Agent Orange in America?

My FiL died of pancreatic cancer recently. He was a Vietnam veteran, exposed to Agent Orange during his tour of duty, serving our country. 


May FiL's cancer was officially attributed to Agent Orange exposure by the U.S. Government. 


How generous of Uncle Sam.


It took thirty years of veterans battling Uncle Sam and the misinformation of big corporations before the government acknowledged that Agent Orange caused damage to multiple systems in the human body. Evidently the dead wildlife and birth defects associated with prenatal exposure in Vietnam wasn't a sufficient indicator of harm to humans.  

A major ingredient in AO is the herbicide called 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D). This herbicide is commonly used on commercial crop to control weeds. 
According to a new article at Mercola.com

What is new – and disturbingly so – is that now that staple crops like soy and corn have been engineered to be resistant to 2,4-D, it may soon be applied to U.S. arable land on an unprecedented scale -- not unlike its indiscriminate application during Vietnam.

The whole point of engineering resistance to an herbicide within a GMO plant, of course, is so that you can "carpet bomb" an entire field, leaving only your "Frankenfoods" standing, without having to exert even a fraction of the effort required raise crops organically and sustainably.

I have been seeing a lot of articles about the dangers of genetically modified food when consumed by humans. 


So we have two issues here, herbicides and GM food. Which is why I raise my own food.


I don't use herbicides or pesticides on anything. I don't use GM seeds. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a purist, I will use hybrid seeds. Creating hybrids has been around for centuries, and is proven beneficial and safe. 


But when you start tinkering with genetic structure, let's face it, we humans just don't know enough about the interacting systems that form our building blocks--much less the building blocks of plants--to start  distributing it on a commercial scale. It should not be out of the lab for a long time. 


Do readers remember Dolly the cloned sheep? After all the excitement of successful cloning, didn't we find out that Dolly's cells were found to be the same chronological age as the donor cells? This lamb started out older than a normally conceived newborn. 


I'm all for research and innovation. But in their excitement, scientists overlook the impact of their amazing discoveries on people, our economy and on the environment. 


Don't mistake me for a rabid environmentalist, I'm more of a responsible steward who believes in common sense and moderation when introducing new technologies. After all, so many formerly-touted-as-completely-safe technologies are being found to be harmful and even downright dangerous today. 

If corn and soy are on the GM list, then it's time to stop buying it at the grocery store. 


I grow my own corn. I don't eat soy. 


I can find nothing that shows sustainable methods of growing food is harmful. It's not even that much more difficult, if you set up your process to be as efficient as possible. It can be done, I do it. 


Why are people so afraid of a little work?