If you are basing your arguments on 'stunning NEW documents' you need to link them here.

It really doesn't matter what we home gardeners do. The AG industry uses so much Roundup, that is the problem. The GMO foods are specifically bred to be resistant to RU so they can be sprayed with it (instead of spraying just the weeds). So RU is actually sprayed on the food. What you can do is avoid any corn or soybean products (it's very hard since they are in EVERYTHING) and only eat non-GMO foods. Some people have speculated that the use of RU has caused many of the digestive issues we have now.

oh, and I don't know why you have to bring Trump into it. The EPA has been in bed with Monsanto for decades and Hillary Clinton was on the board of Monsanto.

As home gardeners and consumers I contend that it actually does matter what we do...Consumers have quite a bit of power.

Individually, we can put our money toward organic farmers that uphold our same beliefs instead of those in the AG industry that don't.

We can also help educate others in a helpful, open minded way, of ways to shop for and eat food that is not GMO and organic and also affordable. It can be hard to find, but it is out there. Education, community involvement and consumer activism really does make an impact and it's a wonderful legacy to leave behind.

Consumer trends steer industry. What each person does really does matter. Politics aside.

If it was bad before, which you are correct in pointing out, I don't see it getting any better with Trump. I don't know why we would leave him out of it.

thanks for bringing this to our attention, it's so important for us not to get complacent

Homeowner fertilizer and pesticide use actually adds up to a greater total volume of chemicals being introduced to the environment than do applications made by the agriculture industry. Rose hobbyists get caught up in heavy chemical use to a large extent because selection for disease resistance was long generally ignored until recently. And fungus resistance is a recessive character in roses. Once homeowners started spurning roses because of a well deserved reputation for being needful resistant cultivars coming out of commercial breeding programs became normal. Here I believe I saw selections at local outlets swell with the vogue for old garden roses and the appearance of Austin roses, only to fall off markedly for a time. And now just this year I am seeing what appears to be a significant expansion in at least two major independent garden centers. But I haven't actually asked any buyers at these places how many roses they have been ordering each year during the period of observation.

The common idea of a rose garden being rows of them planted by themselves in soil kept bare might have driven a lot of the herbicide use. If ground cover and other companion planting was used more often it would probably cut into a lot of the weed spray use around roses.

As an aside I've read the cottage garden/mixed border style National Collection rose plantings at Mottisfont Abbey in Britain are maintained using glyphosate. I wonder how they do it, in my experience it seems if you even talk about spraying Round Up within earshot of roses they are damaged by it. Maybe the Mottisfont gardeners are using funnels attached to the nozzles or other methods to control drift.

sincerely doubt that the home gardener use of pesticides comes close to what agriculture uses. Just since the introduction of GMO 'Round Up Ready' crops, the increase in pesticides has increased by 383 million pounds, plus, as I said, they are spraying it ON food which we eat. The same with fungicides and other chemicals, they are widely used in agriculture. Except the ones that are used in AG are stronger and more toxic.

The link attached says that Agriculture is responsible for 80% of the pesticide use in the US. http://www.sustainabletable.org/263/pesticides

The author affiliations of this very recent published scientific review are:

1. 1Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health and Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts—Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA
2. 2Department of Developmental and Cell Biology, University of California, Irvine, California, USA
3. 3Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics, Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine, King's College London, London, UK
4. 4University of Newcastle, Newcastle, UK
5. 5Benbrook Consulting Services, Enterprise, Oregon, USA
6. 6TEDX, The Endocrine Disruption Exchange, Paonia, Colorado, USA
7. 7L. Everett & Associates, Santa Barbara, California, USA
8. 8Consumers Union, Yonkers, New York, USA
9. 9Department of Preventive Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA
10. 10Child & Family Research Institute, BC Children's Hospital, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
11. 11Division of Biological Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, USA
12. 12Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, Missouri, USA
13. 13Environmental Health Sciences, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
14. 14Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

