Monsanto Makes the Pantheon
I just got done watching “Food Inc.” As a result, I am going to revise my pantheon of major fallen deities. Next to Beelzebub, Dagon, and Baal, I am going to add Monsanto. Is it a coincidence that Mammon and Monsanto share the same first letter? I think not.
Wrote the following comment on November 21st, 2010 at 6:16 pm #
Perhaps this post is a bit hyperbolic. I mean, I realize that any documentary I watch is providing information within a framework that foregrounds some facts and de-emphasizes other bits of information. Acknowledging this, however, someone would have to show me that “Food Inc.” is utterly a lie for me to recant my sentiments about their oppressive actions.
Oh, and a nice tidbit regarding the compromise of the Supreme Court due to its relationship to Monsanto can be found at the following links:
Ex Monsanto Lawyer Clarence Thomas to Hear Major Monsanto Case
Justice with Monsanto ties should recuse himself, environmentalists say
Wrote the following comment on November 22nd, 2010 at 7:21 am #
Ah, hyperbole is OK. The much greater sin – and I use the word deliberately – is Monsanto’s, and I’ve thought so long before Food, Inc. (which I haven’t yet seen.)
Wrote the following comment on November 23rd, 2010 at 1:41 am #
Saw that movie myself not so long back. Great film, certainly food for thought.
Wrote the following comment on November 23rd, 2010 at 8:53 pm #
The Justices on this SCOTUS are corporate lawyers with interests in and close ties to many MNCs – including, as you noted, but not limited to Monsanto, McDonalds, etc.
One of Monsanto’s premiere products, the herbicide “Roundup,” is among the most widely sold, and perhaps most renown, products of its type. For years, Monsanto has diligently worked to develop a line of GMO seeds which they have branded as “Roundup Ready.” What that means is that the seeds of the organism itself – most often cotton – is resistant to the glyphosate herbicide. As a result of their work, Monsanto has claimed ownership “rights” to those plants’ seeds, which itself is disconcerting.
Farmers have saved seeds for eons. It’s part and parcel of farming. It’s how food and other crops are grown. However, recent trends have demonstrated significant cause for concern.
I recollect stories of farmers whom have refused to use the RR seeds, and company representatives would scour farmers’ fields for signs of RR seeds, and finding them… although the farmer did not use RR seeds. (It’s a pesky thing called “cross pollination” wrought by wind.) Then, Monsanto would begin legal proceedings against the farmer(s), accusing them of not paying royalties to Monsanto for using their RR seeds, along with a veritable host of other grievances.
Never mind the moniker “Frankenfoods,” and other disparaging nicknames given to such products, but there is a great truth – and it is well documented – that nature WILL find a way on its own to foil “the best laid plans of mice and men.” Because of continued exposure to Roundup, many weeds have become resistant to the broad-spectrum herbicide. (FYI, the term “broad spectrum” refers to the great variety and type of weeds susceptible to the poison.)
You’ve definitely hit upon a very BIG issue with this most unusual topic, Anthony.
I approve.