Monsanto's Roundup weedkiller found to damage integrity of raw, fermented foods

Wednesday, June 26, 2013 by: Jonathan Benson, staff writer
Tags: Roundup, raw milk, soil microbes

(NaturalNews) The natural biodiversity of the world's soils is changing for the worse, and the beneficial microbes that once populated raw dairy products in high numbers are on the decline. The culprit? The pervasive use of synthetic agricultural pesticides like Monsanto's Roundup herbicide, which was found in a recent study published in the journal Current Microbiology to be destroying the countless trillions of natural life forms that quite literally underpin and sustain humanity.

Though invisible to the naked eye, these microbes are absolutely essential for the proper function and health of diverse soils, not to mention the plants they support and the animals and humans that eat these plants. Collectively, microbes and fungi represent a single "super" organism of sorts that performs critical, life-sustaining functions in virtually all areas of life. And the predominant system of industrialized agriculture in America today is smothering this microscopic ecosystem, which is degrading the overall quality of our food supply.

"It is likely that the use of pesticides, herbicides and biodiversity reduction (plant varieties in pasture) has contributed to the loss and endangerment of a key species used as food-starters," writes Sayer Ji for GreenMedInfo.com about the new findings. "When microbial biodiversity in the soil is reduced or altered, so too will be that of the plants, all the way up the food chain to the grazing animals, and ultimately the human perched precariously atop the food chain, whose body contains 100 trillion bacteria that come directly or indirectly from the soil."

Pesticides like Roundup have made raw milk a lot less 'living'

The study itself specifically identified Roundup as a primary toxic force behind the destruction of micro-organic life. After investigating the effects of Roundup on soils, the study team concluded that Roundup's inherent toxicity has at the very least helped trigger "the loss of microbiodiversity and microbial concentration observed in raw milk for many years." Even at levels far below what is recommended for use in agriculture, Roundup was found to instigate major changes in micro-organic density and integrity.

"Microbial biodiversity is not just important for the production of certain raw and fermented food products, but is essential for the health of our entire planet as a whole," adds Ji. "The metabolic activity of microorganisms participate quite literally 'at the root' of the nitrogen, phosphate, oxygen and carbon cycles, and are therefore indispensable for the health of the entire biosphere. They are among the most numerous inhabitants in the web of life."

What this implies is that the natural world is basically losing its life force, the unseen power through which living beings of all types survive and perpetuate. The chemicals being used now to produce mass quantities of health-destroying commodity crops are slowly killing the planet, which is evidenced by the fact that living organisms are becoming a lot less living over time. The inevitable result, of course, will be extinction, that is if major changes are not enacted now to stop this pattern of death and destruction.

"Just as we have unwittingly destroyed vital microbes in the human gut through overuse of antibiotics and highly processed foods, we have recklessly devastated soil microbiota essential to plant health through overuse of certain chemical fertilizers, fungicides, herbicides, pesticides, failure to add sufficient organic matter (upon which they feed), and heavy tillage," write Mike Amaranthus & Bruce Allyn for The Atlantic. "These soil microorganisms - particularly bacteria and fungi - cycle nutrients and water to plants, to our crops, the source of our food, and ultimately our health."

Sources for this article include:

http://www.theatlantic.com

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com