If you wanna see some scary-creepy stuff, google Monsanto, check out Wikipedia, read a few articles that you find and after that look at Monsanto’s corporate website. There are not very many companies that I would go out of my way to boycott. (I feel guilty admitting this, but) even-though I am a huge supporter of sustainably produced goods and food, I cannot think of a single company that I truly go out of my way to avoid, except Monsanto. (And Pharmacia, Monsanto's parent company and Seminis their child company.) My goal in writing this article is to create a succinct, yet thorough list of reasons to avoid buying Monsanto. This goal proved more difficult than I originally planned due to the overwhelming amount of information available on the subject.
Monsanto has been creating chemicals since 1901. Since the 1940's the list of reasons that this corporate monster cannot be trusted has grown in leaps and bounds.
Summary of Atrocities:
Develops Agent Orange, an herbicide that inadvertently causes millions of health problems
Manufactured for the U.S. Department of Defense primarily by Monsanto Corporation and Dow Chemical. During the Vietnam War, between 1962 and 1971, the United States military sprayed 12,000,000 US gallons of chemical herbicides and defoliants in Vietnam, eastern Laos and parts of Cambodia, as part of Operation Ranch Hand.[3] The program's goal was to defoliate forested and rural land, this is what resulted.
Vietnamese babies, deformed andstillborn after prenatal dioxin exposure from Agent Orange
Continues Distribute PCBs (found in plastics) After Hiding Scary Effects on Environment, Fish and People
From 1935, Monsanto was the sole producer of the chemicals known in the U.S. as PCBs. They are highly toxic organochlorines linked to birth defects, infertility, impaired mental function in children, immune system weakness, and cancer. Now banned, many dangers still exist from PCBs lingering in the environment.
Pollution in Anniston, Alabama
In 2002, The Washington Post carried a front page report on Monsanto's legacy of environmental damage in Anniston, Alabama related to its legal production of polychlorinated biphenyls(PCBs), a chemical once used as a common electrical insulator, 40 years ago. Plaintiffs in a pending lawsuit provided documentation showing that the local Monsanto factory knowingly discharged both mercury and PCB-laden waste into local creeks for over 40 years.[46] In a story on 27 January, The New York Times reported that during 1969 alone Monsanto had dumped 45 tons of PCBs into Snow Creek, a feeder for Choccolocco Creek which supplies much of the area's drinking water. The company also buried millions of pounds of PCB in open-pit landfills located on hillsides above the plant and surrounding neighborhoods.[47] In August 2003, Solutia and Monsanto agreed to pay plaintiffs $700 million to settle claims by over 20,000 Anniston residents related to PCB contamination.[48]
Continues to Use and Create Agricultural Chemicals that Cause Substantial Health Problems in Humans, Animals and Plants
http://www.NaturalNews.com/032441_pesticide_AIDS.html Monsanto pesticide found to infect plants with AIDS-like disease
Columbians Bombed With RoundUp- A product created by slightly modifying DDT & Agent Orange
This summary below is from http://www.masipag.org/monsanto%20report.pdf
In the year 2000, approximately 145,750 gallons of Roundup were sprayed over an area nearly 205 square miles in Columbia. Local authorities counted 4,289 humans suffering skin or gastric disorders in the first two months of 2001. Some 178,377 animals (cattle, horses, pigs, dogs, ducks, hens and fish) were also reported killed by the spraying.
“Our only sustenance - manioc, banana, palms, sugar cane and corn - have been fumigated. Our sources of water - creeks, rivers, lakes, have been poisoned, killing our fish... Today, hunger is our daily bread. In the name of the Amazonian Indigenous people, I ask that the fumigations be immediately suspended.”
Being a "potentially responsible party" for 56 contaminated sites (Superfund sites) in the United States
According to an anonymous 2001 document[27] obtained by the Center for Public Integrity, Monsanto has been identified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as being a "potentially responsible party" for 56 contaminated sites (Superfund sites) in the United States.
Bovine Growth Hormone Produces Pussfilled-Sores in Cows and Potential Cancer Risks to Humans
BST or rBGH marketed by Monsanto as Posilac is a genetically engineered hormone designed to make cows produce more milk. Large amounts of research indicate that BST makes cows prone painful sores http://livingliberally.org/eating/blog/You-Heard-It-Oprah-Factory-Farms-Stink
EU Scientific Committee Warns of Human Health & Cancer Hazards Because of evidence that BST milk may cause breast cancer, colon cancer and prostate cancer in humans, it is banned in Europe. Monsanto is trying to overturn the ban [42] http://www.purefood.org/rBGH/euwarn.cfm
Pushing Banned Products Into the Developing World
Monsanto is now trying to push their products in the developing world.
Do a search on the internet for any of the following places plus the word Monsanto and see what comes up!
Mexico
Brazil
China
Argentina
India
Germany
UK
US
Canada
Contaminating our Food & Environment with Genetically Modified Organisms aka GMO's
The following is quoted from http://www.corporatewatch.org/?lid=210
The long term effects of Monsanto’s GM crops on the environment are as yet unknown. In areas where RoundUp Ready crops are being grown commercially, herbicide tolerance is being spread to neighbouring crops and wild plants by cross pollination. Rather than reducing the amount of chemicals used in farming RoundUp Ready crops are locking farmers into a chemical dependant farming system [43].Several scientific studies have suggested that the Bt technology utilised by Monsanto in their Bollgard, YieldGard and NewLeaf insect resistant crops may kill ‘non-pest’ insects such as the Monarch butterfly [44].
