There are chemicals that at times we might have to use in the garden, or at least on its border. I have only used a pesticide once when a beetle had destroyed all of my seedlings as they broke through the ground. I replanted and they did it again. I used a pesticide once long before there was any food on the plants. The half life was very short.
There are some things that ought never be put on food plants. Those chemicals which are systemic, taken into the plant, not just applied to the outside, can end up in our food. Glyphosate is a systemic herbicide and therefore ought not be used on a food crop. We recall the Alar scare when it was being sprayed on apples. It was a systemic pesticide and entered into the apple itself.
Studies being done today appear to be finding that Glyphosate is an antibiotic. It kills bacteria in plants which then makes then vulnerable to agents which lead to their death. It appears that ingesting food that has Glyphosate in it or metabolites from it, will kill beneficial bacteria in the human microbiome. Some are saying that this is quite harmful and results in serious problems regarding human health.
Glyphosate is not just sprayed in GMO crops. It is widely used on grains and beans just before harvest. It appears that the problem so many people have with gluten may not be the gluten at all, but the fact that much wheat is infected with Glyphosate. The amount of Glyphosate being used world-wide is huge. It is a very effective weed killer. But, there is need now to find other chemicals to kill weeds which are not killed by the product. Some weeds after being sprayed for many years have developed a resistance to Glyphosate.
helpful information-NIH May 2018
