Loading ...Featured Article THB UndercoverMonsanto Vs. The World: Is it Too Late for Us to Win?
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 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 herbicide-resistant weeds and not harm their crops.
Unbelievably, Monsanto is encouraging these farmers to mix the Roundup with older herbicides 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 corporations 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.
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Tags: agriculture, GM seeds, Monsanto, pesticides
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Guys,
Entered: May 20th, 2009 at 6:09 am. PermalinkIf you want more of what your putting out on this site to get more readers or folks to pay attention. Then I suggest that you, include a device for sending a e-mail to friends and peoples of interest. Also It would be a nice idea to go to the airwaves with this info. Folks like Billy Cunningham, Sean Hanity, Glen Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Mark Levin. Think of it as an essential element to the “Tea Parties.”
I knew only a little bit about the GM seeds. This is really ugly stuff. Especially them suing farmers who have a tough enough time as it is. Ooooh stories like this make me want to puke. Germany, kick Monsanto’s butts. But Americans also have themselves to blame for not collectively putting a stop to the likes of Monsanto. Remember the 60’s? We were so close to making it all happen in a beneficial way for the world. Come on people let’s get together and get back more and more to organics or at least minimal amount of pesticides.
Entered: May 20th, 2009 at 6:28 am. PermalinkKeoahu,
There is a “Share This” link at the bottom of the article on this page that will allow you to forward this article via e-mail, or share it on several social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Digg, etc.
Please feel free to forward to anyone you think would be interested.
Thanks,
Entered: May 20th, 2009 at 7:20 am. PermalinkAlexis
Unfortunately author has mislabled 2,4-D as a pestacide instead of a herbacide (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) leading to a question about his knowledge on the subject.
Entered: May 20th, 2009 at 7:23 am. PermalinkI have relatives in the soybean farming business in Mississippi that have attested to the truth of this article. This is but a preliminary measure which will lead to the control of the food supply, which in turn can be used to withhold seeds from the entities (countries, geograpical regions) to force population down-sizing, when the effects of Peak Oil are a reality, so the ‘elite’ and their underlings can survive, while the rest die.
Entered: May 20th, 2009 at 8:00 am. PermalinkAs a citizen of France, I want to thank you for your e-letter, which I read faithfully, and for this article. The struggle against GM seeds has not been an easy task in my country, especially considering the position of the European Community. But I do hope that Germany, our neighbor, will make the right decision and that, yes, you can win,too!
Entered: May 20th, 2009 at 9:13 am. PermalinkIt is good some world leaders are understanding the corruption of various scientific studies, funded by the same companies who products are being tested. These are what you call real leaders. Clone them and send them over to North America. Cannot find one over here.
Entered: May 20th, 2009 at 10:08 am. PermalinkI can’t believe this is even a problem. World-wide, courts harass every Tom Dick and Harry over the pettiest of environmental issues, some European court fined Intel several BILLION dollars over what they considered to be “unfair trade practices” (Intel should simply say “no more computer chips for Europe” and THEN see what happens), even giant MICROSOFT suffered legal wrath several years ago; the new federal U.S. federal government feels it has the right to dictate fuel requirements and emissions standards to automobile manufacturers all around the world, and these are companies and people that really aren’t hurting anybody, and yet courts everywhere quake in their boots in the face of an evil enterprise like Monsanto that INTENTIONALLY harms every single thing on the planet and benefits NO ONE? It should take nothing more than a stroke of the pen to wipe that corporation off of the face of the Earth, and if that won’t do it, surely some of these countries have functional armies.
Entered: May 20th, 2009 at 10:56 am. PermalinkThis is a very good article. Suffice it to say, it is but one of many horror stories about Monsanto that I’ve heard and read about. It is a fact they want to take over the world’s food supply, and keep engineering seeds. As they corrupt the seeds, so they corrupt the DNA of seeds, so they do corrupt our bodies natural functions.
Since the U.S. owns the patent on the terminator gene, Monsanto ranks number one in Washington, and has their former people on the ‘inside’ of the FDA. This alone is totally scary, but the ‘political connections’ are greater than anyone realizes.
