt barley which is made into beer is not acceptable in the marketplace if it has been sprayed with preharvest Roundup. Lentils and peas are not accepted in the market place if it was sprayed with preharvest roundup….. but wheat is ok.. This farming practice greatly concerns me and it should further concern consumers of wheat products.
Here’s what wheat farmer Seth Woodland of Woodland and Wheat in Idaho had to say about the practice of using herbicides for wheat dry down:
That practice is bad . I have fellow farmers around me that do it and it is sad. Lucky for you not all of us farm that way. Being the farmer and also the president of a business, we are proud to say that we do not use round up on our wheat ever!
This practice is not just widespread in the United States either. The Food Standards Agency in the United Kingdom reports that the use of Roundup as a wheat desiccant results in glyphosate residues regularly showing up in bread samples. Other European countries are waking up to the danger, however. In the Netherlands, the use of Roundup is completely banned with France likely soon to follow.
Using Roundup on wheat crops throughout the entire growing season and even as a desiccant just prior to harvest may save the farmer money and increase profits, but it is devastating to the health of the consumer who ultimately consumes the glyphosate residue laden wheat kernels.
The chart below of skyrocketing applications of glyphosate to US wheat crops since 1990 and the incidence of celiac disease is from a December 2013 study published in the Journal Interdisciplinary Toxicology examining glyphosate pathways to autoimmune disease. Remember that wheat is not currently GMO or “Roundup Ready” meaning it is not resistant to its withering effects like GMO corn or GMO soy, so the application of glyphosate to wheat would actually kill it.
While the herbicide industry maintains that glyphosate is minimally toxic to humans, research published in the Journal Entropy strongly argues otherwise by shedding light on exactly how glyphosate disrupts mammalian physiology.
Authored by Anthony Samsel and Stephanie Seneff of MIT, the paper investigates glyphosate’s inhibition of cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes, an overlooked component of lethal toxicity to mammals.
The currently accepted view is that ghyphosate is not harmful to humans or any mammals. This flawed view is so pervasive in the conventional farming community that Roundup salesmen have been known to foolishly drink it during presentations!
However, just because Roundup doesn’t kill you immediately doesn’t make it nontoxic. In fact, the active ingredient in Roundup lethally disrupts the all important shikimate pathway found in beneficial gut microbes which is responsible for the synthesis of critical amino acids.
Friendly gut bacteria, also called probiotics, play a critical role in human health. Gut bacteria aid digestion, prevent permeability of the gastrointestinal tract (which discourages the development of autoimmune disease), synthesize vitamins and provide the foundation for robust immunity. In essence:
Roundup significantly disrupts the functioning of beneficial bacteria in the gut and contributes to permeability of the intestinal wall and consequent expression of autoimmune disease symptoms.
In synergy with disruption of the biosynthesis of important amino acids via the shikimate pathway, glyphosate inhibits the cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes produced by the gut microbiome. CYP enzymes are critical to human biology because they detoxify the multitude of foreign chemical compounds, xenobiotics, that we are exposed to in our modern environment today.
As a result, humans exposed to glyphosate through the use of Roundup in their community or through the ingestion of its residues on industrialized food products become even more vulnerable to the damaging effects of other chemicals and environmental toxins they encounter!
What’s worse is that the negative impact of glyphosate exposure is slow and insidious over months and years as inflammation gradually gains a foothold in the cellular systems of the body.
The consequences of this systemic inflammation are most of the diseases and conditions associated with the Western lifestyle:
- Gastrointestinal disorders
- Obesity
- Diabetes
- Heart Disease
- Depression
- Autism
- Infertility
- Cancer
- Multiple Sclerosis
- Alzheimer’s disease
- And the list goes on and on and on …
In a nutshell, Dr. Seneff’s study of Roundup’s ghastly glyphosate, which much of the wheat crop in the United States is doused with annually, uncovers the manner in which this lethal toxin harms the human body by decimating beneficial gut microbes with the tragic end result of disease, degeneration, and widespread suffering.
Got the picture yet?
Even if you think you have no trouble digesting wheat, it is still very wise to avoid conventional wheat as much as possible in your diet!
