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
What these farmers are doing is criminal.
I agree!
This article is very informative. However, to call the farmers criminal is to call the government criminal. Look to your government who subsidizes farms and wants results. Our currunt leader signed a number of bills into law that gives Monsanto (creator of round up and many other toxic chemicals over the past century) free reign to do what they want and tak I over farms and others farms just from the laws he has signed. The farmers do what they do based off the rules they are forced to play by.
I don’t agree. Farmers always have a choice to farm in a nontoxic manner than won’t harm others or the environment.
Well, yes, but it takes both courage and motivation. Courage to resist doing what everyone else is doing to be competitive, and motivation to avoid what they’ve been assured is safe. Why would they?
Even when a farmer knows the truth, when you’re talking about Big Agro, the effect of individual conscience is both diluted, and superseded by economic concerns.
Several people have made anecdotal reports of both the use of Glyphosate as a desiccant in their areas, as well as the opposite, that it is not used as a desiccant in their areas. Sarah, is there documentation that it is being used on wheat crops in specific locations in the USA? Thank you.
I don’t have data on where the glyphosate applications are being applied … only that it is happening to the majority of wheat grown in the US.
How about Organic wheat? I am in Canada- but many organic products are manufactured in the USA.In order to have the Organic label- it would have to be free of these toxins-no? or one can only hope….
It is my understanding it is less than 5% of the wheat being grown in the United States. If you can prove otherwise could you please share?
What is your source for the 5% data?
As an ordinary citizen just trying to eat well, I am increasingly confused. GMO is bad, GMO is fine. Gluten is the root of all evil. It’s not gluten, it’s wheat. Blah blah blah. I don’t know what to believe anymore. What I do know for sure is that we are getting fatter and sicker as a society. Probably it’s a combination of factors – too much fat, sugar, salt and depletion of nutrients caused by industrial food production. I personally have been trying to determine the root cause of my increasingly frequent migraines, which could be linked to any number of environmental toxins in my food supply, or nothing at all. It would be nice to have regulatory bodies that are impartial and aren’t stacked with ex-Big Food company executives and lobbyists. Feeling very hopeless…
Fat only makes people fat when paired with sufficient carbs to put your body into fat-storage mode because it can’t burn all the sugar (from the carbs) right now. Eating it in the absence of high (for you) carbs, you lack a storage mechanism. Especially if it’s medium-chain triglycerides, like coconut oil.
I got off wheat in 2012 and I don’t get migraines now. Or if I do they are so mild I can still cope with them and a little medication (just Excedrin, and just half a dose, one tablet instead of two) knocks them right out.
You could try that. Contrary to what the grain industry and its lackeys (USDA, ADA, etc.) tell you, you will not die without grain. Just go without it for a month or two and see what happens. I would, in your situation, also increase my magnesium intake. Citrate or malate or glycinate if you use a supplement. On the off-chance that there is a controllable diet-related reason you are hurting, best to tackle that first because the prescription drugs they offer for migraines are horrific.
Dana, I like this comment and the later one about farmer/forager. Thanks.
Dana, just because it is fine to not eat something, doesn’t mean that it wouldn’t be better to eat it.
You are being illogical.
I could go without drinking wine, but my soul is made better by drinking it.
Civilization, and the farming that goes with it, are not bad for people. It is how you farm that is the key.
Not just your soul benefits from wine (and alcohol in general).
Dana, I used to have awful migraines, and I finally figured out that I have multiple food allergies and often they are hidden ingredients..anyway, I started using a homeopathic allergy medicine…2 under my tongue at the first sign and Voila! No more bad headaches! I am like you, in that I do have an occasional mild one. Love your comments! So logical! Thanks!
Simple fact is that what she stated is true, and the reason GMO is bad is because GMO crop seeds have been injected with Roundup already, the same Roundup that she mentions in this article. Both GMO and this process of wheat production do the very same thing, enter the seed and cannot be washed off. Take a stand and call your representative to have standard farming practices changed and chemicals reduced or taken away.
