The world according to Monsanto : pollution, corruption, and

oundup: a massive brainwashing operation 71they had to change them “every two months” because the “rubber is eatenaway by Roundup.” “I’m very careful about my workers’ equipment,” agreedthe head of the company, who asked to remain anonymous. “I also requirethat they scrupulously follow the dosage recommended by the manufacturer,which unfortunately we haven’t always done.” He added knowingly, “Itseems that the product isn’t as safe as we’ve been led to believe.” He saidnothing further, and I recalled the repeated ads on television showing kidsplaying on a lawn while their father in shorts and sandals attacks weeds witha spray bottle of Roundup Patio and Garden.“In 1988,” the Web site explains, “Monsanto established its Garden divisionto extend access to Roundup to the amateur gardener. A new range ofRoundup products for the public came on the market.” Roundup thus madeits entry into all the gardens in France, where it was used abundantly (andwith no protection) before the planting of vegetables for home consumption.“We all use it,” I was told by a man renting a garden near the Stade de Francein Saint-Denis, north of Paris. In his garden shed, the recently retired manwas preparing the mixture that he would spray on his patch of land to preparehis seedbeds. “Look,” he said, pointing to his Roundup container, with its softgreen color and bird logo. The product description read: “Used according todirections, Roundup poses no risk to people, animals, or the environment.”In the United States, the infatuation with the likable herbicide was suchthat in 1993 fifteen cities agreed to participate in a “city beautification program”sponsored by Monsanto. Volunteers recruited by the firm foundthemselves in Spontaneous Weed Attack Teams (SWAT) that patrolled thestreets to kill weeds. “The idea is to develop a phobia against weeds and toposition Roundup as a socially responsible brand,” explained Tracy Frish,one of the leaders of a New York coalition favoring an alternative to pesticides,which was conducting a campaign attacking Monsanto’s deceptiveadvertising. 2A Double FraudSerious suspicions fell very early on the company’s new favorite product.And Monsanto once again succeeded in slipping through the cracks thanksto the negligence of the apparently incorrigible EPA. The EPA’s “constancy”was, to tell the truth, not at all surprising: all the facts that I have presented