The World According to Monsanto

For centuries farmers have saved seeds from season to season: they planted in the spring, harvested in the fall, then reclaimed and cleaned the seeds over the winter for re-planting the next spring. Monsanto has turned this ancient practice on its head.

For most of its history Monsanto was a chemical giant, producing some of the most toxic substances ever created, residues from which have left us with some of the most polluted sites on earth. Yet in a little more than a decade, the company has sought to shed its polluted past and morph into something much different and more far-reaching—an “agricultural company” dedicated to making the world “a better place for future generations.” Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was on the Board of Directors of Monsanto and former Attorney General John Ashcroft received the highest donations from Monsanto during the 2000 election.

Monsanto is the company behind Roundup herbicide, among other herbicides like Agent Orange. Monsanto developed Genetically Modified (GM) seeds that would resist its own herbicide, Roundup, offering farmers a way to spray fields with the weed killer without affecting crops. Monsanto then patented the seeds.

Farmers who buy Monsanto’s patented Roundup Ready seeds are required to sign an agreement promising not to save the seed produced after each harvest for re-planting, or to sell the seed to other farmers. This means that farmers must buy new seed every year. And they must let Monsanto inspect their fields.

The genetic modification process of these plant cells is no easy task. The Roundup resistant gene is inserted into the DNA of the desired plant cell of corn, for example. Plant cells naturally reject foreign DNA, so they developed a method of using E. coli bacteria and virus to break down the defenses so they can insert the engineered DNA into the nucleus of the plant cell.

For 40 years, Percy Schmeiser has grown canola on his farm near Saskatchewan, Canada, usually sowing each crop of the oil-rich plants with seeds saved from the previous harvest. And he has never, says Schmeiser, purchased seed from Monsanto Co. Even so, he says that more than 320 hectares of his land is now "contaminated" by Monsanto's herbicide-resistant Roundup Ready canola. Since Monsanto owns patents on their GM seeds, last August the company took the 68-year-old farmer to court, claiming he illegally planted the firm's canola without paying a $37-per-hectare fee for the privilege. Percy is among hundreds of farmers Monsanto is suing, usually on the grounds of patent infringement. Most other North American farmers have reached out-of-court settlements with Monsanto, Schmeiser fought back. He claims Monsanto investigators trespassed on his land -- and that company seed could easily have blown on to his soil from passing canola-laden trucks. "I never put those plants on my land," says Schmeiser. "The question is, where do Monsanto's rights end and mine begin?" The Federal Court of Canada ruled that Schmeiser was liable for having Roundup Ready canola in his fields of conventional canola – due to cross-pollination with neighbors’ plants -- and failing to inform Monsanto about it.

Monsanto relies on a shadowy army of private investigators and agents in the American heartland to strike fear into farm country. They fan out into fields and farm towns, where they secretly videotape and photograph farmers, store owners, and co-ops; infiltrate community meetings; and gather information from informants about farming activities. Farmers say that some Monsanto agents pretend to be surveyors. Others confront farmers on their land and try to pressure them to sign papers giving Monsanto access to their private records. Farmers call them the “seed police” and use words such as “Gestapo” and “Mafia” to describe their tactics.

Two documentary movies I recommend on the subject of Monsanto is The Future of Food and The World According to Monsanto. These movies will open your eyes on the corporate giant Monsanto and the future of GM foods. A must see for every citizen around the world. Monsanto is fully aware if you control the food you control the population.