You Must Avoid Toxic Wheat No Matter What
The bottom line is that avoidance of conventional wheat in the United States is absolutely imperative even if you don’t currently have a gluten allergy or wheat sensitivity. This includes bypassing food products made with it such as the popular meat substitute seitan also called vital wheat gluten. The increase in the amount of glyphosate applied to wheat closely correlates with the rise of celiac disease and gluten intolerance. Dr. Seneff points out that the increases in these diseases are not just genetic in nature, but also have an environmental cause as not all patient symptoms are alleviated by eliminating gluten from the diet.
The effects of deadly glyphosate on your biology are so insidious that lack of symptoms today means literally nothing.
If you don’t have problems with wheat now, you will in the future if you keep eating conventionally produced, toxic wheat!
How to Eat Wheat Safely
Obviously, if you’ve already developed a sensitivity or allergy to wheat, you must avoid it. Period.
But, if you aren’t celiac or gluten sensitive and would like to consume this ancestral food safely, you can do what we do in our home. We source organic, naturally low in gluten, unhybridized Einkorn wheat for breadmaking, pancakes, cookies, etc. Please note that einkorn is not to be confused with the more general term farro, which includes emmer and spelt, which are both hybridized. You can learn more about the scientific research on the “good” gluten in einkorn in this article.
When we eat out or are purchasing food from the store, conventional wheat products are rejected without exception. This despite the fact that we have no gluten allergies whatsoever in our home – yet.
I am firmly convinced that if we did nothing, our entire family at some point would develop sensitivity to wheat or autoimmune disease in some form due to the toxic manner in which it is processed and the glyphosate residues that are contained in conventional wheat products.
What Are You Going to Do About Toxic Wheat?
How did you react to the news that US wheat farmers are using Roundup, not just to kill weeds, but to dry out the wheat plants to allow for an earlier, easier and bigger harvest and that such a practice causes absorption of toxic glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup and other herbicides, right into the wheat kernels themselves?
Did you feel outraged and violated as I did? How will you implement a conventional wheat-avoidance strategy going forward even if you haven’t yet developed a problem with gluten or wheat sensitivity?
What about other crops where Roundup is used as a pre-harvest desiccant such as barley, sugar cane, rice, seeds, dried beans and peas, sugar cane, sweet potatoes, and sugar beets? Will you only be buying these crops in organic form from now on to avoid this modern, man-made scourge?
UPDATE: The Soil Association in July 2015 called for an immediate ban on the use of glyphosate for wheat ripening and desiccation purposes. The nonprofit reports that glyphosate residues are widely found in nonorganic wheat samples and the use of the herbicide on wheat crops has increased 400% in the past two decades.
Dr. Robin Mesnage of the Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics at Kings College in London, revealed new data analysis showing Roundup, the most common brand of Glyphosate based herbicides, is 1,000 times more toxic than genotoxic glyphosate alone due to the inclusion of other toxic chemicals in its mix.
Peter Melchett, Soil Association policy director said; “If Glyphosate ends up in bread it’s impossible for people to avoid it unless they are eating organic. On the other hand, farmers could easily choose not to use Glyphosate as a spray on wheat crops – just before they are harvested. This is why the Soil Association is calling for the immediate ending of the use of Glyphosate sprays on wheat destined for use in bread.”
References
Glyphosate now commonly found in human urine
Study: Glyphosate, Celiac and Gluten Intolerance
The Glyphosate, Celiac Disease Connection
Pre-harvest Application of Glyphosate to Wheat
Glyphosate’s Suppression of Cytochrome P450 Enzymes and Amino Acid Biosynthesis by the Gut Microbiome: Pathways to Modern Diseases
Yield and quality of wheat seeds as a function of desiccation stages and herbicides
Wheat farmer weighs in on the use of Roundup as a wheat desiccant
More Information
Roundup: Quick Death for Weeds, Slow and Painful Death for You
Hybrid Wheat is Not the Same as GMO Wheat
The Dutch Ban Roundup, France and Brazil to Follow
How to Mix and Use Gluten Free Flour
Can Celiacs Eat Sourdough Bread?
