More than 4 million people have signed a petition on the online platform Avaaz. The petition concerned the re-approval of glyphosate — a broad-spectrum herbicide used against weeds that carries countless dangers and risks. Now Monsanto is suing Avaaz to obtain the personal data of those who oppose glyphosate. In our case, that wouldn't even be necessary. We signed the petition too. And everyone can and should know that. We have chosen organic farming — and with it, a viable alternative to glyphosate and its ilk.
Glyphosate is not a brand name but the active ingredient in a weed killer. For consumers it appears on shelves under the product name RoundUp; for chemical-farming operations there are products such as Touchdown Quattro, Dominator Ultra and Vorox. In total, 35 glyphosate-based sprays are approved for use in conventional agriculture. Organic farmers, of course, are prohibited from using any of them. Glyphosate — and the products containing it — is remarkably effective, both in agriculture and in private gardens. The substance acts on all green plants, blocking an enzyme that plants need to produce vital amino acids, but which is also found in fungi and microorganisms.
Fields treated with RoundUp and its counterparts are easy to spot. They are dead. Wherever the product is applied, no grass, no herb, no shrub and no moss will grow. An overview of the hazard and risk assessment is provided by Bio-Austria.
With Bio towards a glyphosate-free future
But we take a different path altogether. We weed and hoe, embrace biodiversity, and on our fields we see companion plants rather than weeds. Organic farming already has a wealth of experience to draw on here. Otto Gasselich, chairman of the regional association Bio-Austria Wien-Niederösterreich, knows this well: "The fact is that organic farming has decades of experience in mechanical weed management — that is, in the consistent avoidance of herbicides such as glyphosate. This is a wealth of knowledge we would like to share with all of agriculture. From our daily work in organic farming, we know that it works. And that it works very well, as already demonstrated by 22% of all Austrian farms. Drawing on the tradition and expertise of organic farming, a glyphosate-free future for the whole of Austria can grow from that foundation."
