Monsanto and Seed Patenting

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I did some research on this company while I was studying Geology (I can't remember the link either). I remembered finding out how Monsanto were suing farmers everywhere for supposedly stealing Monsanto's GM seeds, when in reality Monsanto's seeds had contaminated others' crops.

Monsanto has caused lots of farmers to commit suicide in India.

GM crops are contaminating non-GM in many places, making it harder for companies to seek non-GM.

Monsanto want to monopolize and control our basic food supply. They're purposely contaminating crops that are non-GM, so that the consumer in the end will have no choice but to buy their crops and no-one elses.

Basically now, most food has a GM ingredient in it, or one derived from one. Like sugar in America is often derived from GM sugarbeet, and fructose syrup from GM corn. In the UK the only way to avoid it is to buy organic. Even then, since around a year ago, the EU increased the allowance for GM food in organic from 0.1 - 0.9%.

In America something like 90% of soybeans and 85% of corn crops are GM.

Does anyone else find this really scary?

If all our healthy food becomes GM, what food would be be able to eat that isn't processed or even real food anymore?

An example of an "organic" product with a GM-derived ingredient.

I'll be amazed if this thread doesn't become as contentious as some of those in the politics & religion subforum...

I did my Monsanto research in three pieces:

- when I was learning about Aspartame & Neotame, which led me to
- how corporations and our regulatory agencies intertwine and the approval process gets twisted for profit
and,
- when I dug into just how indiscriminate the gene splicing is they use. in the case of RoundUpReady, they always also splice in the BT gene. It's from a bacterium that makes holes in insects stomachs. Unfortunately, they have little control over where it gets spliced in, the gene is always "on" and so is everything downstream on the chromosome. Which means every cell of those plants has a very different chemical composition than it did say, 40 years ago.

and then I started digging into the studies that purport GM foods to be perfectly safe...

I just can't believe how wreckless this company is allowed to be. They don't even test things properly and let illegal GM crops contaminate other crops. These crops should be grown in securely contained units and treated like diseases in a lab, but no, they want to take over and monopolize with their crops even if it means poisoning people and contaminating our food permanently. Once it is there it will be extremely difficult, if not impossible to eradicate. And it will change everything around it including insects and wildlife and well, other plants. It means they have patented our own food. It is evil.

How can the world allow such horrific food into the food chain?! And some of it is built to survive pests and have their own insecticides as you say. And a lot of GM crops are sprayed with a lot more insecticides. What is this all doing to peoples' bodies? Oh wait - article. These crops are mixed in with Brazilian imports, and the UK gets about 70% of its soy from Brazil.

I have often wondered about the great increase in allergies and intolerances to food as well, though that is just based on a guess in my part. I mean after all, one strain of GM feed gave pigs inflamed stomachs. URGH. And all those rat studies and infertily causing GM crops, it's vile.

where is the outrage among the right wing regarding Monsanto? don't they grok that this crap IS IN THEIR FOOD TOO?!

This surprised me.
http://naturalsociety.com/putin-says-ru ... gmo-foods/

I can't seem to get multiple links to post,it all vanishes.
Anyway,more on Monsanto,the great Satan.
http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=15825

i can't help believin' that all the people defending monsatan must not know what they are defending.

Double post and can't find the delete button...

Has anyone googled "The monsanto protection act"?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farmer_As ... _Provision

From the looks of it Monsanto is working on taking away all opposition, including rights of those opposed, by buying off our politicians, ugh.

I wonder if the kochs are on the board of monsatan?

I'm thought of the thought that creating GMOs isn't a bad thing, but in the hands of people with less than pure intentions like it is with Monsanto it's a troubling thing. The approach has created access to food in countries where typical crops would have difficulty being sustainable for example. I've talked about Monsanto with my mom before and she remembers in the 50s and 60s just how cutthroat they were about protecting their patents and copyrights to the seeds they so "generously" let farmers use and tells me their approach has not changed.

monsatan is eventually going to have a stranglehold on the world's food. no corporate entity should have that much power.

One of the reason for the decline in the Monarch butterflies.
http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/199 ... utterflies

I'm not complaining too much...my entire income is based on moving produce and I only do heirloom non-gmo plants. Business has been good.

there is presently a class-action suit against monsatan over how there has proven to be a link between Roundup and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.