The Dirty Little Secret About Gluten-Free
As a person who grew up on a wheat farm, participated in wheat harvest first hand, has driven a combine and now works in the amazing and safe wheat industry, I can say without a doubt that this information is entirely inaccurate. The fact that this false information is out there makes my stomach a little queasy because it makes me sick to think that people believe that.
I can attest that even if it would enhance production at all (I cannot think of why it would), farmers are WAY TOO BUSY in the days before harvest preparing the machinery that actually gets used to apply chemicals on their fields. Can I ask where you are getting your information from? Because I would highly recommend taking a trip to a farm during harvest time. It’s educational, and a lot of fun!
Well, you grew up prior to the 1990’s then. Using Roundup as a dessicant prior to harvest is standard practice now for 99% of durum wheat and 97% of spring wheat. Click through to the sources in the article and look at the graphs and charts … data source is the USDA.
I had to shake my head at your “amazing and safe wheat industry” comment. Really? Talk about sucking down that Kool-aid at a world record rate. So sad.
I actually grew up on the farm in the 90s. I have also conversed with several other farmers after I read your article to confirm what they do on their farms, and so far I haven’t heard anyone say that it is a common practice either. Granted, the area of the country that I live in raises winter wheat.
The only reason why farmers would spray such herbicides would be to eliminate weed pressure from a rainy season. This has been the first harvest during my lifetime in my area (that I can recall) that a farmer would even have enough weeds to consider applying herbicide. But in all honesty, it’s just not economical to do that. I would thoroughly encourage you to speak with a wheat farmer about your claims. Maybe you’ll find someone who does use it on a routine basis and I will learn something, but so far I have done research enough to know it’s not an issue in my area.
I live in Brown County South Dakota a major farming community. My dad and my husband are both farmers. We own land in ND and SD. We are conventional farmers and sadly have planted GMO products. Our eyes are being opened. We do not use Roundup on our wheat nor do I know of any of our neighbors that use Roundup in this manner on their wheat. First problem I see is using USDA data. No one should trust the USDA. The practice of spraying Roundup prior to harvest does occur. The only crops I have seen sprayed in this manner are edibles such as lentils. This practice makes me sick. I’m not saying I know the answer but in this day and age most grains should not be trusted, even organic as cross pollination is huge. I think Tropical Traditions did a post on this not that long ago.
Good points which is why I included data from the UK which also practices the use of Roundup for wheat desiccation as well. You have raised concerns that bother me as well.
Sarah, I shared this article on facebook and got some feedback from a local farmer. He said that hard red wheat is not roundup resistant, so the soil might be sprayed prior to planting, but that it would not be directly sprayed with roundup. He said they do not use desiccants here (southeast US) since the wheat is left to dry out on its own, although from the little bit of research I did, it seems to be a routine practice in Canada to use Reglone or Glyophosphate as a desiccant. I wonder if the method of desiccation varies by the region? Did you come across anything suggesting that?
It is NOT standard!!!! It’s not done at ALL!!!
Farmers do not drive a sprayer into their fields, rolling over and damaging a crop ready to harvest, to apply an herbicide for an off-label use that dampens a drying and ripening crop as a “dessicant.” Are you even THINKING about what you are saying????
It makes NO LOGICAL SENSE.
It is flown on. Fast, day or night. No tires on the crop ground at all.
Hang on, I was born in 1991 and have grown up on a farm that grows wheat and have also helped with the process. I worked at a local crop production store and have seen multiple production practices, I graduated from a land grant university where I took crop and soil science classes, and I can tell you, NOBODY is spraying wheat with glyphosate. There is NO time and it’s a waste of money. Please visit a farm instead of buying into scare tactics.
Hello Brandy. If what you say is true, then why does Monsanto recommend this practice? Please see their guide to pre-harvest application of Roundup as a desiccant–http://roundup.ca/_uploads/documents/MON-Preharvest%20Staging%20Guide.pdf
The USDA can be wrong. Why are you so sure of the USDA and so disbelieving of real farmers. ? I work in a bureaucracy and know “truth” in an agency depends on the goals of the management. Perhaps what you really have is another example of the cozy relationship between USDA and Mansanto. With USDA doubling as Mansantos sales department. Clearly in most of the US as yet farmers don’t use Roundup to dry out wheat.