There is currently a bill in congress (I cannot recall the number off hand) that is being pushed by a man on the Monsanto payroll. You can Google this, I’m sure. But I did sign a petition against this companies attempts to ‘OUTLAW ORGANIC FARMING.’ I believe everyone can find that information on Health Freedom.org.
It isn’t bad enough that every vegetable we now eat is being irradiated, which cannot be washed out or cooked out, they want us to eat foods that have diminished nutrients. By the time we cook or ingest any of it, it’s worthless. Not only that, but contains potent chemicals we cannot see or taste, enhanced by more chemicals for flavor. People believe they are eating tasty meats or vegetables, when in fact they are consuming nutritionally deficient garbage. It makes one wonder what the heck is worth buying. Not everyone has the advantage of being close to any local farms, but what’s going on now would make it all worth at least one weekly trip to where ever we’d have to go.
READ ALL LABELS: Don’t be fooled by that 100% ALL VEGETABLE Crisco, Wesson or any other oil being sold now. When reading the label it’s 100% GM Soybean oil. NOT a vegetable as far as I’m concerned.
It’s just like the FDA now hitting on General Mills for their claim that Cheerios helps lower cholesterol. What craziness!! Now they insist that General Mills show evidence that a natural oat cereal is ‘not a drug that treats or cures.’ All of that because of a claim, and I’d be willing to bet my last dollar, people on Monsanto’s payroll, and BIG Pharma payrolls are in on this.
We all know that proper diet and nutrition will in fact help us to have optimal health. Right now, with the corrupt persons within the higher offices of the regulators, it’s going to be a long battle, and will take much more than the win of this German lawsuit. It will take every piece of ammunition we can dig up, to prove that what Monsanto has done is not only criminal, but against the human rights of each and every person on this planet. May our Creator have mercy on us all.
Entered: May 20th, 2009 at 11:52 am. PermalinkSadly no DEITY will save us from this Monsanto evil. Only our intelligence, courage, knowledge AND banding together to resist and even TO PUNISH EVERYONE COMPLICIT. If the law is an ass WE HAVE TO TAKE THE LAW I9N OUR HANDS. Evil people need to be rubbed out legally if possible, or biologically if the first option is neutered. Call me a vigilant. I am one of the many who cares and terrified what is allowed to go on. We must draw the line NOW! This is crime against humanity and the tail is wagging the dog Monsanto is the tail and Governments the dog!! Be well! joseph.
Entered: May 20th, 2009 at 4:14 pm. PermalinkDisgusting! This is not just about profit per se. It`s about absolute control and power! It`s evil, dark side. Who knows what pervert minds are behind it and what`s their agenda? Still, ultimately the power is with the people.
Entered: May 20th, 2009 at 9:41 pm. PermalinkAddendum to the comments about the run for control of the world’s food supply by agribusiness, if not Monsanto: I came across an article a couple of years ago stating that a large U.S. company (or companies) was buying up native grains from countries in the Third World, investigating the properties then putting patents on that strain & barring the farmers from using their own stored supplies for the next year’s planting! Even though the original grain wasn’t enhanced at all. Imagine if Monsanto et al had been around when the potato/tomato/coffee plants were discovered by Europeans centuries ago — what would our cuisine be like now? Hm-m?
Entered: May 21st, 2009 at 11:19 pm. PermalinkThanks for letting us know what is going on (that was a very good article). If possible, could you keep us up to date on how the case progresses? By the way, in which court is the case being heard? The WTO Dispute Settlement Body, or a national court? It is vital that we think of a way out!
Entered: May 27th, 2009 at 12:10 pm. PermalinkMonsanto obviously is part of the instruments of the Antichrist as stipulated in Revelation of the Bible. Nobody will be able to buy or sell without having the number 666 on the forehead or back of the hand. Well, we have the chips for animals and some humans pride themselves to be “chipped” already. I thank God, that I have asked Jesus into my heart and can face the future. Can you? Nevertheless I have offered the article to Australian newspapers. Let us see how gutsy they are…
Entered: May 28th, 2009 at 11:30 pm. Permalink