9 ms·

In The Netherlands we have A LOT of farmers with parkinsons. Most, if not all cases seem to be related to Roundup/Glyphosate.

hbarka 3y ago
Roundup/Glyphosate is such a nasty chemical. Farmers use it in practice regularly for crop desiccation [1] in order to yield more harvest cycles. Why do we still allow it knowing what we know? [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crop_desiccation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crop_desiccation
- red-iron-pine 3y ago
  Because cash rules everything around me ("CREAM"), aka dolla dolla bill yall. Or to put it another way, roundup is made by a large, influential company (Monsanto) and they can pressure regulatory agencies & politicians.
- potta_coffee 3y ago
  Monsanto is big money, that's why. Just like everything else in our blown out civilization.
m463 3y ago
I wonder how much of this gets "downstream" to people eating the food produced. EDIT: https://www.ewg.org/foodnews/summary.php https://www.ewg.org/foodnews/summary.php The 2023 DIRTY DOZEN Of the 46 items included in our analysis, these 12 fruits and vegetables were most contaminated with pesticides: Strawberries Spinach Kale, collard and mustard greens Peaches Pears Nectarines Apples Grapes Bell and hot peppers Cherries Blueberries Green beans
- sph 3y ago
  The carnivore doesn't sound so idiotic viewed under that lens. The thing about mammals is that they have liver and kidneys, which are remarkably good at filtering toxins. Certainly much better than a plant. I wonder if the reason many feel better eating only meat is that they avoid pesticides that wreck havoc on their body. I know I do feel like a million bucks after just 10 days, even though it's extremely boring.
  - dredmorbius 3y ago
    On the flip side is bioaccumulation, in which contaminants and toxins are concentrated in organic material, particularly animals, and most especially for predators-of-predators. The reasons for high mercury levels in tuna, shark, and swordfish is that each of these is both a predator and often eats other predatory species. There are numerous other examples of both species and contaminants, including even natural and even vital substances, e.g., vitamin A toxicity in carnivorous livers. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bioaccumulation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bioaccumulation>
    - sph 3y ago
      That's a good point, though we (humans) tend to eat only herbivores and not many carnivores/predators, probably because of that reason. I can't think of any actually, apart from fish.
      - dredmorbius 3y ago
        The reason has far more to do with metabolic efficiency of conversion of biomass into food than with bioaccumulation --- you'll see roughly a 10-fold drop in food production at each trophic level. There are exceptions amongst hunter and trapper cultures, though even there herbivores are generally more abundant than carnivores, and are less treacherous to hunt. You will find ominvores occasionally included in diets: bear, racoon, and members of the rodent family on occasion. Fish (amongst other sea life) are an exception specifically because humans aren't concerned with that efficiency, and carnivorous fish tend to grow larger which poses efficiency benefits when line- or net-fishing. Another class is birds, notably fish-eating species, which may be 2nd- or 3rd-order carnivores (carnivores of carnivores, or carnivores of carnivore-eating carnivores).
- adultSwim 3y ago
  Personally, I'm much more concerned about the risks to farm workers than risks to the general population.

hbarka 3y ago

Roundup/Glyphosate is such a nasty chemical. Farmers use it in practice regularly for crop desiccation [1] in order to yield more harvest cycles. Why do we still allow it knowing what we know? [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crop_desiccation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crop_desiccation

red-iron-pine 3y ago
Because cash rules everything around me ("CREAM"), aka dolla dolla bill yall. Or to put it another way, roundup is made by a large, influential company (Monsanto) and they can pressure regulatory agencies & politicians.
potta_coffee 3y ago
Monsanto is big money, that's why. Just like everything else in our blown out civilization.

m463 3y ago

I wonder how much of this gets "downstream" to people eating the food produced. EDIT: https://www.ewg.org/foodnews/summary.php https://www.ewg.org/foodnews/summary.php The 2023 DIRTY DOZEN Of the 46 items included in our analysis, these 12 fruits and vegetables were most contaminated with pesticides: Strawberries Spinach Kale, collard and mustard greens Peaches Pears Nectarines Apples Grapes Bell and hot peppers Cherries Blueberries Green beans

sph 3y ago
The carnivore doesn't sound so idiotic viewed under that lens. The thing about mammals is that they have liver and kidneys, which are remarkably good at filtering toxins. Certainly much better than a plant. I wonder if the reason many feel better eating only meat is that they avoid pesticides that wreck havoc on their body. I know I do feel like a million bucks after just 10 days, even though it's extremely boring.
- dredmorbius 3y ago
  On the flip side is bioaccumulation, in which contaminants and toxins are concentrated in organic material, particularly animals, and most especially for predators-of-predators. The reasons for high mercury levels in tuna, shark, and swordfish is that each of these is both a predator and often eats other predatory species. There are numerous other examples of both species and contaminants, including even natural and even vital substances, e.g., vitamin A toxicity in carnivorous livers. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bioaccumulation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bioaccumulation>
  - sph 3y ago
    That's a good point, though we (humans) tend to eat only herbivores and not many carnivores/predators, probably because of that reason. I can't think of any actually, apart from fish.
    - dredmorbius 3y ago
      The reason has far more to do with metabolic efficiency of conversion of biomass into food than with bioaccumulation --- you'll see roughly a 10-fold drop in food production at each trophic level. There are exceptions amongst hunter and trapper cultures, though even there herbivores are generally more abundant than carnivores, and are less treacherous to hunt. You will find ominvores occasionally included in diets: bear, racoon, and members of the rodent family on occasion. Fish (amongst other sea life) are an exception specifically because humans aren't concerned with that efficiency, and carnivorous fish tend to grow larger which poses efficiency benefits when line- or net-fishing. Another class is birds, notably fish-eating species, which may be 2nd- or 3rd-order carnivores (carnivores of carnivores, or carnivores of carnivore-eating carnivores).
adultSwim 3y ago
Personally, I'm much more concerned about the risks to farm workers than risks to the general population.