Would you please post the direct link of those stats?
I respect your experience farming, but please note that Monsanto recommends the pre-harvest application of Roundup as a desiccant: http://roundup.ca/_uploads/documents/MON-Preharvest%20Staging%20Guide.pdf
Thankfully, my family has only purchased organic wheat berries, and other organic wheat products for the last 7 years. However, we’re not vigilant to avoid conventional wheat products when eating out of our home. We will have to try harder! Wow! I really, really hate Monsanto, and everything it does and stands for.
So if organic wheat is not safe from this process, are the other crops you mention safe if organic (the barley, rice, dried beans etc)?
These crops would not be safe either if not organic … however, they aren’t consumed at the extremely high rate that wheat is in the Western world.
Sarah, so organic farmers do this too? I’ve been buying sprouted multi-grain bread from Trader Joes. It says it’s made with organic high protein sprouted wheat berries…etc
I’m a journalist covering agriculture in the heart of wheat country. I have never, ever seen or heard of a wheat farmer spraying his fields with glyphosate as a desiccant. Wheat’s natural life cycle allows for it to ripen in the heat of the summer so it naturally dries to an acceptable moisture level for harvest. Who was your for the agriculture information you shared? I don’t know of any agronomist who would recommend the application of glyphosate 7 to 10 days before harvest.
Denial doesn’t magically make the problem disappear. Please do some research and see for yourself the truth about what the wheat industry is doing to the health of American citizens.
What exactly, is your background and education? Have you actually spoken to any agronomists while gathering your information? You have had a journalist and people who actually farm for a living and work in agri-business all tell you that you are mistaken, yet you hold fast to the idea that you are not. Wow. Amazing.
Just to clarify although it’s really just semantics … wheat farmers don’t spray glyphosate … they spray Roundup or another herbicide which contains glyphosate.
I think Holly has probably got more evidence than you by actually going to wheat farms to see for herself…Sarah your response to everything seems to be of the “I’m right and you’re wrong” kind
Sarah has not and did not say all wheat farmers use roundup as a pre harvest desiccant. She did say that Roundup can be, is, could be, etc. used in such a fashion. I am not a farmer now, was for 35+ years but in apples and truck farming/fruitstand. I KNOW farmers, family/owner farmers are far more caring of the land and their farm than many corporate “farmers” are. Just because you have never used and/or you know of no other farmer in your ares ever having used a particular product a certain way doe NOT mean it does not occur in other parts of the country. I know apple growers have an entirely different set of major pest problems on the East Coast verses farmers farming the same crop do on the West Coast. This is a VERY BIG country and we have many different growing regions with their own particular problems, weather or what ever. I know there have been farmers using Roundup to get the crop dry for harvest, DIRECTIONS FOR THIS USE IS IN THE UERS MANUAL for Pete’s sake (sorry Pete)!! I do not personally know a a single person who is a heroine user but I know there are heroine users all over out there.
Uh, glyphosate is the technical name and Roundup(TM) is the formulated name… Same CAS # same stuff. Your assertion is like saying Zocor “contains” simvastatin lol… It IS!
Your comment shows you don’t know what you’re talking about. Glyphosate is the active ingredient in Roundup, saying they spray Roundup and glyphosate is the same thing.
Here is some evidence to add to this discussion. It is from Monsanto explaining how to apply pre-harvest Roundup on wheat.
http://roundup.ca/_uploads/documents/MON-Preharvest%20Staging%20Guide.pdf
Respectfully,
Jerry Silbert, M.D.
I am not sure how you get to be a journalist covering agriculture without knowing about pre-harvest application of Roundup. But be that as it may, you could read Monsannto’s 45-page guide to the pre-harvest use of Roundup as a desiccant. If you feel strongly that they should not be recommending this, as a journalist, you should look into why they put out this brochure. I understand further from some comments on this list–haven’t checked it out myself–that use of Rounup in this way is suggested on the product directions.
http://roundup.ca/_uploads/documents/MON-Preharvest%20Staging%20Guide.pdf
How are you a journalist covering agriculture in the “heart of wheat country” and have never seen or heard of farmers using glyphosate as a desiccant? Either you are a bad journalist, or you are a shill.