The seed are not injected with roundup. That is not how GMOs work. they are modified to resist the chemical roundup. Ask a plant scientist.
I second the magnesium recommendation. I have gone a year straight without one after simply supplementing mag every day. I am a male who has gotten migraines with aura aphasia, you name it since I was 5. Otherwise never sick (like 3 times in 40 years). Try the magnesium.
This explains why I developed such a strong debilitating reaction to wheat so soon in my life. I ate A LOT of conventional wheat as a child. I was born in the late 80s, so most of my childhood glyphosate use was on the rise. We had toast with breakfast, bagels for treats when we went out, wheat-based cereal often as a snack, bread with dinner, and so on.
Unfortunately, removing wheat was NOT ENOUGH to recover. My stomach had several life-threatening holes in it by the time I was sixteen. I had to change my entire diet and lifestyle to save my life. Because of this experience, I’ve dedicated much of the past ten years to developing recipes and meal plans that are not only wheat-free, but also are delicious and *healing* for those who have already developed digestive concerns.
It’s still a GMO concern, crops are being modified to make them more resistant to pesticides so that more pesticides can be used.
This is a completely false statement. GMO have reduced the number of pesticides applied to agriculture…Anyone can understand the simple economical logic that farmers are business people, they need to make money to stay in business. Why would they use a crop that is going to have them spending more money on pesticide applications? They wouldn’t! Before the Roundup Ready GMOs were introduced more harmful herbicides were used as well as tillage practices that caused terrible erosion problems and less fertile soils. Please, please educate yourself on the history of agriculture…talk to a farmer, email a local county agent, area or state specialist from your state land grant university…all of these things can give you the factual, educated information on agriculture and GMOs.
Not true … this was what was initially thought until the emergence of super weeds that has now caused MORE roundup to be used, not less. Hence the recent increase in the EPA’s allowable amount of glyphosate residue in food!
These super weeds you refer to are called round up resistant weeds that became resistant to round up all by themselves with no modifications from man. You can’t even argue that because I don’t know anyone that wants kochia in there land or can use it for anything. Since weeds like kochia are resistant to round up, we as farmers do not use more round up because it doesn’t work. We use an entirely different chemical altogether. You need more research from an educational source.
You are misinformed. The amounts of pesticides being used on crops has skyrocketed and it coincides directly with the introduction and increased planting of GMO crops. The reason the plants are made resistant to Roundup is so they can spray MORE on them, not less. As far as being educated, your recommended sources for GMO information are completely biased towards the biotech industry. You clearly have not done your homework GMO food crops and the biotech companies that have integrated their products into our food supply under the radar, while doing everything they can to prevent people from knowing what they are consuming. An honest company with integrity sells their products by advertising it. If it is a good product it becomes successful because of supply and demand for the product. There has not been any demand from the public for GMO’s, only opposition, yet the products are being forced into our food supply regardless of it. If Monsanto’s products were actually an improvement over the products they are replacing, then they would want it to be included on the product labels so the consumer can find it when they want to purchase it. When a product has no demand for it and production continues to increase, the consumer is being deceived.
Haha you’re absolutely right, I just go spray round up wherever I please and as much as possible because it’s so cheap and plentiful. I have news for you. Round up doesn’t even work like it did 10 or 20 years ago. Its a worthless product in my opinion and many farmers would agree. Any product that we have to use more of is a pain in the ass basically and takes more time and money. We aren’t oil to do 5that and if you think we are then you are sadly misinformed.
Let’s have the facts on both sides. University data shows that GLOBAL population is projected to reach 9 Billion by 2050. With more land daily being covered by houses, concrete and asphalt, there will be less land for food production. While there are roof gardens, containers, etc., the majority of city dwellers cannot produce enough food to be self-sufficient. Organic practices cannot fully meet the needs by 2050. By the way, organic practices include the application of manures onto agricultural production sites. Yummy! Actually, proper application techniques are the most environmentally safe methods of disposing of manure.