"Conclusions

In this commentary, we have identified factors that heighten concerns over the adequacy of safety assessments, and by extension, permitted levels of exposure to glyphosate and GBHs. These factors include increased use of GBHs on crops and for non-crop weed control, leading to measurable concentrations of glyphosate and AMPA in foodstuffs and likely increases in human exposures. The lack of biomonitoring data and epidemiological studies remain important data gaps. A small number of controlled laboratory studies using contemporary scientific approaches have identified adverse effects of glyphosate and GBHs at much lower doses than those used to make risk assessment decisions. Although there is controversy and debate regarding the carcinogenic and endocrine disrupting potential of these compounds, conclusions such as those drawn by IARC call into question the safety of GBHs beyond ‘reasonable certainty of no harm’. Considering what is now known about glyphosate from studies published over the last three decades, as well as the knowledge gaps that continue to raise concerns, we conclude that current safety standards for GBHs are outdated and may fail to protect public health and the environment. "

See: http://jech.bmj.com/content/early/2017/02/22/jech-2016-208463

I don't use roundup because I don't want my kids coming near it. I admit that I am a messy gardener. My gardens have weeds and the plants do fine. I don't have the time to weed and I don't want to use chemicals but I still want flowers.

I just watched an interesting documentary called "Sustainable" that talks about food in the USA. It talks a lot about how our food is grown and the pesticides.

I've switched to mostly organic food. I keep reading that there is no benefit, but they don't take into account the pesticides in food. I haven't used RU in a long time. I have this 'organic' weed killer that I use sporadically, it's made out of Rosemary oil. It smells nice, but don't get it on your hands, it burns!

I too have switched to mostly organic and Non GMO foods. It is shocking to find out what the FDA allows in foods and calls it safe when it is found to cause cancerous tumours in mice at such levels. A 0.5PPM glyphosate exposure will discrupt endocrine system. A 1PPM glyphosate exposure will disrupt enzyme production. Yet new FDA regulations allows 20-40PPM for soybean, corn, and canola. Farmers growing sugar canes in S. America and Asia have been found to be afflicted with kidney and bladder cancers because of glyphosate use.

I refuse to spray my garden also because I have four small dogs and hubby and I don't want them near that toxic stuff. I understand that insects on our roses can be a nuisance, but my garden has had JBs for as long as I can remember. When I first started gardening, I did spray here and there, but I gave that up more than 15-20 years ago - yep, I'm an old bird. Speaking of birds, we have multiple bird feeders and I don't want them to ingest any of these harmful chemicals either. Nothing good comes from it. I'd rather plant companion plants that can encourage beneficial insects, i.e. lady bugs that eat aphids. It's better for the environment and ultimately, better for you and your loved ones.

I don't spray ANYTHING. Not so much due to toxicity, but more due to not having time. I used to spray deer repellent, but they aren't around that much anymore. Definitely don't spray herbicides tho. I have a ton of weeds, but since I got chickens, I'm not as concerned about the majority of them getting out of the flower beds. I'm almost cultivating much of them so I can feed them to the chickens. Of course, not the more invasive types that they don't like. Those get yanked out... whenever I get the time...

RoundUp did not start out as a killer of plants. It started out as help for the vegetable growers as an accelerant. Which meant they could hurry along say the peas and have time to plant another crop that liked warmth. It is only recently that they have confirmed that RoungUp stays in the soil, because vegetables growers were getting some very funny looking vegetables. I would be more concerned with vegetables than roses.

Yes the chemicals and the lies is a very big problem. Most of the food is polluted. Then they want to sell drugs to treat the illnesses they cause. Buy as clean foods as you can afford and realize that eating out exposes you to greater risks than it used to.

Food safety and the congress...........too bad they are all bought by the chemical companies. Things are allowed here that are not allowed in Europe and why we let companies poison our food and environment makes me very sad. If you try and talk about it, people think you're nuts.

The rise in cancer and other illnesses is linked to dirty foods yet they say there's no proof because some lab animals ate it for a short time and showed no illness. But your liver, brain and kidneys cannot withstand years of exposure to these toxins and our endocrine systems break down in the stress of it all. People gain weight, get sick, just feel crummy day after day or have a lousy mood. None of it needs to happen at all.