Sarah,
Thanks for the great article. I had no idea they were using roundup for that purpose. It only reinforces my decision to go organic or farmer’s market for most of my produce/food. I’ve never had issues with wheat or grains, but have adopted a paleo/primal type diet this past 6 months and forgo all grains and beans when I can – I just made my twice a year visit to see my folks and I eat what they prepare, i.e. waffles, cookies, etc.
Steps we’ll take (wife has IBS and we’re following SCD diet for her) is to continue to exclude grains and beans (not sure of any nutritional benefit we are missing); source most foods thru farmers market and organic; eat minimal amounts of processed food by preparing our meals with actual food stuff.
Thanks again. Your site has been a valuable resource these past 6 months.
Very interesting. I have also suspected that the sensitivity is not the gluten itself.
Wheat Montana is certified to be chemical free? Would you use it? I do and my wheat sensitive child seems to do okay with it.
http://www.wheatmontana.com/faqs.php
If you are ok eating it, then stick with it 🙂 Observation is a key tool for maintaining health in this age of industrialized food where companies play games with labels, twist the truth, and think nothing of dousing food that children will be eating with poison prior to harvest.
I had the same question as Jody. I also use Wheat Montana berries. i’m a little confused as you say that observation is the key in this comment, but in the article it states that reactions may not occur immediately and can lead to autoimmune disorders and sensitivity later in life. Can you clarify? I’d love to be able to continue buying my Wheat Montana berries.
When I read about glyphoste several months ago, I emailed wheat montana because that’s what I have been using for years and they reassured me they do not use any roundup or glyphoste or any chemicals at all on their wheat ( even the nonorganic) so I feel one can be safe using their products.
Jody, yes.. this is what we eat and have never experienced any issues.
Sarah, I am in a state of shock! I’m pretty well-informed and have never heard of this, so I’m sure most people have no idea. I’m simply stunned. AND happy that I eat a nearly 100% organic diet.
Would organic wheat products be ok, since any roundup application would render the wheat non-organic?
Organic wheat would be fine as mentioned in the article.
But what about the fact that organics still use herbicides and pesticides. About 50% of which are known cancer causing chemicals. Just because it is organic (and I am an organic farmer) doesn’t mean we do not use chemicals and does not mean all our chemicals are completely safe. Especially big box store organic. So how does that fit in your data?
Then what the heck does “organic” even mean?
There is a whole raft of chemicals approved for use in organic production. You are misinformed if you think that organic = no pesticides/herbicides.
Reference for the Roundup information?
USDA is the source for the info … please refer to the article. It is there.
Although not linked in the article, it looks like Sarah pulled the chart (Fig. 4) from this PDF:
http://www.nass.usda.gov/Surveys/Guide_to_NASS_Surveys/Chemical_Use/ChemUseHighlights-Wheat-2012.pdf
First, we should note that the chart isn’t about Glyphosate specifically — that 99% figure is all “Herbicides.”
Second, on the following page in that same PDF, Table 1 shows “Top Herbicides Applied to Wheat Planted Acres, by Type.” Glyphosate isn’t in the top three for winter or spring wheat, but it is listed in Durum — showing 45% of planted acres.
Note that this is not just applications within days before harvest, it’s all applications.
I’m certainly not in favor of spraying our crops with any chemicals (I’m a big fan and promoter of Oragnic!) — but it looks like Sarah has significantly mis-read some of the data.
(Sarah, please correct me, with links, if I’m incorrect!)
Andrew, you can cross ref with data from this study: http://people.csail.mit.edu/seneff/ITX_2013_06_04_Seneff.pdf
So, where can we get wheat that is not toxic? Can we get it from other countries that don’t practice this method of harvesting?