Types of GMO's
Herbicide tolerant crops
Insect Resistant Crops
Other GM Crops: a tomato with altered ripening characteristics, an oil-seed rape with altered fatty acid properties, Monsanto subsidiary, Asgrow, have marketed a multi-virus resistant squash
Pipeline GM crops: maize resistant to fungal and viral diseases,potatoes resistant to fungal diseases, wheat resistant to fungal and viral diseases and virus protected tomatoes, a 2nd generation of GM crops with altered nutrient value.
Monsanto Spends Millions Attacking Small Farms to Maintain Control
Throughout 2004 and 2005, Monsanto filed lawsuits against many farmers in Canada and the U.S. on the grounds of patent infringement, specifically the farmers' sale of seed containing Monsanto's patented genes.
The following is from http://tribes.tribe.net/d567e79c-968d-4191-89b2-a22ea588205a/thread/e7c37f1c-ad4f-4df4-b2c9-a5a457a220ef:
The entire concept of creating and selling patented GM seeds is based on proprietary corporate control: The seeds are non-replenishing and must be purchased anew each season, eliminating the time-honored farmer tradition of saving and re-using seeds.
Anyone doubting Monsanto’s obsession with control can just ask just ask the thousands of farmers who have been sued and spied upon for alleged “seed piracy” – at least 2,391 farmers in 19 states through 2006, according to Monsanto website documents obtained by the Washington, DC-based Center for Food Safety (CFS). A report by CFS, using company records, found that “Monsanto has an annual budget of $10 million dollars and a staff of 75 devoted solely to investigating and prosecuting farmers.”
Or ask Monsanto. Under the headline, “Why Does Monsanto Sue Farmers Who Save Seeds?” on its website, the firm states: “When farmers purchase a patented seed variety, they sign an agreement that they will not save and replant seeds produced from the seed they buy from us. More than 275,000 farmers a year buy seed under these agreements in the United States.”
Aims to Control the World's Seed Supply
This lengthy article explores potential reasons
Attempting to Patent Ordinary Breeding Techniques aka Gain Legal Control of Life
As of February 2005, Monsanto has patent claims on breeding techniques for pigs which would grant them ownership of any pigs born of such techniques and their related herds. Greenpeace claims Monsanto is trying to claim ownership on ordinary breeding techniques.
Monsanto Rated Among Worst Corporate Lobbyists
The company spent $8,831,120 for lobbying in 2008. $1,492,000 was to outside lobbying firms with the remainder being spent using in-house lobbyists.[113]
Former Monsanto lobbyist Michael R. Taylor was appointed as a senior adviser to the Food and Drug Administration (United States) Commissioner on food safety on July 7, 2009.[114]
Additional atrocities:
Child Labor
Farmer Suicides
Terminator Technology
Corporate Bully Boys
Climate Change Co-option
Representation in the media
Documentaries:
▪ Patent For A Pig
▪ Seeds of Deception
▪ Plan Colombia: Cashing in the Drug War Failure
▪ Deconstructing Supper
Books:
In popular culture
▪ In the 2008 film Michael Clayton, the fictional chemical company U-North is loosely based on Monsanto.
▪ The documentary film Food, Inc. contains numerous references to Monsanto and its business practices.
▪ Punk rock band The Adolescents released a song entitled "Monsanto Hayride" criticizing corporate wrongdoing.
▪ Punk rock band Anti-Flag released a song entitled "The W.T.O. Kills Farmers" which accuses Monsanto of murder as a result of their business practices.
▪ In the second episode of the first season of Futurama, "The Series Has Landed", a Moon carnival ride named "The Goophy Gopher Revue" is said to have been sponsored/owned by Monsanto.[124]
▪ In the 2010 Indian film Peepli Live, the chief minister refers to 'somanto' and asks his assistant to award all government agriculture contracts to them.
▪ TV Show CSI: Miami (season 8) episode Bad Seed involves a corporation using tactics similar to Monsanto's.
For more in-depth examinations of the Monsanto Corporation check out:
Google Monsanto
Watch the feature length documentary, "The World According To Monsanto” on the web for free http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/the-world-according-to-monsanto/.
Wikipedia has a succinct summary; take a look at everything on their Monsanto page below, Environmental and health record.
This report, released in 2003, is the most in-depth examination that I could find http://www.masipag.org/monsanto%20report.pdf
This article includes lists of both safe dealers and non-safe dealers http://www.garden-of-eatin.com/how-to-avoid-monsanto/
The new movement "Millions against Monsanto" which is a quickly growing grass roots effort to stop the madness in America. http://www.naturalnews.com/Monsanto.html
We are talking about food, health and life... Which, creepily enough, is Monsanto's new motto.
It will be difficult to find seeds not distributed by them as they are the world’s largest vegetable seed company, but it’s completely worth your time and effort.
The main question you can ask yourself is, "Why should I trust Monsanto with my health and my life?" If you don't feel good about trusting them, then why would you support them by spending your hard-earned money on their products?
Questions to ask yourself and our president about Monsanto:
Is this company doing something beneficial for the community?
Is this company doing things that are beneficial for the environment?
Would you want a corporation or a few government officials controlling the world's food supply?
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