No, says the author of Organic Manifesto: How Organic Food Can Heal Our Planet, Feed the World, and Keep Us Safe. In fact, the taboo on chemical weapons is being violated every day on an unimaginable scale because children around the world are being poisoned by non-organic produce. Seriously.

“I do not consider myself a Christian,” Rodale writes, “but I would like to quote Jesus and ask, ‘Who among you has not sinned?’”

“Yes, Syria has undoubtedly used chemical weapons on its own people. Maybe it was the government; maybe it was the opposition; maybe you know for sure,” she continues. “But here’s what I know for sure: We are no better.”

“We have been using chemical weapons on our own children — and ourselves — for decades, the chemical weapons we use in agriculture to win the war on pests, weeds, and the false need for ever greater yields.”