[PAA-Discuss] Monsanto: The evil corporation in your refrigerator

[Juli3 at aol.com]

_Monsanto: The evil corporation in your  refrigerator_ 
(http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2010/02/04/monsanto-the-evil-corporation-in-your-refrigerator/) 
 
_http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2010/02/04/monsanto-the-evil-corporation-in-y
our-refrigerator/_ 
(http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2010/02/04/monsanto-the-evil-corporation-in-your-refrigerator/) 
 
 
Monsanto: The evil corporation in your  refrigerator
_Bob  Cesca_ (http://www.walletpop.com/blog/bloggers/bob-cesca/)  
(http://www.walletpop.com/blog/bloggers/bob-cesca/rss.xml) 
Feb 4th 2010 at  7:30PM
 
(http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?pub=mfwp&v=250&source=tbx-250&tt=0&s=digg&url=http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2010/02/04/monsanto-the-evil-corporati
on-in-your-refrigerator/&title=Monsanto:%20The%20evil%20corporation%20in%20y
our%20refrigerator&content=&lng=en)  
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o:%20The%20evil%20corporation%20in%20your%20refrigerator&content=&lng=en)  
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Filed under: _Extracurriculars_ 
(http://www.walletpop.com/blog/category/extracurriculars/) ,  _Food_ (http://www.walletpop.com/blog/category/food/)  
When  we consider the rogue's gallery of devilish, over-sized, greedy and  
disproportionately powerful corporations, we generally come up with outfits 
like  Microsoft, _Bechtel_ 
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolivian_Water_Wars_of_2000) ,  AIG, Halliburton, Goldman-Sachs, Exxon-Mobil and the United 
States Senate. Yet  somehow, Monsanto, arguably the most devilish, over-sized, 
greedy and  disproportionately powerful corporation in the world has been 
able to more or  less skulk between the raindrops -- only a household name in 
households where  documentaries like _Food  Inc._ 
(http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0027BOL4G?ie=UTF8&tag=bobcescom-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=3
90957&creativeASIN=B0027BOL4G)  are regarded as light Friday evening 
entertainment. My house, for  example. But for the most part, if you were to ask 
an average American for their  list of sinister corporations, Monsanto 
probably wouldn't make the  cut.

It should.

Founded by Missouri pharmacist John Francis Queeny  in 1901, Monsanto is 
literally everywhere. Just about every non-organic food  product available to 
consumers has some sort of connection with Monsanto.  
Anyone who can read a label knows that corn, soy and cotton can be found in 
 just about every American food product. Upwards of 90% of all corn, 
soybeans and  cotton are grown from genetically engineered seeds, also known as 
genetically  modified organisms (GMOs). These genetically enhanced products 
appear in around  70% of all American processed food products. And Monsanto 
controls 90% of all  genetically engineered seeds. In other words, Monsanto 
controls -- and owns  patents on -- most of the American food supply.

When you consider, _as  Walletpop originally reported_ 
(http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/09/22/use-food-labels-to-know-what-youre-eating-theres-a-1-in
-4-cha/) , that one-in-four food labels is inaccurate,  that the F.D.A.'s 
testing is weak at best, then how can we trust one corporation  to have so 
much control over our produce? The answer is, we can't. 
Recently, _a  study by the International Journal of  Biological Sciences_ 
(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/12/monsantos-gmo-corn-linked_n_420365.h
tml)  revealed that Monsanto's Mon 863, Mon 810, and  Roundup 
herbicide-absorbing NK 603 in corn caused kidney and liver damage in  laboratory rats. 
Scientists also discovered damage to the heart, spleen, adrenal  glands and 
even the blood of rats that consumed the mutant corn. A "state of  hepatorenal 
toxicity" the study concluded. 
This hasn't slowed down Monsanto's profit machine. In 2008, Monsanto 
cleared  over $2 billion in net profits on $11 billion in revenues. And its 2009 
is  looking equally as excellent. 
Author and food safety advocate _Robyn  O'Brien_ 
(http://www.allergykids.com/)  told me, "Monsanto is expecting gross margins in Q2 2010 of 62%, its  
corn and soy price mix to be up 8-10% and its glyphosate revenue to expand to 
an  estimated $1 billion in gross profit by 2012, enabling Monsanto to 
further drive  R&D into seeds and to price those seeds at a premium – further 
driving price  increases on the farm and in the grocery stores."

