A recent article on Reuters infuriated me – Kenya will allow genetically modified corn to alleviate shortage. Serious? Please, help me find one sensible and objective person who believes that is the true reason behind allowing those monster crops.
The war between GMO supporters, or rather – bribed entities and enslaved farmers, and anti-GM activists, has been long and painful. That war is not a cultural issue but a common sense issue. How much meddling in our food is permissible and is it right that one company holds 90 per cent of all genetically modified seeds in the world? It is ok that employers of that same company keep switching between serving government posts and serving their company? Any guesses already what company we are talking about?
That’s right, Monsanto. Millions of stories have been written about that company, hundreds of thousands of farmers have felt what it is like to deal with Monsanto – either as its ally or its enemy. Whatever your personal stand is, as Kaitlyn Moore passionately shares in her recent post on Monsanto trying to take over world seed supply, nation by nation, he who controls the seed controls the food supply; and he who controls the food supply controls the world. There is no question that Monsanto is on a mission to monopolize the conventional seed market. In fact, the company are steadfastly working towards the goal of creating a world where 100% of all commercial seeds are genetically modified and patented – basically a world where natural seeds are extinct.
Unfortunately for the global community Monsanto is accomplishing their purpose. They currently own 90% of the world’s patents for GMO seeds including cotton, soybeans, corn, sugar beets and canola. Do we as humans really want companies such as BASF, Bayer, DuPont, Syngenta, and Dow involved with our food? Well, to a large extent they already are. Monsanto, for example, is infamous for taking advantage of small farmers, and with the advent of MoU’s they are doing so with governmental license. Countries like India, Pakistan, Australia, and New Zealand have signed MoUs and issued permits to Monsanto to use publicly owned lands to create so called demonstration farms (GMO breeding camps) which in turn – at least in the case of Rajasthan – are subsidized by the government.
Monsanto literally takes farmer seeds, creates genetically engineered copycat versions, and then retains all intellectual property rights. Dr. Vandana Shiva, Executive Director of the Navdanya Trust, an Indian organization committed to organic biodiversity, states that “the MoUs will in effect, facilitate bio-piracy of Rajasthan’s rich biodiversity of draught – resilient crops …. by failing to have any clauses that respect the Biodiversity Act and the Farmers’ Rights Act, the MoUs promote bio-piracy and legalize the great seed robbery.”
As with all of their agreements, Monsanto shields itself from any liability. When Monsanto’s promises of higher yields with less work ring hollow, when farmers crops fail, or when mass suicides are committed because of crop failure and spirit crushing debt – Monsanto presses on with no worries. Farmers that sign up for Monsanto’s seeds of destruction find themselves hooked. Year after year, no matter what prices are charged, the farmers are dependent on GMO seeds for new crops because GMO seeds – the bastardized versions they are – do not regenerate.
Monsanto has no qualms about robbing farmers that do not play poker with it. Conventional and organic farmers in both Canada and the U.S., who have the misfortune of having lands that border GMO farms, often end up with trace contamination in their crops, making them (if organic), unsuitable for sale. Monsanto actually uses this situation against farmers and files patent infringement claims that it often wins. The result farm owners are left with exorbitant legal bills and fines often forcing them to shut down: clearing away Monsanto competition. In a savvy move for survival, a pre-emptive suit on behalf of almost 300,000 plaintiffs seeking legal safe harbor, has been filed in New York.
Monsanto’s product has changed from poison to food, but it has held true to its history of violating the rights and health of people around the globe. Monsanto is a 100% committed to the sale of their seeds of destruction no matter what it takes: bullying, infiltration of high government offices with company friendly individuals, or intimidation. The organic movement has taken up the standard against Monsanto’s machinations in court as well as through grassroots education and activist efforts. The organic revolution is Monsanto’s Achilles heel, and its goal is a world without Monsanto.
What can you do? First, be an alert consumer and know how to avoid GM foods! Most foods we eat may contain ingredients derived from genetically modified organisms – everything from baby formula and food to our dairy to even our meat. If you live in Europe, avoiding GM foods is easier since laws require labelling. In the US and Canada, however, food manufacturers are not required to label if their food is genetically modified or not.
Second, watch these fantastic documentaries and spread the word, share them also with any farmer you know:
The World According to Monsanto
GM Crops Farmer to Farmer
Credit: Excerpts from NaturalNews, Monsanto trying to take over world seed supply, nation by nation
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Genetic modification of food opens up countless possibilities for negatively altering our world. Imagine the “ripples on a pond” analogy: Even the tiniest change in the atomic structure of a particular product, will potentially create ever increasing alterations in how that product interacts with the body of anyone who consumes it.