Letter: ND ag products should be lauded

“Grown in North Dakota” ought to be a marketing slogan and have meaning worldwide, like Champagne from France or San Marzano tomatoes from Italy. The state should put public money to work to make this happen.

Whether it’s helping farmers and ranchers get USDA Organic certificates or starting our own statewide quality program, our agricultural producers here in ND ought to receive a premium for their product based on our excellent stewardship of the land. There is unrealized value in organic, or natural, products and we as North Dakota should lean into this and be at the forefront.

Along these lines, an article in the journal, “Regulatory Toxicology and Pharamcology,” that was published 25 years ago was just retracted. The article in question asserted that the chemical glyphosate used in RoundUp, the popular weed killer, was not carcinogenic. It turns out, through unrelated litigation, that those listed as authors didn’t actually write the article. They were paid by the company that makes the chemical to stamp their names on it. 

Wow. 

Does this mean that Roundup causes cancer? Not necessarily. But this “scientific” article was apparently used to argue to the public and government regulators over the past two decades that it did not, and now we know that article is probably not true.

This past April our corporate-owned Republican legislature went to bat for the German chemical company that makes RoundUp by passing a bill that insulates them from lawsuits, the only state in the nation to do such a thing. We look like rubes.

Matthew Zimny is a resident of Bismarck.