The book takes the ingredient list for the Twinkie and devotes a chapter to each ingredient, starting with the first ingredient: wheat flour. He goes to the farm where the wheat flour that ultimately ends up in a Twinkie is grown. He describes holding in his hand the bright pastel shades of the wheat seeds encased in a protective shell of Round-up pesticide. .
I just love these kinds of books.
First of all, Round up ready wheat is not yet on the market. Its still under development.
Second, Round up is not a pesticide. It is an herbicide. It breaks down in days under normal growing conditions. It is so safe that many environmental organizations use it to control invasive species.
"Glyphosate itself is practically nontoxic by ingestion or by skin contact. The acute oral toxicity of Roundup is > 5,000 mg/kg in the rat.[24] It showed no toxic effects when fed to animals for 2 years, and only produced rare cases of reproductive effects when fed in extremely large doses to rodents and dogs. It has not demonstrated any increase in cancer rates in animal studies and is poorly absorbed in the digestive tract. Glyphosate has no significant potential to accumulate in animal tissue."
Without it, older herbicides would be used - atrazine is one - and there would be increased tillage and greater amounts of fert used - so its a VERY GOOD tradeoff.
As far as twinkies go, my favorite twinkie story is the one involving the San Fran city council.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twinkie_defense
