"
I wondered how quickly someone would bring this up. "
I started to answer when the link was first posted, but I deleted my reply because I felt it was likely to deteriorate into a my-way v. your-way slanging match.
If I search for "Roundup is bad" on google I get N million hits. If I search for "Roundup is good" I get another N million hits.
The first link posted is, as has already been pointed out, 9 years old. It is from a site that is trying to sell its products to folk who want to be Organic. Its an Email from someone who's credentials aren't really clear, and the link to his site doesn't work. I could spend more time trying to track him down and see how authentic the claims are ... but as you might expect I didn't spend any more time on it. There are also no citations. On that basis, for me, I deem it not authoritative and as such it carries zero weight. I could make a web site tomorrow calls RoundupSucks.com, or whatever, and write whatever I wish ...
Both your links are to the Institute of Science in Society. I've never heard of them, have you? If they are a robust scientific institution why do they need Google Ads to support their site? (Which rather unfortunately offered me to buy Roundup from Choiceful at £12.68 for 1.5L). They say they are a not-for-profit donation-funded site, but the majority of the articles seem to be written by Dr. Mae-Wan Ho, so my conclusion is that its a rant site for a GM opponent (nothing wrong with that, just not the hard scientific evidence that would sway me).
I have read up about Roundup and Glyphosate because I do use it here to clear new ground. I have based my opinion on the
Wikipedia article on Roundup and
Glyphosate (not infallible, of course, but people are free to edit the page For and Against) and information that I have read on the
Soil Association website
There was also mention of "trying to be organic" or using Roundup to clear the plot and then no chemicals thereafter allowed you to be Organic.
IMHO Organic is a much abused word. Manure was sold in bags last year labelled as "Organic" but contained aminopyralid, and people who used it lost their crops. When they challenged the supplier the answer was something vague about the company's practices and their wish to promote organic ... All Hogwash!, but the bottom line is that they just put the word "Organic" on their bags to make them sell. "Certified by the Soil Association", or whatever the correct wording is, or some similar body, is the only thing that will make something demonstrably Organic.
The Soil Association don't assist "home growers", but their FAQ provides links to a number of Suppliers and also these organisations:
http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/ (useful)
http://www.organicgardeningmagazine.co.uk/ (Magazine's website)
and this
http://www.angliangardener.co.uk/toc.htm which TBH I am extremely sceptical about - lots of articles about using Glyphosate to clear plots etc., nothing about it being un-organic, nor anything about it being harmful, and it seems an unlikely site for the Soil Association to be linking too.