MONSANTO AND ROUNDUP

The powerful biotechnology company Monsanto is also the manufacturer of Roundup herbicide weed killer that has received massive marketing. It is used all over the world. In England and Wales Roundup is routinely used by all the City Councils to spray the verges by the pavements. The operatives wear masks as they indiscriminately spray the poison at every green living plant in sight. One regularly sees the Roundup being sprayed at homeowners` front gardens and herbaceous borders. Sometimes the weeds are in fact attractive primroses but they are sprayed anyway. The consequences of all this heavy use of weed killer in residential environments should be highlighted.  Monsanto assures us it is harmless but this is hard to believe in the light of their track record. Those who walk their dogs along the pavements should be concerned as the pets are immediately exposed to the herbicide. This may result in expensive trips to the vet. The ugly results of Roundup are everywhere to see. There are brown patches of dead grass bordering green turf and large clumps of yellow vegetation. It looks messy and it is not benefiting the urban environment in any way. City Councils would be wiser to send an operative to manually remove the few weeds that may be covering drains, although the main issue is that of litter obstructing drains. Instead there is the unhealthy situation where Councils have been seduced by Monsanto and entire streets and gardens are being sprayed. I once caught a Council worker spraying weed killer into my front garden path and explained that it was private property. Furthermore weeds are an essential part of the eco system and provide food for insects and butterflies. Let us not forget that Monsanto manufactured Agent Orange in the 1960`s for the Vietnam War. They are devoid of scruples. Monsanto also produced DDT in the 1940`s for crop spraying. DDT was eventually banned after wide publicity from “Silent Spring” a book by environmentalist Rachel Carson.  The planet loving heady days of the sixties and seventies have now been superseded by the twenty first century concerns of global warming.  The new eco warrior of 2011 is far more concerned about temperature rise and the actions of Monsanto` s herbicide Roundup and Aspartame marketing are being somewhat ignored. The biotechnology giant has never had it so good as environmental groups devote their energy to carbon cutting instead of limiting the far more deadly synthetic poisons being produced by Monsanto all over the globe.