I find it interesting that Liberals, more likely to resist pesticide usage, oppose use of technology that presents the opportunity to reduce the use of pesticides. And Conservatives, famously proposing “Let the market decide!”, resist including a listing of GMO’s on food labels, which would allow the customers to decide the economic survival of GMO’s in their food.
I have been involved in regulation, investigation, and now education of pesticide use for the past 24 years. In 1990, I was trained to identify the effects of various herbicides based on the visual symptoms they produced on various plants. I was educated on which ones persisted in the plant tissues and environment, and which ones degraded quickly. I find the continued reference to glyphosate as highly toxic to be interesting, as I was taught that, if I could identify glyphosate or 2,4-d as the causative agent(s), I should photograph the evidence but not take tissue samples as our state lab would not be able to extract the chemical due to the rapid degradation of those chemicals.
Many of the herbicides traditionally used by farmers and ranchers were used at rates of pints or quarts of concentrate per acre. Newer herbicides and insecticides are frequently used at 1.5 – 4.0 fluid ounces/acre, and those that have proven to be at risk of causing human health problems or leaching into ground water have had their registrations cancelled in the U.S. Some of these are still used by our international trading partners who supply our foods. This means our farmers can’t use them, but they may still be on the food we import.
Does anyone remember 2,4,5-T (component of Agent Orange and a common timber/brush herbicide into the 1970’s), DDT, Chlordane, BHC, Dursban? We found out they were harmful to the environment, people, or both, and that other, safer products were available that accomplished the same goals, so those “Golden Oldies” disappeared from the shelves.
Did anyone see the old magazine advertisements stating “Better Living Through Chemicals”? Does anyone remember the huge numbers of grasshoppers invading the Northwest Oklahoma/Southwest Kansas/Texas Panhandle area of the late ’80’s? Have you seen the videos of millions of mice invading Australian grain farms SEVERAL TIMES IN THIS CENTURY? Without pesticides, much of that grain would be lost, and the resulting lower food supplies would cause higher food prices, along with more hunger and starvation.
Pesticides are neither good or bad, they are a tool in the hands of the people. They are costly, and take time, expensive equipment, and labor to apply. They may be helpful or harmful, depending on how they are used or misused.
As for what they can and cannot be used on, much time and research goes into proving efficacy and safety on each crop. I personally investigated the illegal use of a fungicide on a crop that was not on the label. It was approved for more than 30 crops, including peaches, strawberries, carrots, potatoes, and many others. The illegal use was on peanuts, which grow in a pod in the ground. It was illegal due to the fact that peanuts were not listed on the label, simply because the manufacturer had not done any research to prove the product on peanuts, not because of any proven health or environmental risk. Nonetheless, all the peanuts from those fields were removed from the food and animal feed system.
Lumping all GMO’s together is irrational. Some GMO’s possess increased resistance to fungal or bacterial diseases, others increase insect resistance, or lengthen shelf life, improving the quality of foods in areas far from where it grows. Some even have higher contents of selected amino acids for improved nutrition. Some scientists are currently working on introducing the nitrogen-production capabilities of legumes into crops like corn, which would reduce the need for commercial nitrogen-containing fertilizers and lessen the risk of high nitrogen levels in our creeks, rivers and lakes.
And we have to face the fact that other factors may contribute to our diminishing health. We are becoming fatter because of our more sedentary lifestyle in combination with the foods we choose to eat. Many chemicals from our diet and our environment are stored in fat. When we decide to exercise, we may metabolize those fat cells and release those chemicals into our system at a higher rate than when we consumed them. Gluten and other food allergies are diagnosed at an ever-increasing rate. I work a good deal with kids, and now have to be cautious about what snacks are served at our events. And even doctors admit that kids today are more sensitive to certain bacteria than previous generations because they are less likely to be exposed to them in low levels in nature, which would build their own immunity.
What about other data? When I was a kid (yes, several decades ago!), a soda pop was a real treat, once every couple of weeks or even a month. Now, for most, it is a daily or more common beverage, and this increase in consumption coincides with the same dates mentioned above for increased GMO use.
