USDA Ceases Researching & Reporting On Pesticides & Herbicides

Been a long time since I made an entry here, so much to say and always too little time. So I thought I kick this blog back into gear with a quote from the former Republican poster boy, Charleton "You'll have to pry this gun out of my cold, dead hands" Heston. as he pounded the beach near Lady Liberty's crowned head jutting out from the sand dune: "They've finally gone and done it!" Read all about it:HERE

Our beloved administration in its continuing environmentally-sound wisdom (Huh?) has gone and eviscerated the USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), which is responsible for researching, reporting and compiling annual data on various pesticides and herbicides used in farm production. The absence of that data leaves the barn door wide open for MegaMonsanto to have (no pun) a field day w/any new toxic introductions which will wind up in our systems, our air, our earth, our water and eventually, trickle down those products for use in chemically-inclined backyard gardens.

Many groups like Greenpeace, National Research Defense Council (NRDC), the Organic Center and the WWF as well as big-buck corps like Del Monte Foods, the American Soybean Association and - yes - even Syngenta Crop Protection have signed letters to the administration pleading with them to reconsider. The irony in corps like Syngenta signing the letter is this: With no one watching the hen house of pesticides & herbicide possible toxicity, that leaves them [Syngenta, et al] open to criticism and claims by anti-chem venues which Syngenta, et al can't refute by citing stats from the NASS. Get it?

Oddly, one name was glaringly missing from the signatories on that letter: Monsanto, and it typifies to me their: I-don't-give-a-$hit attitude. "Stats? Reports? Research? Claims? Complaints? Feh. Who cares? We'll do whatever the hell we want, spray whatever the hell we want and kill whatever and whoever we want. So there!"

Anyway, Monsanto aside (which isn't easy to do or say), the fact that there will be no official research gathering and reporting on any new pesticide or herbicide out of the chemical labs and onto our crops is to say the least, rather frightening. It's the cherry on the chemical and environmental cake that has been baked, served and shoved down our throats for the last 8 years.

I can't wait to throw up in November.