Toxic Turf

My wife fired off an email to our relatively new mayor last month inquiring about the use of Roundup in the community. Our next door neighbors sprayed some to deal with a rampant dandelion problem because the people across the street use the stuff, apparently, and they have nice green, weedless lawns. We were alarmed to learn about all this knowing that our twelve year old daughter often plays with our neighbors' kid in their yard. 

I've noticed Monsanto's Roundup is kept behind lock and key in big box retail stores around here, but I'm not at all sure where Health Canada or the FDA stand regarding residential spraying. Our neighbors' weed killing application got rid of their dandelions all right, destroying their grass right along with it. When they held up the Roundup container and told us the story, I directed their attention to the label: glyphosate.

My wife and I have serious concerns about adverse health effects due to Roundup given that the World Health Organization classified glyphosate as "probably carcinogenic in humans." For anyone wanting quick access to information about risks involved with Roundup and GMOs, a good place to start would be the Facebook page of Zen Honeycutt's organization: Moms Across America.

As the Dark Act GMO QR code calamity testifies, the majority of our politicians don't seem to care much about public safety when Monsanto's interests might be jeopardized. Although I don't have much faith, I'll be sure to let you know if we get a response from our mayor who, granted, must be a bit preoccupied these days because he's getting married soon. 

We like Mayor Altmann, are glad that he was elected and were pleased to see him at the TEDxStouffville event a few months back. Down the line, if he and his soon-to-be bride have the good fortune to become parents, I hope they won't be left in the dark when it comes to determining whether the groceries they buy to feed their growing family contain GMOs. And by the time their future children reach my daughter's age, I sure hope the political landscape will have changed to where dangers to public health will matter a whole lot more than corporate profit margins and maybe then toxins in our environment will no longer be on the rise. 

--DT