December 3, 2020

EPA Glyphosate Biological Evaluation

Last Wednesday, we thankful citizens of the United States purelled our hands, grabbed our shields, and wandered the aisles of the grocery store. Well, those are the protective measures many took in California. California is the same state in which both the governor and San Francisco Mayor frequently lecture residents about the hazards of get-togethers, yet luxuriate eating delicacies at the famous Napa Valley restaurant French Laundry. 

Why bother being surprised by anything at this point, I suppose.  

Apparently, there was a run on smaller-sized turkeys this year given the smaller-sized festivities. My husband went searching in three different grocery stores, likely irked by my firm stance that under no circumstance was our family to eat a turkey that was fed Roundup Ready GMOs. In a similar predicament, I got a text from AOJ, Juror #4: 

In what is surely a conspiracy to ruin Thanksgiving for all of us who wisely chose to celebrate within a small home pod, turkeys under 14 lbs. rapidly sold out. Sensing fowl play, I discovered dwarf turkeys mislabeled as “organic chicken” at our local market.  A little five pounder is marinating in buttermilk as I write. 

AOJ: forever a pro at cutting through the BS and delivering the correct verdict. 

GLYPHOSATE NEWS

While skimming several articles on why Thanksgiving will eventually be cancelled, an email quietly arrived in my inbox. Just a small little bite of news. The news would surely be inconsequential when rivaled by the holiday that resigns all Americans to temporary enslavement in front of the oven and TV. The news:

The EPA Finds that Glyphosate Is Likely to Injure or Kill 93% of Endangered Species.

WHAT???

The EPA quietly released their Draft Biological Evaluation of potential risks of glyphosate to endangered species and their habitats  – an evaluation we in the glyphosate world have been anticipating for years! They wrote:

Formulated glyphosate (i.e. Roundup) is moderately to highly toxic to fish, highly to very highly toxic to aquatic invertebrates, moderately toxic to mammals, and slightly toxic to birds on an acute exposure basis. In both terrestrial and aquatic animals, technical and formulated glyphosate demonstrate a variety of growth and reproductive effects at a range of chronic exposure concentrations.

EPA Draft Biological Evaluation (BE) – Glyphosate

The EPA assessed that glyphosate-based herbicides caused Likely Adverse Affects for 1676 species and 759 critical habitats. The EPA found that these species are exposed through Roundup use in forestry, waterways and landscaping, like the endangered grizzly bear who gets showered in Roundup as it is recklessly dumped in the forest. I wonder where these animals go as their bodies fight and succumb to cancer. 

I would like to take a moment to remind the EPA that we are mammals, and endangered mammals at that. The EPA may not admit that glyphosate causes cancer and endocrine disruption in humans, but at least they recognize the harm to our animal and plant friends. 

It is baffling as to how some EPA scientists managed to publish these findings – it goes against all history of AgChem lobbying and regulatory corruption. Could it be that in the post-election climate, senior EPA appointees are too busy updating resumes to care? One caveat – the EPA continues to insist that agricultural use of glyphosate DOES NOT threaten endangered species. Of course, too big to fail. 

PLEASE take a moment to submit a comment to the EPA on this finding during the next 60 days – it is critical that we speak up! Click Here For Link

USDA 

For fun, I popped over to a USDA webinar for an overview of the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard. Bioengineered is simply a different, less tarnished word for genetically modified. My main takeaways were:

  1. We for real have an agricultural marketing group within the USDA to promote GMOs.
  2. Animal agriculture may be even more protected by the government than Roundup
  3. There are MANY exemptions to labeling products, so God only knows when we are eating what. Oh, and meat producers don’t have to label that the animal was fed GMOs. Meat labelled organic is the way to go. HENCE the organic turkey – I feel absolved of my guilt for being high maintenance!!! 

FAKE SETTLEMENT ANNOUNCEMENT TIMING

Occasionally, I like to take a morning stroll through Bayer’s financial statements, and this time decided to check up on the status of their corporate bonds. As of Sept 2020, Bayer has €37,695 million in bonds and notes outstanding, most of which was issued to facilitate the Monsanto acquisition. 

Quite suspiciously, Bayer also issued €6 Billion in new Senior Bonds on JULY 1, 2020 – just 6 days after making the fictitious claim in a press release that terms had been settled on the Roundup litigation. Presumably, those bonds would have been harder to place with investors had settlement terms still been up in the air….once again, there is SO much opportunity for shareholder AND bondholder litigation ripe for the picking. Any takers?

AFRICAN LAND GRAB

To motivate the rebellious bondholders to call out Bayer’s coverups, I would like to sound the alarm that Bayer and Syngenta are rapidly moving into Africa and displacing peasant farmers in order to sell more of their seed and chemical poisons. The rate at which they are taking land is accelerating during covid. It’s an enormous tragedy for these native African farmers, just as it is for our ability to keep the global population healthy. 

Once again – please comment on the EPA evaluation – it will make a difference even if you write a few words. Link here again.

Thank you!! 

Kelly Ryerson

I’m writing on behalf of all those who are chronically sick, fatigued, depressed, anxious, cancer-ridden, hormonally off, coping with allergies, suffering with pain, digestively wrecked, and accidentally dependent on multiple medications. We deserve to know the truth about how Monsanto's herbicide Roundup has made us a devastatingly sick population.