GMO’s have the potential to increase food production in drought-stricken areas, reduce pesticide and fertilizer use, improve the environment. They also carry the risk of creating serious health problems for humans, food animals and pets. We simply MUST do the research to find out which ones are safe for human consumption. We must educate the public about the findings of this research. AND WE SHOULD ERR ON THE SIDE OF CAUTION, NOT PROFITS OR RAPID, INCOMPLETE RESULTS THAT SUPPORT THE POSITION OF THE COMPANY FUNDING THE RESEARCH. Pure science, untainted by profits or politics from either side, must provide the answers.
Heather, your only problem, is that all your information is coming from one source that has MAJOR conflict of interest. One source…So, all of your suggestions have gotten their information from ONE source. That is the problem.
THANK YOU for this article. For the last two years when I eat wheat, whether it is wheat pasta or wheat rolls and or bread, etc., I immediately get blister sores inside my mouth and I have digestive problems with constipation. I have been checked for celiac and the blood test came back as normal. I was positive I was reacting to the wheat. I took all grains out of my diet and no sores. After a couple of months I tried eating a roll and the sores reappeared immediately. My doctors ALL have encouraged eating wheat and so does all marketing in the US and might I add they do one heck of a job. I feel better since removing the grains from my diet. Not easy to do but a MUST.
One more comment – when I was in France and Italy I could eat ALL grains.
I am 67 and in good health. I LOVE bread, pasta, cereal, etc. I am tall, average weight and have all my teeth. I am most likely a “Roundup Baby.” What Is clear to me in these later years is how common cancer has become. It is epidemic! I am certain it’s the air, the water and the food we consume. These toxins are man made and the toxins created through “better chemistry” is what ails us. It is so prevalent that it has invaded the entire food chain. In all honesty, we need to evacuate this entire planet NOW!!! But of course we cant. And the Big Money is on the corporate entities that “owe it to their shareholders” to turn record profits…no matter how they get there. THIS IS THE CRUX of the problem. Corporate Mindset. Built- in- greed. More proof that Roundup has won. And no doub will go on winning. People don’t want to hear more bad news. They might have to take action, and they are already over-worked, underpaid, and over burdoned. It’s a death of a thousand cuts.
Sarah, Spraying wheat with Roundup (glyphosate) before harvest or any other time is not a standard practice in the U.S. There is no Roundup Ready variety wheat available for farmers to plant in the U.S. Wheat turns a golden color naturally when it is mature and ready for harvest. Don’t let one 50 year wheat farmer make it look as if this is the cause.
The article discusses this please read first before commenting! Yes, there is no GMO (roundup ready) wheat YET in the US (test plots are in process however and have contaminated local NonGMO fields). This is about using roundup to kill regular wheat for dry-down … for an earlier, bigger and easier harvest. If you deny this is done, how do you explain the USDA data that put glyphosate application to wheat at 99% in 2012 for durum? oops, hand caught in the cookie jar it seems!
Sarah, sources, please? Could you provide link to the USDA data you mention?
Sourced in the article!!!!!
Sarah, I am speaking of soft red winter wheat which is claimed 61%. The reason I deny this is done is that I have grown soft red winter wheat for 9 years and no chemicals are sprayed in my area before harvest on soft red winter wheat. The winter wheat is harvested in May and temperatures here are in the 90’s. I can assure you that the winter wheat does not need any help drying down. I do not know about the other types of wheat or where your sources derive their information. I am just stating facts from my wheat farming operation.
Sarah, The USDA data you provided does not specifically provide info on Roundup. As the gallons of harmful chemicals has been reducing, the gallons of safer chemicals has been rising. You would prefer to not speerate the chemical use this way. What about BT Sarah, toxic chemical right? Come on take the bait… You know it is a natural chemical and allowed for use on Organic, and also the chemical that was inserted in corn. However you cannot explain why it is ok. Instead you choose to focus on the Wheat… If you spray wheat with Roundup it will die. It will not increase yield, and the grain will not be coated with Roundp chemical because it was growing inside a husk, which would “protect’ it from the spray. Also, the wheat seeds which can go into processing for food, or for animal feed, would be dead. I grow wheat for seed, and if we believe your statements, then the seed wheat wouldn’t grow, it would be dead. That is not the case either. I am a farmer in a wheat production area, I’d like to continue to talk about this with you.
