Compared with some of history’s more notable rivalries – Wellington and Napoleon, Gladstone and Disraeli, Ali and Frazier – a spat between two relatively unknown Belgian academics is hardly likely to resonate within the wider public consciousness.
But for anyone hoping to make a living from conventional farming, the events that led to the recent removal of David Zaruk from his post as adjunct professor of communications at the Université Saint-Louis in Brussels add a somewhat graver significance than one might imagine.
Prof Zaruk is better known to anyone who followed the agonising process that led to EU’s last minute re-licencing of glyphosate by his online nom-de-plume, the Risk Monger.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that he probably did more than anyone else, via his excellent blog, to expose the level to which that process was being hijacked by the anti-science lobby in Brussels.
In short, Prof Zaruk brought to light the extent to which scientific evidence that conclusively disproved the alleged carcinogenicity of glyphosate was being manipulated by NGO-funded lobbyists and academics to undermine public confidence in the safety of the world’s most widely used herbicide.
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So, the next time you fill your spray tank with Roundup, spare a thought for David Zaruk, a true farming hero. His blog can be found at www.risk-monger.com
Read full, original article: Opinion: Pro-science, pro-glyphosate backer a ‘true farming hero’
