On Wednesday, I posted an article from the New York Times on the rise of superweeds. The paper’s website—on their “Room for Debate” blog—has since published short commentaries from some notable experts in the field, including Michael Pollan:
What a surprise! Roundup-resistant weeds have shown up in fields that have been doused with Roundup! Shocking!
Actually, the surprise would have been if these weeds didn’t show up — the only thing in doubt was the timing. The theory of natural selection predicts that resistance will appear whenever you attempt to eradicate a pest or a bacteria using such a heavy-handed approach.
Or, as I put it: “Duh.”
