Originally posted on RedGreenandBlue.org on 5/4/09
Monsanto, the company that brought you saccharine, aspartame, herbicides 2,4,5-T, DDT, Agent Orange, a variety of plastics including polystyrene, synthetic fibers, bovine growth hormone (BST, rBGH), PCBs, nuclear weapons, the potentially carcinogenic RoundUp, a variety of maize that may cause liver and kidney toxicity, lawsuits against small farmers who do not want to use their products, a myriad of environmental disasters, and genetically modified crops that are introduced into our food system without proper labelling or proper testing for safety–now offers up in its defense their very own genetically modified blogger.
Before we get to said blogger I’d like to link this passage from Wikipedia, offering a very small taste of Monsanto’s activity in the US (I have linked to much more information after the cartoon).
In the United States
The non-profit Center for Food Safety listed 112 lawsuits by Monsanto against farmers for claims of seed patent violations. The Center for Food Safety’s analyst stated that many innocent farmers settle with Monsanto (agree to use their GMO seeds) because they cannot afford a time consuming lawsuit. Monsanto is frequently described by farmers as “Gestapo” and “Mafia” both because of these lawsuits and because of the questionable means they use to collect evidence of patent infringement.
Monsanto is responsible for more than 50 United States Environmental Protection Agency Superfund sites.
With such a damaging past (and present) why wouldn’t Monsanto want to blog about all the good they do in the world?
Also worthy of a raised eyebrow–former Monsanto employees that recently held or currently hold positions in US government agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Supreme Court include Clarence Thomas, Michael Taylor, Ann Veneman and Linda Fisher. Fisher has been back and forth between positions at Monsanto and the EPA. Even former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld earned $12 million from increased stock value when his former company G.D. Searle & Company was sold to Monsanto in 1985.
Related articles and websites
Monsanto’s Started a Blog: Conversation with Critics, or the Same Old PR?
Millions Against Monsanto (filled with tons of articles detailing the destructive practices of Monsanto)–Take Action here!
Patent for a Pig (Movie)
Controlling Our Food (Movie)
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