Monsanto

So I'm not sure if all of you have heard of Monsanto, well unless you saw the movie Food Inc. To be honest, I am no expert on the topic but I do feel it is necessary to bring them up. So I've gone around to a few different websites and pulled some info just so we can all be "aware" as to who they are and what they do.

This is what wikipedia says about them:
"The Monsanto Company is a U.S.-based multinational agricultural biotechnology corporation. It is the world's leading producer of the herbicide glyphosate, marketed as "Roundup". Monsanto is also the leading producer of genetically engineered (GE) seed; it provides the technology in 90% of the world's genetically engineered seeds. It is headquartered in Creve Coeur, Missouri.
Agracetus, owned by Monsanto, exclusively produces Roundup Ready soybean seed for the commercial market. In 2005, it finalized purchase of Seminis Inc, making it the world's largest conventional seed company.
Monsanto's development and marketing of genetically engineered seed and bovine growth hormone, as well as its aggressive litigation, political lobbying practices, seed commercialization practices and "strong-arming" of the seed industry have made the company controversial around the world and a primary target of the alter-globalization movement and environmental activists. As a result of its business strategies and licensing agreements, Monsanto came under investigation by the U.S. Justice Department in 2009."

Ok, now I don't think you have to be a natural freak to realize that Roundup and seeds is NOT a good combo. Actually it is the scariest thing I think I've heard. So they make genetically modified seeds that basically have the Roundup embedded in it. So they are poisoning the seeds as far as I can tell. I just read also that 93 percent of soy, 86 percent of corn, 93 percent of cotton and 93 percent of canola seed planted were genetically engineered in the US in 2010. Phew, those are big percentages of some items that are in close to 100% of non organic processed foods. That's not to mention the feed the livestock is getting!

Here is some background info from another site I found: http://www.newfrontier.com/asheville/bad_seed.htm

"Monsanto has spent over $30 billion in recent years buying numerous U.S. seed companies. As a result, two firms, Monsanto and Pioneer (recently purchased by DuPont), now control the U.S. seed business. Monsanto specializes in genetically modified seeds -- seeds having particular properties that Monsanto has patented.
The U.S. government is very enthusiastic about these new technologies. From the viewpoint of U.S. foreign policy, genetically modified seeds offer a key advantage over traditional seeds: because genetically modified seeds are patented, it is illegal for a farmer to retain seed from this year's crop to plant next year.

To use these patented seeds, farmers must buy new seeds from Monsanto every year. Thus, a farmer who adopts genetically modified seeds and fails to retain a stock of traditional seeds could become dependent upon a transnational corporation.

A key component of the U.S./Monsanto plan to dominate world agriculture with genetically modified seeds is the absence of labeling of genetically engineered foods. All U.S. foods must carry labels listing the ingredients: salt, sugar, water, vitamins, additives, etc. However, three separate U.S. government agencies -- the Food & Drug Administration (FDA, the. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) -- have ruled that genetically- modified foods deserve an exception: they can be sold without being labeled "genetically modified."

So it looks to me like it is yet another situation that is good for big business, bad for the little guy. I remember hearing when Haiti had that horrible hurricane a while back, Monsanto wanted to "give" them their seeds to help them farm again. I am pretty sure they said no thanks, I hope they did anyway. I don't know, I just think it is so crazy how some people get so greed driven that they seem to forget that they too live on this planet. As my sister put it "how can you rule the world when you have killed all your subjects". Simply heartbreaking...