My Response to an Email from a Representative of Scotts Miracle Gro

I was surprised, after my post last week on removing weeds from sidewalk cracks, to find an email in my inbox from a representative at Scotts, who, of course, are the distributors of Roundup. The sender, Brian, with a Scotts.com email address, had this to say:

"I am surprised you recommended hand-pulling dandelions. The roots can grow to 2 feet in length. If you leave snippet in the ground, it grows back. That sounds like a recommendation for futility."

My first, head-shaking thought was, "what, I should be telling people to spray it with Roundup?" Which is, of course, exactly what Scotts Miracle Gro, distributor of Roundup, want us to say.

I have a couple of responses to this. First, I'll address the issue of dandelion removal. Then, I'll address the larger issue why, exactly, this company drives me batty.

On the issue of dandelion removal: Yes, Brian of Scotts.com, if you don't get the entire taproot, dandelions may very well come back. I may need to pull it out again. This is, of course, if I choose to pull it at all, given the fact that dandelion greens are absolutely delicious and their blooms are favorites of many pollinators. I think that, in general, someone who writes for or reads a website about organic gardening sees a bigger picture than just waging battle on weeds. And this week, my devotion to pulling rather than spraying was made even stronger thanks to an article published in Scientific American.

For those of you who haven't heard about the article, a French team studied the effects of Roundup's inert ingredients (you know---the ones that aren't supposed to have any effect other than helping the glyphosate do its job) and found that one of them, polyethoxylated tallowamine, or POEA, was more deadly to human cells than glyphosate itself. Specifically, it killed human embryonic, placental, and umbilical cord cells. And this was accomplished even when researchers used concentrations that were even more diluted than what is commonly used in residential gardens.

Monsanto, who manufactures Roundup and licenses Scotts to distribute it, responded that the methodology of the study was not realistic (the researchers applied Roundup to human cells in petri dishes, which is the way most studies to determine toxicology are performed). They contend that the product is safe. Glyphosate is considered to be a low-level toxin. However, this is the first time a study has been done looking at the effect of glyphosate when combined with one of Roundup's inert materials. The results are, in a word, scary.

And here's where I rant.

Miracle Gro has been trying, for a while now, to create an appearance of a "green," environmentally-friendly company. They have tried to appear to be the magnanimous giant, helping the citizens through donating money for community gardens and launching an organic line of products. And, when I write a short, simple post about getting rid of weeds in your sidewalk, they have the nerve to take me to task for recommending pulling rather than dousing with their chemicals.

You want an exercise in futility, Brian from Scotts.com? Here's one for you. Write to me again. Try to change my mind. Try to convince me, a woman of child-bearing age with small children, that I should use your product. You'll find getting rid of dandelions to be a much, much easier task.