This, _O'Brien  says_ 
(http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0767930711?ie=UTF8&tag=bobcescom-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=07679307
11) , in the same year when farm income declined by around 34%.  

Because Monsanto claims that its GMOs create higher yields and therefore  
comparatively higher revenues per acre for struggling American farmers, 
they're  certainly a tempting option. On the surface, that is. Monsanto controls 
its  seeds with an iron fist, so even if you happen to own a farm next to 
another  farm upon which Monsanto seeds are used, and if those seeds migrate 
onto your  land, Monsanto can _sue you  for royalties_ 
(http://www.mindfully.org/GE/2005/Monsanto-Sues-Farmers30jan05.htm) . 

Additionally, if you use seeds from crops grown from  Monsanto seeds, a 
process known as "seed cleaning," you also have to pay  royalties to Monsanto 
or it will sue you. All told, Monsanto has recovered $15  million in 
royalties by suing farmers, with individual settlements ranging from  five figures 
to millions of dollars each.

Back in 2004, farmer Kem Ralph  _served  eight months in jail_ 
(http://www.mindfully.org/GE/2005/Monsanto-Sues-Farmers30jan05.htm)  and was fined $1.3 
million for lying about Monsanto  cotton seeds he was hiding in his barn as 
a favor to a friend. They weren't even  his seeds (yeah, that's what they 
all say!). By way of comparison, the  fine in Ralph's home state of Tennessee 
for, say, cocaine possession, is  $2,500.

In keeping with the Orwellian nature of modern marketing, one of  the first 
phrases you see on the front page of the _Monsanto website_ 
(http://www.monsanto.com/)  is "we help farmers."  Funny. In a cruelly ironical way, that 
is.

In fairness, the argument in  support of Monsanto is generally "it makes 
more food for lower prices." Of  course this is a red herring. Basic economics 
proves that choice and competition  create lower prices. Not monopolies. 
This applies not only to American grocery  stores, but also in terms of 
feeding developing nations where food is scarcer.  Moreover, stronger Monsanto 
herbicides, compatible with herbicide resistant  seeds, are giving rise to 
_mutant  Wolverine-ish super weeds that have adapted_ 
(http://www.grist.org/article/attack-of-the-superweeds)  and are rapidly spreading  through the air to 
farms that don't use Monsanto GMOs, destroying obviously  vulnerable crops. 
Say nothing of the inevitable mutant bugs that will adapt to  the 
pesticides that are implanted into the Monsanto Mon 810 genetic code. And if  further 
studies indicate similar organ damage in humans, the externalized costs  to 
health care systems will begin to seriously out-weigh the benefits of 
cheaper  food.

Ultimately, there are better, healthier ways to make cheaper food.  Until 
then the best thing we can do is to demand further investigations and buy  
organic products whenever practical. 


And  if you can't afford to buy organic, O'Brien recommends, "A great first 
step,  given how pervasive these ingredients are in processed foods that 
often use  these ingredients to extend shelf life, is to reduce your exposure 
to processed  foods and stick with pronounceable ingredients and foods that 
your grandmother  would have served her kids."

Meanwhile, let's endeavor to make Monsanto a  household name. But not in a 
good way.

On January 15, _the  Obama Justice Department launched an anti-trust 
investigation_ 
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/28/AR2009112802471.html)  against the  corporate behemoth over its next 
generation of genetically modified "Roundup  Ready" soybean seeds. The very next day, 
the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear  the case _Monsanto  v. Geertson Seed 
Farms_ 
(http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/business/stories.nsf/story/D51C88B13F9B58AF862576AD00057CC8?OpenDocument) , which challenges the safety of 
genetically modified  agricultural products -- the centerpiece of the Monsanto 
empire. If the  investigation fails, farmers will have to switch over to the 
next generation of  Roundup Ready seeds in 2014. And the cycle of corporate 
abuse and monopolization  will continue
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