Correct. The data provided is for glyphosate containing herbicides … Roundup is only one of many. I just use the word Roundup because everyone seems to know what it is.
Not necessarily disagreeing, but “application to wheat” could also mean “at some time during the planting/harvest cycle.” Doesn’t mean it was applied in the last few days/hours before harvest.
I would like to see the USDA report that states these claims because I have searched high and low and can’t find it anywhere.
1. I am a farmer. It is not “standard practice.” Applying round up is done to ripen the field evenly but at a safe time to do so. Fields that have this done to them, farmers must wait a certain amount of time to harvest which by the time the field is dry, such time has passed.
2. Applying round up most certainly does not increase our profits! It costs a lot of money ($6-$8 per acre) to do so. Round up does not produce or “release” more seeds from the plant. When plant is ready to be sprayed that means it’s ready for harvest and the plant has run out of plant food or fertilizer and has made all the seeds it can make. If round up could magically produce more seeds you wouldn’t see it on Wal-Mart’s shelf for consumers as it would cost a significant higher dollar.
3. I love people that talk about GMO wheat. I have news for everyone, all wheat is GMO! All corn, canola, soybeans, barley, you name it, it’s GMO. It’s called introducing traits such as drought tolerance so even on drought years something grows so we have something to feed the people. It would be tough to go to the market and wonder why there is no food one day wouldn’t it?
4. Farmers will do anything to save a dollar because we are the bottom of the filter. When prices of everything goes up (land, seed, fertilizer, machinery, parts, labor, chemical for weeds disease insects and many others) the farmer does not get to pass that on down the road like the grocery stores marks up their prices and mechanics raise their labor or parts, no the farmer takes a loss. We can’t tell the grain elevator to raise their prices in fact during such time the prices fall and time gets tight and many farmers cannot make it and their passion for growing and feeding the nation falls with it!
5. Getting into why wheat is getting people sick. With excessive rainfall this year especially, wheat becomes diseased and when it’s marketed it is tested. If it’s too bad it should be rejected but if a milling company makes a mistake (and hey we are human it happens) that wheat goes into production. So I guess I’m here to say don’t be so quick to judge the American farmer as we are doing a service for our country that really goes unnoticed until a non-farmer looks into something and says that’s bad. The miniscule amount of money we make we try to farm the best we can and legally because we love our land and animals and hope to do good practices to hand down to our children someday.
How do you refute the skyrocketing applications of glyphosate to the US wheat crop then (USDA data) as charted in the study above?
And how do you tell me that Europe is banning the use of round up yet still buys wheat from America?
Europe is a lot of countries. So far, only a few have banned Roundup or have taken steps moving toward it.
Sandy my heart goes out to you and the rest of the farmers in America. I’d like to urge folks who don’t farm (which is just about everyone) to not blame the farmers entirely for the problems in our food supply. Working on such small margins they can’t afford to cut out the very parts of farming that are literally killing them (and us).
Once you are in debt they insist you use ‘best practices’ to insure a crop, and those practices are dictated, yes dictated, by the agri-chem industry through their minions at the farm service agencies and banks. These industries have just one goal, not feeding America, but increasing profits.
Thirty years ago we went organic on our farm though no one had hardly even heard the word. When asking for information from government agencies we were met with clueless stares and downright hostility. Bank loans? Forget it. Yet we believed in chemical free food so we struggled by and did it anyway.
In those days people were not willing to pay more for the better product, but now many are. Organic is big and getting bigger and the agri-chem people are scared as it is cutting into their profits. To them I say TOO FRICKEN BAD.
Today we are still struggling and poor but unlike almost all our conventional farming neighbors we have no health problems yet, thank God!