We tried to get these dirty foods labeled in CA and big money poured in to stop it.

Thank you all for reading my post; I am so glad to see that so many of you take this issue seriously. We really must NOT allow ourselves to become complacent, as llailiall says. And I truly, truly believe that CoriAnn is right; what we as individuals do DOES count! I firmly believe that it is a serious error to fall into the attitude of the "helpless victim"; if people insist on seeing themselves as helpless victims of other people or of forces beyond their control it winds up being a self-fulfilling prophecy. Sure, there are things that people can't change or control,too,but let us try to keep in mind the old prayer: "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference" Courage is important!!!!!!!

I like Bart.

I wish we can put all our politics aside and address the reality that this chemical is making us sick and killing us. Glyphosate should be banned from agricultural use. Unfortunately, the chemical companies are quickly coming up with a new herbicide replacement that may be just as bad or worse than glyphosate. And then it will take another 30+ years to find out its damaging effects on human health and the environment.

sincerely doubt that the home gardener use of pesticides comes close to what agriculture uses

Notice I said fertilizer and pesticide use. Maybe what has been repeatedly reported to be the case in the past was fertilizer use specifically, exclusive of pesticides. I haven't done any reading on it lately.

Well I didn't sign the petition or give them any info. But it's a well known fact that the EPA has been in bed with Monsanto for decades. Also the FDA and the USDA.

First, the EPA, FDA and Supreme Court are chock full of Monsanto lawyers. Check out who is on which court and in what agency. The SCOTUS and agencies side with Monsanto virtually every time. This was engineered. It was deliberate. Genetically modifying food is touted as being done to "feed the world", when in actuality, it is primarily being done to make crops "Round Up Ready", so they can be weeded chemically. The weeds evolve very quickly and we already have large numbers of "Round Up Ready" weeds. But, don't worry, they already HAVE a Round Up replacement, AND crops that are already modified to resist the "new" herbicide. Remember 2-4-D? And, another interesting article. The name should sound familiar. 2-4-D was one of the components of Agent Orange.

An interesting excerpt from the above linked article..."While 2,4-D use has remained fairly steady over the past 20 years, it’s expected to increase dramatically in the next five years, thanks to the EPA’s recent approval of a new pesticide called Enlist Duo. Manufactured by Dow AgroSciences, Enlist Duo combines a form of 2,4-D and glyphosate and has been approved for use in 15 states on corn and soy genetically engineered to tolerate the herbicide. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) predicts Enlist Duo could cause an enormous jump in use. The agency estimates that use could grow between 300 and 700 percent by 2020." Worried yet?

Good post roseseek.

Thank you.

I refuse to use any sprays because of my SOIL rather than what I choose to grow in it. Much as I love everything I grow in it, SOIL health trumps everything.

Thank you so much, Kim. I'm so glad that more skillful and articulate posters have understood my intentions and contributed to my clumsy thread,transforming it into something good.

It may not be the answer, but for my family, we have had a vegetable garden for years and still do purchasing heirloom seeds if needed as we have saved heirloom seeds year to year. We put up our garden harvests for each winter to provide us with our own food instead of relying on store bought produce that is old as well as coming from other countries that entails a long journey. Not 100%, but as much as well can. The garden has a a variety, not only vegetables, herbs, plants for tea, fruit/melons. We have apple, plum and pear trees. We use to have bee colonies but gave that up a couple of years ago. Even though we get our honey from local beekeeper friends, with the use of herbicides, the bees are bringing back harmful pesticides to their hives.

I understand that our own yard is not fully protected, but it's a choice we make in providing as much food for the family as we can.