See above in the article for how we approach eating wheat safely in our home. Not all places in Europe are a good idea … it’s my understanding that the UK practices widespread use of Roundup as a desiccant on wheat but it is banned completely in the Netherlands for example. You will have to check the country of origin and what the practices are currently there with regard to using herbicides as a pre-treat prior to harvest.
I did find information backing your assertion of pre-harvest application of glyphosate to wheat, however, it appears to be a common practice in much of Europe as well, which would seem to negate your premise of that being the reason why eating pasta or breads in Italy does not cause issues. Not arguing, would be happy to find a cause or reason why food sensitivities seem to have become so prevalent in recent years, just need for that information to be logical and viable.
If you purchase organic wheat you will be sure that such spraying does not occur. There is a link in this article that leads to a longer article on wheat itself and why we as a species are NOT ADAPTED to eating it or any other grain. Fruits, Vegetables and meats are recommended b/c they reflect the diets of our ancestors until very recently, in evolutionary terms.
Good Luck
Another person who does not understand that organic does not equal pesticide/herbicide/chemical free. It does not.
Could you list a the toxic or cancer-causing chemicals that can be applied to organic crops? I notice that you keep repeating the same claim over and over on this site, but without giving specifics. If you have information that could be helpful to us, please don’t hide it from us!
That’s the mark of a Monsanto troll.
You can view a list of pesticides permitted under very tightly controlled conditions here: http://www.xerces.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/xerces-organic-approved-pesticides-factsheet.pdf Most of them aren’t that scary: garlic, neem etc. Some people feel organic should mean no chemicals whatsoever, and there is room for debate here. Many organic farms genuinely don’t use any of these substances. I remember a post graduate student wanting to check for pesticide run off from an experimental organic farm producing sheep, cattle, cereals and turnips, because she had heard that organic farms all used loads of pesticides. She was very disappointed to discover that the pesticide use was precisely 0 (not even garlic :-)). I don’t like copper sulphate, but in many cases organic farmers are faced with a choice of using it or watching their entire potato crop rot. Claims that organic standards are being sold down the river or that organic food is full of chemicals are massively exaggerated. Organic standards are strict and hard to achieve. Policing them costs money. Biodynamic is a stricter standard than organic and consequently costs more. Choose that if you don’t want chemicals, but please don’t pretend that chemical pesticide use on organic farms is even close to what is being used routinely in conventional agri biz.
Purchase “NON GMO” food. THese foods are not sprayed with Roundup (glyphosate).
CArol
Not true. Plenty of nonGMO foods are sprayed with Roundup.
Which ones, other than cereal grains?
steer from corn, soy, even papaya (the ones from mexico are also gmo). along with wheat, they’re part of the 5 big gmo-related products in the US. the other one is from canada; canola.
Sarah,
There are no crops that are naturally resistant to glyphosate. Which crops are you saying get sprayed with Glyphosate while actively growing? I have worked in wheat production in Colorado for 30 years. I know of no one who is dessicatiing their wheat crop with any chemicals.
The herbicides are being used to kill the wheat, aka desiccate them before harvest. This is NOT GMO roundup ready wheat as some have confused the issue in the comments by suggesting. There is no GMO wheat being planted in the USA at this point as far as I know (with the exception of the test plots in Oregon that was publicized last year). This common and regular practice is wheat that is being sprayed with roundup to obtain an earlier, easier and bigger harvest.
That is an interesting comment as know GMO wheat is grown in the US. The oversea buyers do not want it.
No GMO wheat is grown in the US.
You delude yourself, Steve, if you think there is no GMO wheat in the USA. There is, even if it hasn’t been “planted” purposely.
You forget about wind drift. Those chemicals are everywhere and affect everything that grows. That’s the whole problem with “organic”. Is anything really truly organic anymore? Doubtful.
The fact that these chemicals are in the air means we don’t need to eat them (via wheat or anything else) because it’s in the air we breathe.
Big problem, no answers – until and unless bigChem companies are put out of business. Their pockets are deep and the CONgress of the USA will keep digging in them as long as the money is flowing. We are ruled by the dollar, which is also experiencing multi-faceted changes now and into the future. The USA is in trouble in many ways.