Genetically-Modified Silent Spring
Rachel Carson wrote the book “Silent Spring” years ago to warn that the use of the pesticide DDT was killing America?s songbirds. Now our birds have another enemy: herbicide-tolerant genetically-modified crops. These crops enable farmers to spray herbicides on their fields to get rid of the weeds, without killing their crops. However, a decline in weeds means a decline in the seeds those weeds produce?many of which are the staple food for bird populations. Birds and butterflies don?t like the kind of plants we eat?they like things like milkweed, which is the main diet of Monarch butterflies. If we get rid of the weeds, we?ll leave them nothing to eat.
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