For related articles and more information, please visit OCA’s Genetic Engineering page and our Millions Against Monsanto page.

Uh oh. If you’ve been following the issue here at RGB, you’re aware of the fact that the US Department of Agriculture has been making life very easy for Monsanto, the big agriculture behemoth that controls a huge share of US (and global) seed production. They’ve approved a number of  Monsanto’s genetically modified (GMO) crops already this year. But the latest development blows the doors off what has happened so far.

The USDA slipped through an innocuous-looking press release about Kentucky bluegrass late Friday afternoon before the Fourth of July weekend. It’s GMO bluegrass, engineered to resist Monsanto’s nasty plant-killer, Roundup, so you can plant it on your lawn and then douse the whole joint with their chemical weedkiller.

The USDA ruled that there was no danger, so they don’t need to do any tests. Just start selling.

“It’s a blatant end-run around regulatory oversight,” said George Kimbrell, senior lawyer at the Center for Food Safety.

Bye-bye, dandelions, hello birth defects. (See: It’s official: Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide causes birth defects.)

But hey, lots of people would be willing to exchange their firstborn child for a truly pristine, weed-free lawn, right? Although the company’s main target is golf courses. (Henceforth pregnant women will be advised to abstain from cigarettes, alcohol, and golf ).