How wonderful it is to have big business and government do
our thinking, make choices and decisions for us because they
know more than us what is best. Oh what bliss---LOL "What, are
you kidding me?" -BZ
Monsanto Vs. The World: Is it Too Late for Us to Win?
May 20, 2009
By Melanie Segala
Managing Editor, Total Health Breakthroughs
Monsanto is the world's largest agricultural biotechnology
company and producer of genetically modified (GM) seeds.
Monsanto's GM crop seeds are altered to resist the damaging
effects of their bestselling agricultural herbicide, Roundup,
which earns the company a cool $620 million per year and
provides 40% of its operating profit.1
Initially, farmers all over the world believed GM seeds
were a high-tech boon to modern agriculture -- using
Roundup, they could kill thousands of threatening weeds
while doing no harm to valuable crops. Little did they
know of the problems that would ensue, starting with the
purchase of the seeds.
Before farmers are sold the Roundup-resistant seeds, they
are required to sign a technology agreement that allows
the company to conduct property investigations and define
"what rights a farmer does and does not have in planting,
harvesting, and selling genetically engineered seed.”2
This may seem outrageous, but Monsanto has gotten away
with it because their GM seeds are patented. And
according to them, patent infringement also includes
saving seeds from current healthy crops and replanting
them in the future -- a great way for Monsanto to force
farmers to needlessly buy seed every year.
According to the Center for Food Safety (CFS),2 the signed
technology agreement has led Monsanto to aggressively pursue
thousands of farmers that it believes have breached the
agreement or infringed upon its GM seed patent. The farmer
must then pay an out of court settlement to Monsanto or
go to court. CFS says that that Monsanto has collected
$15,253,602 from lawsuits that have found in its favor.2
Even farmers who have not purchased Monsanto's GM seeds
nor signed any written agreement are in the line of fire.
If pollen from a GM planted crop pollinates a non-GM field
on another farm that results in viable plants, that farmer
is liable under current laws for patent infringement --
even if he did not want GM crops growing in his field.
So successful has Monsanto been in handsomely collecting
from lawsuits and gaining control of the world's food supply
that they're now ready to go after the really big fish.
On April 14, 2009, the company filed a law suit against
the German government for refusing to use its GM corn.3
Although Monsanto's GM corn (which was engineered to be
toxic to the corn borer pest) has been permitted in Germany
since 2005, agriculture minister Ilse Aigner stopped plans
for 8,892 acres to be planted for the summer harvest. Ms.
Aigner claimed she had "legitimate reasons” to believe the
corn would be a hazard to the environment. EU law allows
member countries to impose such a ban but Monsanto's suit
says that once a plant has been approved, it cannot be
banned unless new scientific evidence proves it to be a
danger.3
France banned the GM corn seeds last year and Hungary and
Austria also plan on doing so even though the European Food
Safety Authority concluded they were no risk to humans or
animals. But Ms. Aigner may be right in her concerns about
the damaging effects of GM crops on the environment.
According to GeneWatch UK:4
Other crops and wild plants may become contaminated with the
foreign genes added to the GM crop.
New 'super-weeds' may evolve which will be difficult or even
impossible to eradicate.
Pollution arising from the use of harmful chemicals may
increase or decrease.
Wildlife may be harmed by new toxins in the environment or
changes in agricultural practices.
In the US Sunbelt in fact, Roundup-resistant super-weeds
are threatening cotton and soybean crops.5 In 2007, 10,000
acres in Macon County, Georgia were overrun with super-weeds
and abandoned. Farmers across the South are now left to
figure out how to kill the pesticide-resistant weeds and not
harm their crops.
Unbelievably, Monsanto is encouraging these farmers to mix
the Roundup with older pesticides like 2,4-D which also happens
to be an ingredient used in Agent Orange. Three Scandinavian
countries have banned 2,4-D because of its links to cancer,
cognitive impairment, and reproductive damage.5
We can only hope that Ms. Aigner and the German government
stick to their guns and prove in a court of law that individuals
and governments have the right to decide what they grow -- and
what they refuse to grow -- without interference from Big Agra.
A victory for the German government would be a victory for us
all --one big step in breaking the stranglehold that large
orporations are exerting on every aspect of our lives --
even what we eat.
One organization taking a strong stand against Monsanto's
bullying tactics and the questionable use of GM seeds is
the Organic Consumers Association. You can support their
efforts to rein in Monsanto and improve food safety and
environmental accountability by visiting their website and
signing one or more of their petitions.
References
http://www.mcspotlight.org/beyond/companies
/monsanto.html
http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/pubs/
MonsantoExSum1.14.2005.pdf
http://www.opednews.com/articles/MEGALOMANIA-by-MONSANTO-by-
amicus-curia€e-090422-816.html.
http://www.genewatch.org/sub-532322.
http://www.france24.com/en/20090418-superweed-
explosion-threatens-monsanto-heartlands-genetically-
modified-US-crops.
posted by Bryon Zirker @ 3:52 PM
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