LUBBOCK, Texas -
Activists in Lubbock and in ten other cities across Texas used Saturday to "March Against Monsanto." It's a movement that emphasizes the potential danger of genetically modified organisms, pesticides, herbicides, and insecticides in agriculture and food production.
Protester Donna Palmer organized Lubbock's march, and said the march is aimed at Monsanto because it's the largest producer of those chemicals and GMOs, which could potentially poison the foods we eat and the clothes we wear.
"We're just concerned about all the Roundup and the glyphosate around the area," Palmer said, "and since this is probably the biggest area there's probably more glyphosate. I'm just concerned about it getting into our food."
Palmer said concerns had been raised in the past over the use of those chemicals in agriculture, and possible links to rising rates of cancer, autism, and other health risks.
"The World Health Organization labeled it as a probable carcinogen," Palmer said, "so that concerns me as a mom."
A couple of local ag producers were at the event as well, and said the need for GMOs and new technologies -- including chemicals -- is important to the West Texas, and national, economies, as plots of land have been getting smaller while demand for the products has risen.
"I understand that she thinks 'because it's a chemical, it's going to hurt you,'" Josh Snodgrass, a cotton farmer, said, "but the amounts that we put out... everything is labeled, and it's all very strategic in the way we do it. It costs us a lot of money, too, so we're not going to overspray or overuse what we purchase."
Snodgrass said there wasn't a true correlation between the use of pesticides and chemicals in agriculture and the rise in health problems, just that they're being reported more. He also said the chemicals that are used haven't changed since the 1970s.
