Editor: This letter is in response to the Tom Fletcher column (The Times, May 22).
It appears to me that Fletcher not only is included in “the group of people that know nothing about chemicals,” but also that he doesn’t do his homework thoroughly. A bit of time on the Internet can be extremely enlightening. Look especially for the effects of glyphosates on fish and frogs.
We are farmers ourselves, and have not used herbicides or pesticides since we have owned our plant nursery (1985). Yet Roundup would have been a big time saver for us.
Fletcher’s article. which bluntly states that the use of glyphosates (like Roundup) is safe, could do a lot of harm indeed and is highly irresponsible.
I ask him to answer me, when I ask why the use of glyphosate or any other synthetic herbicide is not permitted under organic certification standards? Or why some countries have banned the use of it?
Marjanne Vrijmoed,
Free Spirit Nursery