I urge everyone to cut out processed food. If it is in a box it is probably worse than worthless. Buy organic fruit and vegetables, local meat if possible. Also, be aware that certified organic by the USDA is only marginally organic. Remember, they work for the agri-chem industry and the standards they use have been watered down big time. Check for third party certification on the label. Best idea is to grow it yourself and cut out all the middle men. But that is pretty hard for most people.
Remember, above all, you have to protect yourself because if you think the government or anyone else is going to you are sadly mistaken.
Thanks Alienor. It’s good to know some people actually care about what they produce and are not brow-beaten by the corporate bully-boys. I live in Devon, England, very near a very well-known organic farm, Riverford, that produces many different organic crops and meats. It is so popular and they send veg boxes out all over Europe, every single day. They make their own kefir and yoghurts from their own milk, plus everything else you could think of – it’s where I purchase my Einkorn wheat flour.
I am sure you are right in saying you have to protect yourself in this world, because nobody else is going to. I don’t even trust doctors anymore, because as soon as you ask about taking quite innocuous supplements, they clam up, they don’t want to know. They only want you to take a chemical drug that will ‘manage’ a condition; they are not interested in discovering a cure. I’m sure that is a generalisation, but, to date, merely from personal experience. This is the first time I’ve been made aware that the trouble I have with wheat could be connected to my kidney’s only operating at eGFR 52. I don’t take drugs and I don’t drink alcohol, so it’s has to be something else.
Good luck to you and your farming methods, and I’m sure with the changing ethos on food, you will become a little richer in the future.
No, EVERYTHING is NOT GMO!
GMO refers to an organism that has been genetically modified through gene supplementation in a lab. It’s also called a Genetically Engineered crop. The genes are usually taken from things that would NEVER be combined in the plant through any normal or natural selection process.
Drought tolerance and yields can be enhanced through selective breeding between like species of plants. This can happen either with human encouragement or through natural selection. These types of plants are called Hybrids. NOT GMO.
There really is a very big difference!
Sources: http://www.motherearthnews.com/real-food/hybrid-seeds-vs-gmos-zb0z1301zsor.aspx#axzz3JcXZ753l
http://www.foodrenegade.com/hybrid-seeds-vs-gmos/
Please learn the difference!
Here is the how to spray your wheat pre harvest right off the Roundup website. They say it shouldn’t be used as a desiccant but rather as a way to kill weeds just prior to harvest but that is likely because the FDA or similar regulatory body hasn’t approved it for this use. This pdf clearly has a graph showing how the practice increases yield and uniformity of harvest so it’s with a bit of a wink and a nod that the desiccation wording is included. http://roundup.ca/_uploads/documents/MON-Preharvest%20Staging%20Guide.pdf
The increase in yield comes from the fact that drier wheat and straw will trash better in the combine when harvested. Greener, damp grain caused problems during and afterwards in storage. So with roundup a farmer can harvest more grain out of the field without leaving green unripe wheat behind to rot. I not the the plant increase they out put, the farmer can just harvest more of what is there.
Roger, you, obviously, know little about the life-cycle of wheat and how and when it is harvested. Harvested wheat is not green (live) and not, typically, damp. Economically speaking, it is unprofitable and more to the point, unnecessary to use Round-up on most wheat crop, much less wheat that is ripe for the harvest. If a farmer were to use it, it would be to kill the weeds after the harvest to prepare the ground for the next growing season in order to kill the wheat for a better yield. However, most of the time, the minimal increase isn’t worth the investment. Please talk with a few dozen (as in 48 or more) actual wheat farmers and you will learn that Round-up (Glyphosate) isn’t applied near the harvest–it’s a matter of simple economics–it’s just not worth the money. The product and application costs are an average of $8/acre. The return on investment (ROI) is very poor. Several wheat farmers have responded and have debunked the Round-up (Glyphosate) harvest application claim presented in the article, yet anti-Round-up zealots refuse to consider the truth from those who make their living from wheat farming. They are not all lying when they say it’s just not economical…and, typically, unnecessary.
