Monsanto, the Government, Roundup , and Your Food

Monsanto is the largest producer of GM, or genetically modified food. They have developed crops that are resistant to their flagship herbicide Roundup creating a closed loop of production and profit. They recently taken over as the largest seed owner in the world, capturing 20 percent of the worlds seed market. They can sell you a seed that they have designed to resist their herbicide, then sell you the herbicide to spray on your GM crop. It is a pretty innovative technique at capturing market share, really.

Monsanto claims that their aim is to provide more food from a smaller footprint, feeding more people, while conserving resources. This sounds very admirable and altruistic. They have wonderfully catchy slogans like "better seed for a brighter future", " less water, more food", and "producing more, conserving more, improving lives". An especially catchy tag line on their web site is " 9 billion people need food, fuel, and clothing" as they estimate the population to reach 9 billion by 2050. Their mission statement also sounds very good."The Monsanto Pledge is our commitment to how we do business. It is a declaration that compels us to listen more, to consider our actions and their impact broadly, and to lead responsibly. It helps us to convert our values into actions, and to make clear who we are and what we champion".

Well, these are lofty aspirations and admirable goals. So who is Monsanto and how did they burst onto the food scene just in time to save humanity from itself? Monsanto was formed in the beginning of the 20th century, and no , they were not an agricultural company, by any means. They actually made industrial chemicals and developed chemical weapons for the military.

Monsanto was most famous for its production of DDT a very strong and super toxic pesticide that was used from the 1930s up until the 1970 when it was banned due to the ghastly ecological damage it caused. DDT is bio accumulative, meaning it accumulates in animals, so predatory birds atop the food chain were brought to near extinction. Among the wonderful creature we nearly lost to this hideous toxin are the Bald Eagle, The Peregrine Falcon, and The Brown Pelican. This neurological toxin prevented the birds eggs from developing a thick enough shell to support itself, so the eggs would collapse under their own weight, which devastated the populations of these birds. Traces of the chemical also showed up in our food supply, and even in the blood of people tested. Monsanto did not quit using DDT until forced by the government, and lobbied to delay the legislation.

They also have a wonderful record in Vietnam. Although Monsanto did not create Agent Orange, the defoliant sprayed indiscriminately on the entire country of Vietnam during the war there, they did however develop a version that was 1,000 times stronger than that of their competitors. This chemical was sprayed recklessly over Vietnam to kill vegetation in order to eliminate hiding places for the enemy, exposing everyone in that country to the deadly dioxins contained in Agent Orange including U.S. soldiers. Vietnam is still suffering repercussions to this very day with nearly 500,00 people suffering horrific birth defects and deformities. Monsanto denies any responsibility in order to avoid having to pay settlements to U.S. soldiers that were harmed by the rampant spraying of the jungles.

Another wonderful Monsanto product is PCBs. These are industrial coolants used world wide for industrial machinery. Once again, Monsanto did not invent PCBs, but they did purchase the company that held the U.S. patent, and were the sole producer of PCBs in the U.S. for fifty years until it too was banned due to its toxicity. This is where the history of Monsanto gets even darker, they continued to illegally dump this toxic chemical into waterways and open landfills even after their own studies showed its toxicity. In one study, a scientist hired by Monsanto tested a creek near their production plant that they had been dumping untreated waste into, within ten seconds of placing a fish in the creek, the fishes skin blistered up and fell off. Even after these disastrous results, Monsanto continued dumping untreated waste directly into the creek that ran right through the town of Anniston Alabama. They then made efforts to hide their findings in inter company memos citing that they "could not afford to lose $1 of business". They also made the decision not to tell the local government of their findings due to the fact that the creek fed a lake popular for fishing and the lake would have to be closed if the authorities were notified. So they knowingly allowed people to consume fish caught in a toxic lake. This is all documented in the movie "The World According To Monsanto " . The residents of Anniston eventually got $700 million in settlements, but the creek and lake were never cleaned up.