Patty

There have been so many studies about glyphosate. Some really well run, others not so much. Monsanto has done their best to discredit as many as they can, often using the same people, companies and tactics Big Tobacco used to discredit the negative health findings concerning tobacco use. Monsanto has long advertised they wanted to "feed the world", trying to make themselves sound so wonderfully altruistic. But, it isn't altruism. It IS about total control of the food supply. Get everyone using their herbicides and everyone will HAVE to buy their patented crop seeds. They have routinely tested neighboring farms around their plantings to determine if the wind or insects moved their genetically marked pollen into fields where their seed hadn't been bought and planted and when they have found their marker genes in the not Monsanto fields, they have sued for royalties. Instead of them having to prevent their GMO pollen from moving, it's been your responsibility to prevent it from entering YOUR fields or you are legally on the hook for royalties, damages and legal fees. Should the TPP ever make it into law... It's extremely sad to feel relief there are fewer years ahead of me than behind me. Thank God I leave no children hostage to the future.

What we can do beyond our own yards is just not buy the GMO foods. I don't buy that much processed foods. If you check the labels and see what is in there, you will not want to eat it either. I found this great non-GMO popcorn that is made with coconut oil, not the fake oil and other chemicals they put in the other microwave popcorns.

Black Jewel Popcorn

I appreciate your posts very much, Kim and feel the same sadness you have about the kind of future that is faced by future generations. When Congress passed the DARK Act, I am really discouraged and disheartened. It shows that these companies, their lobby representatives and bought out Congress people will push and persist on these companies agendas until the companies get what they wanted. It seems like the people can't win.

While that may (or may not) help, studies are showing glyphosate showing up in some pretty strange places. One study reported it is found in Human mother breast milk in Germany, a country which banned its use. Another linked over exposure to it by farmers in Central and South America to "kidney necrosis", death of the farmers' kidneys. Both glyphosate and 2-4-D are endocrine disruptors. They are finding increasing evidence they not only disrupt plants, but also insects, animals and Humans, as well as lead to or directly cause a host of other illnesses and ailments. Buying non GMO and/or "organic" may help reduce our exposure,but the chemicals find their way into many other food products we are never warned about nor notified of.

Thank you, Karen. Yes ma'am, the DARK Act is but one of so many "sell outs" of the citizenry. We're currently hearing a lot of push over Dodd-Frank, the banking regulations act. It contains some safeguards for the industry and the citizenry, but it also contains a nasty little provision called "bank bail-ins". If you're unfamiliar with them, you honestly need to research them. Unfortuantely, there isn't a whale of a lot any of us are able to do to protect ourselves. Those in power wish to eliminate the safeguards/regulations, which will surely lead to another crash. That will then trigger bail-ins. At that point, we are all screwed. The banks get the money you have on deposit. The derivative losers are first in line to be made whole using the monies on deposit in the banks and no one is forgiven their debts, taxes, etc.

All very , very sad, scary and depressing. I'm almost afraid to write down what I think, though, after that bullying reaction of one person to my original post (BTW, I didn't even realize that Credo was also a phone company,in spite of all the petitions I've been signing, so it's clearly not all that commercially aggressive!). So I'll just say it in a coy and devious way: it IS a long shot, but maybe there IS something that we, the people, can do about this stuff, in the form of how we vote, etc. Change can't and won't happen quickly, because the super-rich-and-powerfuls don't want it, but I just can't give up hope. I have a son. I want to believe in the future.I had a very unhappy childhood, a difficult youth full of struggle. Now I finally have a family that loves me.I have my land. I want us all to "live long and prosper"! So I want to believe in the future and fight for it."There IS good in the world, Master Frodo".

My best wishes to all.

I have also heard about the bank bail-ins. Something to the effect that once you hand over your money to the banks, it is no longer yours. What is the point of keeping your money in the banks if such provision is passed? May as well keep all your savings buried in a cave. It is certainly a nice time to be a banker as it is the only business that
does not take money to make money and little to no risk. You make money when the business is profitable and you get bail out via government and bail-ins when you suffer losses.

At a talk I attended yesterday the speaker mentioned that the gasoline spilled while filling mowers for use on home lawns in the US every year was as large a quantity as the oil spilled by the Exxon Valdez (or another major tanker disaster). So again, that home chemical use does, in fact add up.