As a rural Canadian in the wheat belt of Saskatchewan, I can tell you that it is common practice here as well. I live amongst and service the farmers in this area. Yes, wheat turns a golden color naturally, but the big farmers here do not want to wait for naturally- they have tens of thousands of acres to harvest and need it out of the ground NOW. Before the weather turns bad, before a freak hail storm, before the snow hits the ground. Another thing, it is not just wheat they are doing this with to expedite the harvest!
The wheat does not have to be genetically modified to be desiccated with an herbicide like round up. Glyphosate is not the only herbicide used for this either. Nor is wheat the only crop being “dried” Crop desiccation is a HUGE problem for the consumer. People need to wake up and unfortunately, study and learn as much as you can about agriculture-agribusiness. Monsanto gets most of the attention from angry consumers but they are not the only player in this crime against humanity. Syngenta, Dow, BASF, Bayer, DuPont are all in this game. This excellent article focuses on wheat, but wheat is just the tip of the iceberg. If people knew what was being done to their food while it is growing and being shipped there would be outrage. As I said, Crop desiccation is a huge problem for the consumer. Here are a few crops that are commonly sprayed with desiccants. Cereal grains-Oilseed rape-legumes-linseed-lupins-flax-linola-maize-sunflower-kiwi-wine,grapes-raspberries-apples-soy-alfalfa(new gmo too)-potatoes and sugar cane to name just a few.. DOES ANYBODY LIKE TO EAT THOSE FOODS? I do so I eat organic. The problem does not stop there. Certain foods are sprayed with growth regulators like potatoes so they dont grow the roots out in the grocery store. Non organic bananas are fumigated with a fungicide and stuck in bags so they dont rot in shipping. Does anybody like celery? Well you better get organic celery because regular celery is hammered with multiple pesticides, this is just a few examples, please educate yourself on problematic crops and what it takes to get them to market. A few people mentioned super weeds and the resistance to glyphosate. Yes this a real problem and Dow chemical has come to the rescue. We will now have a new breed of gmo crops enter the market place called “Enlist” These new crops will be able to withstand being sprayed with 2,4-D and for those who dont know, 2,4-D was a component of Agent Orange. Please study up, its the best way to protect yourself and your family.
Great article. Both Roundup and Reglone can be used as a desiccant. Roundup more to get rid of broadleaf weeds I believe. Reglone to dry down the crop and get rid of moisture for milling. Yes, wheat desiccation has been increasing with increased applications for at least the last 20 years, and increasing particularly when Roundup went off patent and the price reduced.
This all helps explain why the permitted residues of glyphosate (Roundup) were permitted to increase by 600% in 2007/8. Probably belatedly.
People going on about organic sprays – neither Reglone or Roundup are certified to be used by organic producers.
I believe you will find these practices more commonly in temperate climate regions with higher (and possibly less predictable) rainfall. Warmer climates and more rainfall equals more fungicides, more insecticides and more herbicides as there is more overall growth.
Therefore perhaps the North of France may have more frequently desiccated harvests than the south of France. Ditto for example for Minnesota and Manitoba than for dryer wheat growing regions.
When we lived in the South of France for a year I didn’t meet any gluten intolerant kids. Interestingly the North of France seems to be the base for French celiac societies etc. Back here in New Zealand where we have a mix of local wheat and Australian wheat I am surrounded by ‘gluten’ intolerant families.
I believe it is cumulative – higher residues in cereals and drinking water, gluten but also production processes.
It is for these reasons that I believe drinking water should be tested for commonly applied pesticides particularly in these cereal growing regions – especially for glyphosate, and the sooner our authorities consider how damaging the full formulation of these pesticides, the better we will be.
