Monsanto Argumentative Essay

Monsanto is a company that effects almost every human in the United States and millions abroad. But what is Monsanto? Monsanto is one of the largest producers of genetically modified crops in the world. Genetically modified crops play a pivotal role in our food supply today. Over 60% of food on the shelves of our supermarkets contain some form of genetically altered soybean, corn or canola. However, Monsanto may not be nice as they seem. Over the past few years Monsanto has been investigated under allegations of collusion and keeping others out of the market with anti-competitive business tactics. Collusion is the cooperation of two or more businesses to keep prices high, when they cooperate the public has no choice to buy these high prices goods, and the companies involved make a fortune. Monsanto’s business tactics are meant to keep competitors out of the market and to force farmers to be dependent on their products.

What do you understand from the movie about why Monsanto is able to sue farmers for something as basic as saving their own seeds? What is your response to this kind of corporate prosecution of farmers?

The farmers then give their products to the manufacturers, who represent the bottleneck of the food system (21). “The ten largest companies control half of the world’s seed supply. …Ten firms control 90% of the nearly $38.6 billion pesticide markets (111-112).” Monsanto, being one of the ten companies that controls the world’s seed supply, is a company that has patents on all of its seeds and products. It produces genetically modified crops that are resistant to its own pesticides and herbicides, so that when a pesticide or herbicide is sprayed and it destroys all plants, the Monsanto seed survives because of its resistance. The reason that Monsanto is able to stay in business is because of the economic benefit it poses for the farmers. They are able to produce their crops at a much higher yield because they are losing less of their crops to pests. This higher yield results in lower costs for the consumers as well (Planes). As discussed

The world may be in danger of what Monsanto puts on families dinner tables. According to Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele’s article: Monsanto’s harvest of fear “Monsanto’s is the world leader in genetic modification of seeds and has 674 biotechnology patents”. 90% of the GMO’s in the world belong to Monsanto. The world has inherited Monsanto’s GMO’s in North and South America, Asia and Australia. Monsanto will eventually own food if consumers continue purchasing his GM products this reason being that Monsanto modifies its crops in order to make harvesting faster and easier making it more convenient to arrive on your dinner tables faster.

When one company controls ninety-percent of a market, it is reasonable to open the doors to the possibility of a monopoly. This word is a board game to some, a boring econ principle to others, but a harsh reality for twenty-four million American farmers and their families. (Farmers Feed Us) Monsanto has taken control of the farming world and it is hitting farmers hard. The powerful company controls ninety-percent of the soybean market and much of other farming markers which are a lifeline for farmers across this country. It is clear to many that it is a monopoly, but nothing is being done to break up Monsanto. There is much controversy behind the issue on a political level and on what motifs there may be to keep the company together. Monsanto is hurting farmers by monopolizing the farming market and there are political ties behind the master plan to keep control.

In my opinion, we should be most concered about India's privitized agriculture and Indian farmers. I believe this because in the last decade more than 250,000 Indian farmers have committed suicide due to the expense put on Monsanto's seeds and pesticides. A problem with the seeds can also be so they are not bred for that area, so they fail more fequently, causing even more stress on farmers. The bigger organizations also use biotech cotton seeds which gives them a higher yeild but also requires higher amounts of water, which they have the funds for. However the smaller companies don't have acess to suitable irrigation and have mainly rain-fed crops, which means they fail more often and the farmers suffer even more. Monsanto's high cost of

Monsanto and other companies profit at the expense of hard working farmers across by disallowing seed saving and enforcing their patents with private investigators.

A company known as Monsanto has been terrorizing the farm land for many years. This company in all honesty cares nothing about the environment. When Monsanto first crawled out of the mud, they were strictly making chemicals. The chemicals that Monsanto has created wreaked havoc on the country side of the United States of America. Many towns are still cleaning up the mess from twenty years ago that Monsanto caused. Now Monsanto has G.M. seeds that will not be affected by pesticides. While this is a good idea, the way Monsanto goes about their transactions is terrifying for farmers. Monsanto hires people whom the farmers refer to them as seed police, or the mafia. They scare farmers into buying their seeds and they threaten to take everything from the farmers if they don’t settle with Monsanto. Monsanto has made farmers live in fear, scared that one day the “mafia” would come for them. It is completely messed

According to Monsanto’s web page, the company understands the growing debate of how agriculture should work, and believes it is a good thing that consumers are becoming more interested in where their food comes from. They said it is the first step in aiding the public on how agricultural systems function.

Monsanto has often been criticized because of its aggressive recourses to patent infringement lawsuits against farmers. Since it has begun commercializing genetically modified crops in the mid-nineties, the company reveals that it has filed lawsuits against more than 150 individual farmers in the US for patent

I do not agree with the court’s decision because of moral reasons. In an incident involving the Percy Schmeiser case, the court decided that Percy is responsible for the seed being on his field, no matter how it ended up there (The Future of Food). This statement is ridiculous because of the possibility for these seeds to arrive on Schmeiser’s land without him having any knowledge of it. For example, the seed could have been blown onto his field by the wind. In court, the jury sided with Monsanto and Schmeiser lost. The court explained that Percy was still responsible no matter how the seed landed there. In fact, the jury stated that any farmer who has a regular plant, if it becomes cross pollinated with Monsanto’s genes, that plant is owned

It doesn’t help that Monsanto also has power in politics, one of the Monsanto chiefs for food safety, Michael Taylor was actually appointed by Barrack Obama himself. Barrack Obama also appointed his Supreme Court judge: Elena Kagan, who happens to be the chief defender of Monsanto and GMO’s. Whether Republican or Democratic, Monsanto wields a strong power within politics that helps give them an edge in keeping their company going. (Obama). There are good aspects of Monsanto, like the efficiency of cheap seeds, and crops that can withstand the harsh behaviors of weathers, and the ability the crops have to survive a longer time. But not even the cheapest crops can cover up Monsanto’s long history of evil, from polluting the environment with PCB’s, the chemical Agent Orange, and the weed killer “Round-Up Ready”, to Monopolizing itself to being the owner of 90% of the seed industry and shutting down small

In my opinion if Monsanto respects its shareholders and consumers, its products and services will contribute to society and the broader community with honesty and fairness. The company will recognize if its business developments will prosper in all arears of society by conducting research based on the environment for which the business will be established. The law and the spirit of the law must be followed to establish safe business practices which will prevent frivolous lawsuits. Every country in the world has different cultures and traditions, which should be respected to the letter of the law. A responsible business will not only respect the environment but the people in which it serves.

Additionally, big business controls the farmers by capitalizing on widely used commodities. For example, the company Monsanto which is based in St. Louis, Missouri protects its dominance over the genetically modified crops such as the soy bean with the use of a patent law. Because of this, Monsanto’s patented genes “account for 95 percent of all soy beans and 80 percent of all corn grown in the U.S.,” (Associated Press). Although genetically modifying the soy bean crop has made it more readily available and more sustainable, this comes at a high price to farmers. Monsanto continues to raise their prices, which forces farmers to accrue even more debt, and there is no sign of the rise in the seed prices stopping. Since a lot of the farmers are under contract with Monsanto, there is nothing they can do about this unethical policy in fear of losing their job.

Monsanto is a company that some people may not be explicitly familiar with on a first name basis. However, the work that the company has done over the last century, with a larger emphasis on its most recent ventures, have been deeply engrained in our lives, our food, and our economy. Monsanto has those who advocate on their behalf in addition to their naysayers. While Monsanto has made huge strides in terms of biotechnology over the last couple of decades, their accomplishments, and the relevant methods, have not been free of criticism and controversy. In order to analyze Monsanto’s corporate environment, it is important to first explore their Strengths, Weaknesses,