Gideon wrote:
Doug Kanter wrote
But the guvmint says the shit is safe.
Are you questioning our guvmint? :-)

============

Actually, every chemist that I know says that
Roundup is safe. I live in a university environment
and I know many PhD level chemists, including
some extremely "earth-friendly" professor types.

I was shock by how unanimous they were in trusting
Roundup. One organic gardener/chemistry professor
hasn't allowed any "chemical" on his lawn, garden or
compost piles for 20 years - except Roundup.

I'm convinced.

Gideon


Roundup is actually a variant on a plant hormone, which is why it works,
and why it's biodegradable. You can Roundup a weed patch and seed
whatever you like about two weeks later with no ill effects. Because
it's a variant, Monsanto was able to patent it, but the patents have run
out, and generic and differently branded versions are now available, at
much lower cost.

Monsanto now has Roundup-resistant Canola, wheat, and other crops
available, which they've patented. They won't sell them to a farmer
without also selling Roudnup. IMO, it's _not_ clear that Roudn-up
resistant crops are safe. Any time you tinker with one egne, you allso
chnage the effects of other genes, in unpredictable ways. This is why
breeding new varieties of organisms is difficult: selecting for a given
trait will also alter other traits. Short-circuiting the selection
process via gene modification doesn't change this principle.

But that's another issue.