A new movie has dealt yet another severe blow to the
credibility of US based Monsanto, one of the biggest chemical companies in the
world and the provider of the seed technology for 90 percent of the world's
genetically engineered (GE) crops.
The French documentary, called "The world according to Monsanto"
and directed by independent filmmaker Marie-Monique Robin, paints a grim picture
of a company with a long track record of environmental crimes and health
scandals.
The story starts in the White House, where Monsanto often got
its way by exerting disproportionate influence over policymakers via the
"revolving door". One example is Michael Taylor, who worked for
Monsanto as an attorney before being appointed as deputy commissioner of the US
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1991. While at the FDA, the authority that
deals with all US food approvals, Taylor made crucial decisions that led to the
approval of GE foods and crops. Then he returned to Monsanto, becoming the
company's vice president for public policy.
Thanks to these
intimate links between Monsanto and government agencies, the US adopted GE foods
and crops without proper testing, without consumer labeling and in spite of
serious questions hanging over their safety. Not coincidentally, Monsanto
supplies 90 percent of the GE seeds used by the US market.
Monsanto's
long arm stretched so far that, in the early nineties, the US Food and Drugs
Agency even ignored warnings of their own scientists, who were cautioning that
GE crops could cause negative health effects. Other tactics the company uses to
stifle concerns about their products include misleading advertising, bribery and
concealing scientific evidence.
Monsanto's backgroundMonsanto was
founded in 1901 as a chemical company. Its history is intimately linked to the
production and promotion of highly toxic chemicals such as Agent Orange (used as
a chemical weapon in the Vietnam war) and PCBs (widespread toxic pollutants).
Robin's movie reveals that Monsanto already knew about the "systematic toxic
effects" of PCBs for decades, but instructed its salespeople to stay silent
because, "we can't afford to lose one dollar."
More recently Monsanto
received a bad reputation for the promotion of growth hormones from GE organisms
known as rBGH, which the company sells in the US under the brand name Posilac.
Monsanto claims that Posilac holds, "benefits to consumers". The reality is
that, rBGH growth hormones were banned in Europe and Canada after the
authorities found out about the health risks resulting from drinking milk from
cows treated with rBGH hormones. Monsanto's way of "addressing" this problem was
to sue the Oakhurst dairy company in the state of Maine (US) - attempting to
force them, and other dairies, to stop labelling diary products "rBGH-free" and
"rBST-free".
Global reach,
controlOver the last decade, Monsanto aggressively bought up over
50 seed companies around the globe. Seeds are the source of all food. Whoever
owns the seeds, owns the food. The process of genetic engineering allows
companies, such as Monsanto, to claim patent rights over seeds. Ninety
percent of all GE seeds planted in the world are patented by Monsanto and hence
controlled by them.
Patents on seeds give companies like
Monsanto unprecedented power. Monsanto prohibits farmers saving patented GE
seeds from one crop to replant the next season, an age-old practice. To ensure
that farmers do not reuse seeds, Monsanto created its own 'gene police', and
encourages farmers to turn in their neighbors.
Even farmers that do not
use GE seeds are not safe. According to an investigative report by the
Centre for Food Safety (CFS) farmers have
even
been sued for patent infringement after their field was contaminated by
pollen or seed from someone else's GE crop.
But Monsanto's
influence doesn't stop at the US border. "The world according to Monsanto",
documents the devastating impact of Monsanto's malpractices around the world.
Among others, it includes the real-life stories of cotton farmers in India that
ended up in hopeless debts after using Monsanto genetically engineered (so
called Bt) cotton, and of a family in Paraguay, South America whose dreams have
turned to nightmares after their farm became surrounded by fields planted with
Monsanto's GE soya.
A much needed
exposeMonsanto wouldn't address these issues on camera for Robin,
instead referring to the "Monsanto Pledge" posted on their website (
which
we debunk here).
After seeing "The world according to Monsanto",
Greenpeace International campaigner Geert Ritsema said:
"Mrs. Robin
should be congratulated for revealing the sinister practices of the world's
leading producer of genetically engineered seeds. Her film is alarming and
should be a call to action for everybody who cares about the quality of our food
and a healthy future for our planet."
The movie will be shown for the
first time on ARTE TV (in German and French) on Tuesday 11 March at 21.00.
You can have preview of the movie in the following link.