Most countries don’t test drinking water for Roundup/glyphosate as they follow WHO as the WHO declares: ‘Glyphosate occurs ‘in drinking-water at concentrations well below those of health concern’ Unfortunately this is based on an outdated, private Monsanto study from 1981. Seriously, where is the science. This can only be rampant protectionism when you consider the work that independent scientists are doing to illustrate that the levels we are currently exposed to are dangerous.
http://www.rite-demands.org/water/
I believe that the increased incidence of gut related diseases like celiac disease in these regions world wide mirrors heavier use of pesticides in these cereal growing regions. Known as the mysterious ‘Northern Latitude diseases’ – they follow the pattern of these higher rainfall temperate cereal growing regions.
http://www.rite-demands.org/geographic-clustering-pesticides/
But until our governments (that’s yours and mine and the rest of the world) actually look at modern science and test for the full formulation of pesticides. Until our assessment agencies consider the needs of the developing foetus and child in their pesticide assessments – they do none of this now – this will continue to be a disaster for the families dealing with problems related to permeable gut.
In most of these cases permeable gut is present before onset of disease and is a common cofactor in allergies (including hay fever), bronchial asthma, type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis, CFS & ME, atopic eczema, dermatitis and psoriasis, some cancers, metabolic and cardiovascular disturbances.
Just to name a few. So until our governments take responsibility and look at the science the incidence rate will continue to soar – not to mention the mental health ramifications.
We want more science – more research. That’s all. Our assessment agencies – the WHO, US EPA and Europe’s EFSA – are failing us.
Jodie Bruning https://www.facebook.com/pages/RITE-A-safer-system-of-pesticide-assessment/343933555791024
This was very informative and alarming. Thank you for sharing your perspective. I live in Seattle, WA and am going to contact my local water company about testing.
Thank you Jodie.
I have tried passing on the information to family, especially those who suffer with RA/psoriasis (sister) and heart and circulatory problems (another sister). They trust their doctors and think I’m mad to take the line I do. Well, you can only point to the road, you cannot dictate that they walk it, even if to do so would be to their advantage.
For the Australians reading this article:
My father works for the company that makes and distributes Roundup in Australia and I am a natural therapist so we have these kinds of debates all the time.
Here is his reply when I queried him on it:
“Pre harvest application of Glyphosate is a registered use pattern in Australia and we have applied for a label claim on Roundup Ultramax.
I must object to the use of the words “drench” and “Toxic” as neither are correct.
For a start Glyphosate as a chemical is less toxic to mammals than is common salt. You can drink it and all that will happen is you will get the runs from the amount of detergent that is used to get it into the plant.
As for drench – 1.2L of the 570 g/L Roundup Ultramax in 50L of water spread over each hectare [10.000 square metres] is a small amount over a large area.. This product interferes with photosynthesis and starves the plant.
The alternatives used for desiccation are sprayseed and grammoxone which also act on the nervous systems in mammals so are undesirable. So Roundup is a preferred product.
The reason for these applications is not just to aid harvest for the machines it is to stop seed set of the weeds and help kill the weeds that other chemicals have failed to kill and to prevent resistance in a well balanced farming system.
Also this use pattern has been extensively scrutinised by APVMA and USDA and Maximum residue limits have been set and are tested for in the end product. The reason that there is no residues in the wheat is that the glumes which capture the product on the wheat are dying at the time they are sprayed so no translocation occurs and they are thrashed off during harvest.”
Now I firmly believe in not putting anything toxic into our bodies and here is Aus we are lucky (so far) as we haven’t got GM wheat growing here. As with all commercially grown crops – chemical use is something to be aware of if you are consuming.
I must also mention that in this article it mentions the affect of the Shikimate Pathway affecting our gut microbes – not sure where this information is found as this pathway doesn’t occur in mammals – including our bacteria. And most of our Tyrosine (the end result in plants) will come from animal products or nuts and seeds.
From my own research and knowledge, the reason our wheat is more “toxic” is absolutely because it has been sprayed – but not because of the spray at the end of the cycle. The wheat produced in the 1940s had 40% less gluten (gluten is contained in the ‘husk’ of the wheat).. then came along the depression and wheat was one of our biggest commodities so we needed to preserve and produce as much as we could – so we sprayed. Thus, as the wheat grew, the husk grew thicker. As the wheat became resistant, it needed more spraying- and there is our ‘toxic’ cycle.
Nicely put. Always great to hear both sides so one can make up their own mind.