The United States Government Protects Who?

A recent survey has made some very disturbing findings about pesticides, and GM foods.

If you were to ask me "Who does the United States government protect?," sadly, I would find it hard to argue with any answer other than "Corporate America."

By Citizen Correspondent Kevin Bartoy

Date Posted: 06/05/08

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President Andrew Jackson once said, "It is to be regretted that the rich and powerful too often bend the acts of government to their own selfish purposes." And, more and more these days, it seems as if our government is no longer of the People, by the People, and for the People. But, instead, it is for the corporations and corporate interests. Nowhere is this more clear than when it comes to agriculture in the United States.

I would say that the United States government protects corporations first and people second. That is, if the public outcry isn't too great and the media can be spun or silenced easily, the government will always side with corporate interests.

And, this is indeed the case when it comes to pesticides, herbicides, and the health and safety of our food supply, our environment, and our bodies.

Almost without notice, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced over a week ago that it was discontinuing its program charting pesticide and herbicide use throughout the nation. This survey produces the only comprehensive data on the use of pesticides and herbicides in the United States. And, recently, the survey has made some very interesting (read disturbing) findings.

Proponents of genetically modified crops and the corporations that produce these crops have long argued that the use of these "miracles of science" would drastically reduce the use of pesticides and herbicides in agriculture. The development of Herbicide Tolerant (HT) crops, that is, crops that are resistant to specific herbicides such as Monsanto's Roundup, as well as Bt crops, which splice a gene from the microorganism into the crop to produce a toxin deadly to pests, was touted for its ability to reduce our reliance on dangerous chemicals to protect our crops.

However, the data from the USDA's survey on the use of pesticides and herbicides in the United States shows that these claims are not true.

Although herbicide and pesticide use did decrease with the initial introduction of genetically modified crops in the 1990s, the new trend is for increased use of chemicals.