Togo, West Africa Bans Glyphosate
In Brief
- The Facts:Togo, a country in West Africa has decided to ban the use of toxic chemical pesticide, glyphosate because of growing health and environmental concerns.
- Reflect On:Togo joins 20 other countries who have decided to ban this pesticide, do you think your country will ever do the same?
Recently,
a country in West Africa, Togo has prohibited the ‘import, market or
use of glyphosate and any other product containing it.’ This decision
was finalized in December of last year by the Minister of Agriculture, Animal Production and Fisheries, Noel Kouerta Bataka.
If you are unfamiliar with glyphosate, it is a chemical pesticide made by none other than agricultural giant, Monsanto, Bayer. Glyphosate can be found in RoundUp
and used on crops that have been genetically engineered specifically to
resist its toxicity, allowing farmers to kill the weeds and pests
without killing their crops. The problem is, it is extremely toxic not
only for the consumer of products containing it, but for the land and
soil as well where it is grown.
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There have been numerous studies, many
of which CE has reported on that link it to cancer, liver disease,
autism, birth defects, brain damage and more.
“It is commonly believed that Roundup is among the safest pesticides… Despite its reputation, Roundup was by far the most toxic among the herbicides and insecticides tested. This inconsistency between scientific fact and industrial claim may be attributed to huge economic interests, which have been found to falsify health risk assessments and delay health policy decisions.” – R. Mesnage (et al., Biomed Research International, Volume 2014 (2014), article ID 179691)
After 2 years of political discussions
in Togo, regarding the worlds most popular herbicide, many are
celebrating the decision that was finally made to have it outright
banned. Bataka has allowed a 12-month moratorium for all of the current
glyphosate supplies to be either used or destroyed.
Ban Of Glyphosate Around The World
As awareness grows regarding the health
concerns of glyphosate, so does government level support worldwide. Not
only has Key West, Los Angeles, Miami and The University of California
banned or restricted the use of this toxic chemical so, have 20
countries around the world. These countries are,
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- In Africa — Malawi and Togo.
- In Asia — Thailand, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar.
- In Central America — Bermuda, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Costa Rica
- In Europe — Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, The Netherlands
So we still have yet to see bans in
Canada, United States, Mexico and many other countries, but hopefully
stories such as these will keep the awareness and momentum going and
help others to see that this toxic chemical pesticide should not be
anywhere near the food we are eating or on our precious Mother Earth.
It’s a big problem, and it’s now entered into our food supply.
How To Avoid Glyphosate
One might believe that they simply have
to avoid genetically engineered foods to avoid glyphosate, and while
that is a good start, unfortunately it’s not that black and white. There
are many non-GMO foods that are still sprayed with this chemical and
thus have high concentrations of it.
In reality your best bet would be to
grow all of your own fruits, vegetables and even nuts, but unfortunately
in this day and age this is not very plausible for everyone.
The foods that are highest in glyphosate
are: soy, wheat, almonds, peas, beetroot (including beet sugar),
carrots, sweet potatoes, quinoa, peas, tea, meat and dairy, corn and
oats. However, many other unsuspecting foods have also have tested
positive for high levels of glyphosate including many fruits and berries
such as: apples, apricots, cherries, grapefruit, grapes (wine as well),
lemons, olives, peaches, pears and more.
To avoid glyphosate altogether sticking
to an all-organic diet is necessary. If this is an obstacle for you,
consider locally grown produce where you can talk directly with the
farmers about their growing practices. Many farmers grow organically ,
but cannot afford to obtain the organic certification. You can also wash
your produce in baking soda and vinegar click HERE for instructions.
Final Thoughts
While it may seem hopeless at times to
even try to avoid environmental toxins like glyphosate, we have to
remember that the more we do, and the more we put our money where are
mouths are and vote with our dollars, the less these chemicals will be
used. We have already seen many big brands step away from using GMO
ingredients because of consumer demand, so it may not be as far off as
you think.
As countries like Togo step forward and
do what is right for their citizens and the planet, awareness will
continue to grow and it will assist others in seeing the truth about
these chemicals and inspire others to make a change as well. We have
more power than we realize and anything can change, with enough
awareness.
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