In the past, I've mentioned the shift in control of the farming industry from your local farmer to your national suppliers. Right now I want to take a look at one particular company that is working hard to control the food chain: Monsanto.
Monsanto makes its money selling seeds and herbicides and bankrupting farmers in the process. You may recognize their biggest "cash crop," if you will, from your own garden-Roundup, the most popular weed killer on the market today. That's their claim to fame, and in the great tradition of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" thinking, Monsanto has found a clever way to market the same product to farmers in different permutations by genetically engineering their seed to be Roundup Ready. Generally, Roundup is so popular because it takes no prisoners; it just kills anything that photosynthesizes. Therefore, you used to have to be a little careful where you sprayed it, but these genetically engineered Roundup Ready seeds are able to resist the effects of the harmful herbicide. This innovation made spraying easier for farmers and allowed the company to take control of both the seed and herbicide industries. Now, Monsanto has the largest number of patents on seeds and owns twenty different seed distributors.
Basically, that means it is Monsanto's mission to control every field America, and beyond! But you know, there is a reason America went to so much trouble to break up monopolies like this a century ago: it's bad for consumer's when one company owns an entire industry. For decades now, Monsanto has been making all the rules because they know how to play the game. Making money isn't just about selling products when its on such a large scale, you also have to play the politicians. So, over the past few decades Monsanto has managed to get their employees into important positions with the EPA, FDA, and USDA, including President Obama's appointing Tom Vilsack as the Secretary of Agriculture in 2008. Vilsack is a long time supporter of Monsanto and the Biotech industry, so this particular appointment has been tough for many environmentalists to stomach. With this man making decisions about how the $97 billion dollar USDA budget is being spent, it is more than unfortunate that the agricultural community does not agree with him. For instance, the government's recent approval of Monsanto's GE Alfalfa Hay has been attributed in large part to Vilsack by several sources.
In the end, supporting Monsanto is directly opposing the small farmer. As you may already know, spraying herbicides only works for so long. Eventually, nature catches up to modern pest control, which leads farmers to spray more and more to achieve the same effects, like crazy herbicide addicts. As for the actual seed, studies show genetically modified seeds have lose their effectiveness and viability after one growing season. In the good old days, a farmer could have saved themselves money by cultivating and saving their own seed. Thanks to the innovators at Monsanto, that's slowly becoming a thing of the past. Even more unbelievable, if you wanted to save your seed for some reason, you are no longer allowed. Because they hold a patent on seeds (a.k.a. nature), Monsanto and companies like it have made it illegal to save and store any subsequent generations. In effect, they are trying to make it illegal to plant reproduction. Who benefits from this type of legislation? The big companies. Who does it hurt? Farmers and eaters.
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