Another wonderful product from Monsanto is Aspartame. Aspartame was found to be a toxin and was prohibited from being in products to be consumed by humans or animals, until Donald Rumsfeld changed that legislation. Rumsfeld was previously the president of Searle corporation, a subsidiary of Monsanto that developed Aspartame.

"A few of the 90 different documented symptoms listed in the report as being caused by aspartame include: Headaches/migraines, dizziness, seizures, nausea, numbness, muscle spasms, weight gain, rashes, depression, fatigue, irritability, tachycardia, insomnia, vision problems, hearing loss, heart palpitations, breathing difficulties, anxiety attacks, slurred speech, loss of taste, tinnitus, vertigo, memory loss, and joint pain.

According to researchers and physicians studying the adverse effects of aspartame, the following chronic illnesses can be triggered or worsened by ingesting of aspartame: Brain tumors, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, chronic fatigue syndrome, parkinson's disease, alzheimer's, mental retardation, lymphoma, birth defects, fibromyalgia, and diabetes" (Organichealthadvisor.com).

Despite the health implications Aspartame is in nearly 6,000 products from diet soda to vitamins. Even more scandalous is that a new and just as toxic version of Aspartame called Senomyx will not be labeled, so we can't even check labels for it. Thank you FDA.

The party continues with Monsanto's bovine growth hormone rBHG. This increases the amount of milk that a cow produces by nearly twelve percent. This might sound great except for the fact that since the 1980s the U.S. government has been purchasing excess milk from farmers because we produce an excess. Due to the increased weight of the cows udders they tend to get infections and mastitis which leads to a pussy discharge. Do to these infection and to try and reduce the amount of puss in the milk, the farmers give their cattle antibiotics. These antibiotics have shown up in human urine.So unless you buy milk that states on the label that it is NOT from cows treated with rBGH or rBST then you are consuming antibiotics, puss, and cancer inducing hormones. This GM milk is banned in Europe.

Why would a company spend millions developing a hormone that increases milk production when we are already swimming in milk? Good question. The all mighty dollar reigns supreme. There is literally a revolving door between employees in the FDA and Monsanto, with some people having worked for each more than once. The woman at the FDA who approved rBGH was the one who wrote the initial proposal submitted to the government for Monsanto. Judge Clarence Thomas used to be a lawyer for Monsanto, Donald Rumsfeld used to be president of a Monsanto subsidiary, and on and on.

This brings me to their latest evil. Monsanto created what they have branded Roundup Ready crops, so named for their resilience to Monsanto's flagship herbicide Roundup. Amazingly Roundup Ready crops can be sprayed with the toxic herbicide and remain unaffected while everything around them is killed. The benefit is said to reduced the labor in removing weeds by hand. Monsanto claims that Roundup is no toxic, yet the label states to wear eye protection, a respirator, and gloves, and to change clothes after application. Traces of Roundup has been found in water ways, and it has been proven to cause reproductive harm to humans and animals.

Another GM crop engineered by Monsanto is BT crops. These are crops that contain a biological toxin, or pesticide. They are engineered to be toxic to certain targeted pests. However, studies show that not only does the targeted pest develop an immunity to the toxin after three generations, but these crops are toxic to non targeted insects as well. This may be a major factor in Colony Collapse Disorder, the mysterious disappearance of bee colonies. Most of the corn grown in the U.S. and 40 percent worldwide, is BT corn. This has been attributed to a loss in butterfly and bee populations.

Given their track record, their cover ups, their legacy of pollution, and that they have been convicted of bribery to suppress studies with negative findings, we would be crazy to trust this inconscionable greed based corporation with our food. It is time to take a stand before it is too late.

There are a few simple steps we can take, to avoid supporting this hideous corporate giant. First of all do not use Roundup, and talk to all your friends and neighbors about not using it. Roundup seeps into water tables and causes precancerous conditions. Vinegar is an excellent weed killer, and it is all natural, non toxic, and biodegradable. Another way to avoid purchasing Monsanto products is to avoid buying sugar that is non organic, and to avoid any soy or corn products that are non organic. I would also urge you to join the movement "Millions Against Monsanto", to which I will provide a link.

Thank you for reading

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