November 2, 2016 | Genetic Literacy Project
Has the growing of GMOs led to a “flood” of pesticide use as critics contend? You see such claims rampant on advocacy sites. “Herbicide and Insecticide Use on GMO Crops Is Skyrocketing, and Rubber-Stamped Approvals Now Usher in Next-Gen GMOs,” screams a headline on natural product huckster Joseph Mercola’s eponymous website. Such statements are a staple during GMO labeling ballot initiatives–and they are effective. Who would want to embrace an innovation if it ended up doing more harm than good.........
Opposition by environmental groups to recent USDA approvals of new herbicide tolerant biotech crops underlines a strange aspect to the debates about how to lower the environmental impact of agriculture. Earlier this year, Food and Water Watch predictably came out against Monsanto’s new glyphosate and dicamba tolerant soybeans, claiming that it would lead to more resistant weeds and massive problems with pesticide drift........
In 2014, the Environmental Working Group warned the nation that hundreds of thousands of American school children would newly be at risk to a toxic weed killer............
The big thing that stands out in the debate between advocates of technologically progressive agriculture and the opponents of technological agriculture is the persistence of the idea that the use of pesticides is still a major problem, if not the central environmental impact of agriculture, that needs to be addressed. This is unfortunate. It’s just not accurate. It’s a cul-de-sac in the discussion about how to improve the environmental footprint of agriculture. It’s a distraction from the addressing the major environmental impacts......To Read More...
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