"The World According to MONSANTO"

The MONSANTO corporation is one of the most dangerous companies on the planet.


"This documentary tells the story of how the evil and greedy American corporation Mansanto has developed food staples (soy, corn) that have been genetically modified (GM) and carry potentially lethal (carcenigenous) strains and how it has conspired, with the help of corrupt officials everywhere, to have those GM seeds gradually replace the existing ones worldwide, all in the name of profit, thereby levying royalties on anyone who uses their products.

These GM organisms are also based on a lie. They were created to eliminate the need for insecticides, yet require just as much insecticides and fertilizers as non-genetically modified organisms.

This unrelenting policy has made possible the silencing of dissenting scientists, the firing or corruption of government employees and officials in the United States and abroad and the displacement, elimination, impoverishment and, frequently, death or suicide of thousands upon thousands of small farmers in the world's poorer countries (Brazil, Mexico,Argentina, India, and so on). Monsanto's deadly poisonous seeds are also destroying by contamination the genetic stock of most foods on this planet so that the time will soon come when the Earth's population will never be sure of what it is ingesting and of its effect on their health.

It sounds like a sci-fi or at least nightmarish scenario. Unfortunately, it's all true. This film could only be made in France as the European Union requires the labeling of all GM products while the US do not." [Amazon comment]



"There's nothing they are leaving untouched: the mustard, the okra, the bringe oil, the rice, the cauliflower. Once they have established the norm: that seed can be owned as their property, royalties can be collected. We will depend on them for every seed we grow of every crop we grow. If they control seed, they control food, they know it -- it's strategic. It's more powerful than bombs. It's more powerful than guns. This is the best way to control the populations of the world.

The story starts in the White House, where Monsanto often got its way by exerting disproportionate influence over policymakers via the "revolving door". One example is Michael Taylor, who worked for Monsanto as an attorney before being appointed as deputy commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1991. While at the FDA, the authority that deals with all US food approvals, Taylor made crucial decisions that led to the approval of GE foods and crops. Then he returned to Monsanto, becoming the company's vice president for public policy.

Thanks to these intimate links between Monsanto and government agencies, the US adopted GE foods and crops without proper testing, without consumer labeling and in spite of serious questions hanging over their safety. Not coincidentally, Monsanto supplies 90 percent of the GE seeds used by the US market. Monsanto's long arm stretched so far that, in the early nineties, the US Food and Drugs Agency even ignored warnings of their own scientists, who were cautioning that GE crops could cause negative health effects. Other tactics the company uses to stifle concerns about their products include misleading advertising, bribery and concealing scientific evidence." [YouTube leader]

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Comments

[Jane Bowles]

Giant corporations controlling the political system for their own ends, sad to say that is the US and much of the world these days - I think the only way to get rid of the general problem is to find a way to publicly finance elections here and then to work on reeling in the lobbyist system.

As for Monsanto specifically, I believe that CA has a referendum coming up this fall on whether to label goods as genetically modified (as is done in Europe), if it passes other states will surely follow and the movement and grass roots pressure will grow, state by state. No company will want to be identified with the bad press associated with GM crops and so will most likely stop using them. But, that wouldn't stop Monsanto and it's stranglehold on the market, it would just change its seed stock.

The only thing that could truly stop Monsanto would be politicians who weren't bought and paid for, who didn't need vast financial resources to stay in office, and were therefore willing to cut the subsidies to giant agribusiness and invest in small farmers again...in other words, do what makes sense.

[Jing-reed]

Hi Jane,
Thanks for the interest and comments. Monsanto is indeed a problem that the world needs to address.