To the farmer growing P7574AM corn on Mabel Lk Rd near Trinity Valley Rd, Aug.2022

I see a post on your H P Cattle FB page where you praise the value of applying manure to increase soil health, so I am hopeful that the information in this letter will find you open to its content.

The crop you are growing has been genetically engineered to withstand repeated applications of glyphosate, atrazine, 2,4-D and a long list of other chemicals proven to cause cancers and birth defects, as well as predisposing to obesity, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, depression, autism and inflammatory bowel disease.

Glyphosate infiltrates the brain and its application correlates positively with increased death rates due to Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative disorders. See the recent study in the Journal of Neuroinflammation.

Atrazine affects human health at extremely low doses. It is an endocrine disrupting chemical interrupting regular hormone function and causing birth defects, tumors, breast, ovarian and uterine cancers as well as leukemia and lymphoma. It also has a direct impact on brain health. See International Journal of Ecosystems 2011. Also see AmosInstitute on Atrazine.

Scientific studies link 2,4-D to certain types of cancer, birth defects, immunosuppression and other health impacts in highly exposed populations including farm workers and farming communities. (https://usrtk.org/pesticides/2-4-d-health-concerns/)

And the list goes on.

It is unlikely that the people selling you the seeds and chemicals have made you aware of these health issues or told you of how they also affect the air, the soil, and the water. However most people in this area are aware, since years ago, as a co-founder of Bee SAFE (a group formed to keep local agriculture GMO free and safe from toxic chemicals) I gave several presentations to the RDNO to inform them of the health issues associated with GM crops and asking them to take action to ban them here. 

As nothing had been done by 2012, Bee SAFE also opened an office in downtown Lumby to inform about the dangers of GM Crops, sold 500 Bee SAFE signs, showed numerous movies on agriculture and held local meetings inviting the whole community to discuss GM Crops.

In 2013, Bee SAFE held a vote in rural Lumby and in Cherryville asking whether people supported growing GM crops in our area. 93% of voters in Rural Lumby and 97% in Cherryville said NO.  These results were then presented to RDNO with text for a bylaw changing our OCP to reflect this. A bylaw was passed in 2014.

And now Bayer AG has paid $10.9 billion US to settle thousands of U.S. lawsuits claiming that Roundup caused cancers, resolving litigation that had pummelled the company's share price.
 
There are hundreds of thousands of documented cases of cancers caused by glyphosate (the active ingredient in Roundup) and millions of undocumented cases of other health issues caused by this toxic agriculture.

This is all the proof we need that this agriculture has no place in our community.

I hope you will reconsider your choice of crops and join the growing number of farmers who choose healthy ways to grow theirs.

Huguette Allen.
Co-founder, BeeSAFE Monashees.

Additional Links: