Monsanto Essay

Genetically Modified Organisms, or GMO’s, are organisms that have had genes from a different organism implanted into their own genetic code in order to produce a new result (“Genetically engineered foods”). This practice has elicited polar responses across the globe, for a multitude of reasons. Besides the obvious reason, being the morality of changing an organism's DNA for human benefit, one frequently noted problem is the monopolization of GMO’s by the company Monsanto, whose name is nearly synonymous with GMO’s due to their involvement with these crops. Monsanto has been at the center of many controversies regarding GMO’s, and is even considered to be ranked third to last for reputation among all major American companies (Bennett). Most

Personally, I believe that seeds, no matter how scientifically manipulated, should be considered technology. “Seed priming is defined as controlling hydration level within seeds so that the metabolic activity necessary for germination can occur” (Maiti, 2011). Monsanto does have moral obligations to farmers and consumers to make its seeds available at prices affordable to even the poorest of farmers. According to CEO, Hugh Grant, Monsanto could not exist without farmers. They are our customers-the lifeblood of our company. Traditionally, farmers save seeds from one year to plant in the next year, but Monsanto wanted to force farmers to purchase new seeds from the company every year. “By issuing new seeds each year, Monsanto ensures it will secure a profit as well as maintain control over its intellectual property” (Ferrell & Hartline, 2014).

Today about 90% of all GM crops grown in the U.S., and 40% grown worldwide, originate from a company called Monsanto (GM Food). The majority of GM crops consist of corn, cotton, canola, and soybeans. Monsanto started out as a manufacturer of artificial sweetener then developed into an agricultural chemical company that produces herbicides and pesticides. It has since become the leader in GM crops and a political powerhouse. Monsanto has spent millions of dollars lobbying Congress and the White House for support. This is one of the reasons why opponents have had such difficulties in opposing GM crops. Proponents of GM food believe GM crops are the next logical step in agriculture, and that the benefits could far outweigh the possible dangers (GM Food).

Monsanto is a known name in America correlated with the farming industry, but most people do not even scratch the surface in researching the company. The name appears in colleges and in many articles. Monsanto is an international corporation based out of the United States of America. They are accredited with most of the genetically modified crops in the country today. In 1996, Round Up Ready soybeans were introduced to the farming community. (Brown) This was main introduction of GMOs into agriculture. By 2003, Monsanto already

Farmers have already paid Monsanto 20 million dollars in lawsuits. Monsanto has also investigated 1000s of other farmers across the country for seed patent infringement. Monsanto has the seed market so corned that it is almost impossible for farmers to purchase seeds that are not genetically modified. But yet Monsanto criticized Vernon Bowman for buying Monsanto seeds without paying for them and says that if Bowman wants to save money he could have bought conventional seeds. Monsanto makes it sound easy, but really Bowman only had a 10 percent chance of buying non-GMO seed.

Farming policy of seed patenting should be abolished, and farmers should have the right to reuse seeds. The farming polices like seed patenting is eliminating ancient farming practices and controlling the food supply and the farmers, as journalists Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele revealed “Whoever provides the world’s seeds controls the world’s food supply” (165). Congress and seeds industries like Monsanto should not have the power to change the farming policies. The ancient farming practices of saving seeds from season to season is diminishing due to farmers buying seeds from Monsanto. Monsanto prohibits farmers to save seeds from their harvest and replant those seeds. Monsanto’s genetically modified (G.M.) seeds, that resist to its

The issue of genetically modified foods, is Farmers can't harvest seeds. Fundamentally, farming is a simple process: plant seeds, grow crops, harvest crops, and gather seeds from the plants for the next season. Sadly, GMO companies like Monsanto take this last step away from farmers and raise expenses even futher by forcing the farmers to continually buy the premium-priced GM eeds every growing season. In fact, as was shiwn in the Bowman v. Monsanto court case, it is illegal in the US for someone growing a Monsanto crop to harvest the seeds and use them later. The Nowman case went all the way to the unanimously found guilty of patent infringement after he purchased and used second generation Monsanto seeds.

Monsanto is an American agrochemical corporation which manufactures pesticides and GMO crops. One of the most well recognized herbicides is Monsanto’s Roundup, which contains the carcinogen glyphosate. To prevent from killing the crops when farmers apply Roundup to their fields, Monsanto invented GMO versions of many staple crops such as corn, soybeans, and cotton which resist Roundup. Like the weeds, these GMO crops still absorb glyphosate, however the crops are able to stay alive through changes in their genetic makeup which make them herbicide resistant. The herbicide tolerance of certain crops has been adopted because it, “simplifies weed control to the use of a single herbicide and a flexible and easy management strategy” (Labrada, 2003), as well as decreasing the cost of weed control programs. As a result, Monsanto bought out most small farms and now owns 80% of the U.S. market share of corn and 93% of the U.S. market share of soy, which are then sold to modern food processing. Upwards of 75% of the processed food on American supermarket shelves contain genetically engineered ingredients. Not only are Americans consuming massive amounts of GMOs, which pose a huge health risk themselves, they are also consuming massive amounts of glyphosate, a chemical known to cause cancer and birth defects (Kruger, 2014). If society stopped consuming carcinogens, the cancer epidemic will be

Monsanto is involved in a variety of ways,“The company produces the herbicide RoundUp, and also seeds whose genes have been engineered to survive RoundUp's active plant-killing ingredient. Now the vast majority of this country's soybeans, corn, sugar beets and canola possess those engineered genes,”(Boyle). Initially, this seems quite innocent, however, there’s no telling what kind of chemicals are being introduced into the food supply in order to allow these plants to survive. Also, sugar and corn are contained within almost every non organic product Americans consume, which means virtually everyone is ingesting these potentially harmful chemicals. Monsanto’s RoundUp resistant seeds should seem to be a farmer’s best friend, but it’s not always so simple, “As Rinehart would recall, the man began verbally attacking him, saying he had proof that Rinehart had planted Monsanto’s genetically modified (G.M.) soybeans in violation of the company’s patent. Better come clean and settle with Monsanto, Rinehart says the man told him—or face the consequences,”(Barlett). Simply dogmatic in his manner, the mysterious Monsanto man would not take no for an answer, even though later in the article Mr. Rinehart states that he isn’t a farmer and they have the wrong guy. Commonly referred to as seed police, even gestapo or mafia, this elite force of Monsanto maniacs are lifeless and drone-like in the sense that they will stop at nothing in order to obtain a profit, and if it’s the wrong person they’ll still use scare tactics to weasel cash out of innocent civilians. Saying that Monsanto is heavily involved in the production and distribution of genetically modified crops and seeds is a massive understatement, to demonstrate this,“In 1996 when Monsanto introduced RoundUp Ready Soybeans, the company controlled only 2% of the U.S. soybean market. Now, over 90% of

Monsanto is notoriously known for partaking in the industrial production of herbicides and chemical warfare for militant use. Specifically, Monsanto is infamously known for the production of Agent Orange, a defoliant/herbicide used during the Vietnam War. Since its use, one of the many chemically adverse effects Agent Orange has been responsible for to this day are birth defects specifically among children related to veterans who have serviced in the Vietnamese and Korean military. Although Monsanto has moved away from the production of chemical warfare to the production of GMOs for human consumption, it is ethically debatable for Monsanto to be the leading industry to specialize in GMO production. The ethicality of Monsanto's contribution and influence in GMO production is also questionable due to Monsanto's economic position in domineering the seed market and GMO market, raising the possible risk of Monsanto's monopoly in both markets. Due to the intersectionality of GMO technology in socio-political private and public spheres, it is important to further research the credibility and ethicality of GM produces before its consumption and technology begin to raise problematic economic, environmental, and medical

According to Natural Society, people like Hugh Grant, and Bill Gates who own millions of shares in Monsanto stock are not the real owners of Monsanto. The main owners of Monsanto are institutions. The leading institution for Monsanto is a company is called the Vanguard group. Vanguard owns 3 trillion dollars in investments in different companies like Monsanto. Additionally, they own such companies as Bank of America, JP Morgan, Wells Fargo, and others. Employees of Monsanto seem to be interested in agriculture. Most of the employees are scientist, and agricultural experts. Employees enjoy working with farmers, and enjoy generating new ideas. Every project that is worked on inspires innovation allowing Monsanto, to stay on the cutting edge,

In this research paper the researchers try to demonstrate that Monsanto is falsely accused of being evil, however, in reality, does a lot of good things. The companies market power is the most intimidating aspect of the company.  Works

Health and safety of animals, workers in the slaughterhouse, and the consumers are neglected because the companies only care about making the best profit. For instance, chickens’ breasts are larger than it used to be so they can barely walk. Monsanto is a large corporation producing seed for agriculture. Whenever there are farmers who save their seeds for the next season, Monsanto will sue them. Obviously, a powerless farmer without enough financial support will lose against Monsanto.

Monsanto is a leading biotechnology company, which an American-based company. The company had received import approval of some products before concerns were elevated. They responded by launching an advertising campaign to discuss the potential benefits of biotechnology. Monsanto was trying to impose America's food and production systems on the European life. Cultural differences were not factored into the European launch of GM foods by the biotechnology industry.

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,