Monsanto's 'Seed Police'

According to the article somewhere around 325,000 farmers purchase seeds each year under an agreement that “they will will not save and replant seeds produced from” Monsanto. With an agreement like this in place, the corporation feels the need to be sure that clients withhold their contracts. Monsanto sends out private investigators to essentially follow farmers, photographing them and watching everything that they do. If an investigator determines that a farmer is breaking contract, that farmer will have to pay a fine, or, in extreme cases, a lawsuit will be filed. However, according to the essay by Monsanto, there have been only “147 lawsuits filed since 1997 in the United States. This averages about 8 per year for the past 18 years. To date, only 9 cases have gone through full trial. In every one of these instances, the jury or court decided in our favor.” They do this because when farmers replant, they no longer have a reason to purchase seeds, therefore costing the company money. Another reason that Monsanto uses such a practice is because the loss of that revenue hinders their ability to research and develop products that would help farmers. A

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 use of Monsanto’s tactical format for approaching farmers who misuse their seeds is one that I find a little concerning. Monsanto has a policy that the farmers who purchase their seeds sign that they are not able to save their seeds or replant them for the next years crop. It is important for all industries to protect their patented product, but I am not sure preventing the farmer’s from using a product purchased in a previous year would damage their patent. The farmer has already purchased the seed from the supplier, so the seed is technically the owned product of the farmer who completed the purchase. If the farmer is not doing anything with the product that will manipulate how it is used or in a manner where the crop is produced,

If one company owned an entire food crop, it would result in a huge profit of money for that company. However, it would also result in destroying the tradition of farming for farmers and their families. A primary reason why companies would want to own an entire food crop is because they will make a lucrative amount of money. A statistic involving this is stated by www.not-gmoreport.com, “ The cost for Monsanto’s Roundup Ready 2 soybeans in 2010 was $70 per bag, a 143% increase in the price of GM seed since 2001.” This inflation is called seed monopoly. One reason people strongly dislike seed monopoly is because of the way it affects not only farmers, but also the consumers. Farmers will have to pay more money for seeds, which will eventually

the seed, they decided to redesign our legal system as well. The FDA is stuffed with

In prehistoric times, the cultures that flourished were those who grew​ ​ grains, rice and corn. Now one of those very cultures face cultural​ ​ genocide as Monsanto works to destroy its roots and replace ancient​ ​ maize with GMO corn. The film ​SUNÚ documents this struggle,​​ ​ from the halls of​​ ​ government to the hills of southern

Most farms in the U.S. are controlled by Monsanto and other GMO companies. If they are controlled by Monsanto they are strictly supervised. They have no freedom to farm as they please because they can get sued by Monsanto. A farmer using Monsanto seeds signs a "Technology Agreement"

Companies like Monsanto's should not be able to patent seeds because due to this we have been losing so many varieties of vegetables and fruits.According to The Future Of Foods, only 2% of the USA’s population is a farmer. Due to this it leaves us with 98% of us as non-farmers, because of this labor on vegetables and fruits have grown tremendously.In the 1800's very little potatoes grew in Ireland this started great hunger and thousands of people died due to that.A similar thing happened in Spain but the outcome was very different, not that many people died. This happened because in Ireland there were only a few varieties of potatoes and due to this most of the potatoes that people used to eat were gone.In Spain the same thing happened but

Biotech companies including Monsanto do not allow the farmers to reuse seeds from their own crops. These companies have put a patent on these seeds and plants, a patent on actually life. They own the living organism.

Mexico should stop buying corn from those corporations that demand to turn over their corn crops to them. Therefore, it would be best for Mexico because Monsanto’s control on the corn imported into Mexico has caused a food and health catastrophe. A fact, “In post-NAFTA Mexico, 42 percent of the food consumed comes in aboard. Before NAFTA the country spent $1.8 million dollars on food imports. It now spends a whopping $24 billion” (http://fpif.org/nafta_is_starving_mexico/). This is an issue for Mexico because all the genetically modified corn imported from the U.S. is causing for small farmers to go out of business. A reason why it caused them to go out of business is because, “Seventeen years after NAFTA, some two million farmers have been

Companies, like Monsanto will come after small farms and sue them for more than they can pay if they find out they are using even a small portion of GM crops in their fields, even if by accident” (Fitzgerald). Approximately 2,400 farmers in 19 states through 2006 were sued and spied upon for alleged “seed piracy”, Monsanto has an annual budget of $10 million dollars and a staff of 75 devoted solely to investigating and prosecuting farmers who are caught with different seed. (Monsanto).

Monsanto’s Monopoly Over Genetically Modified Crops Monopolies are established in certain industries when one firm controls the market of a product that cannot be differentiated. In today’s economy, monopolies can be found in various industries, including within the seed industry. Monsanto is an agricultural giant that creates genetically modified seeds and crop protection products (Monsanto Company, 2017a). Though Monsanto is not the only firm in the seed industry, it is a monopoly in the genetically modified seed and crop protection industry. Monsanto is the leading firm in GMO foods and crops because of their many patents on their products and technology.

If a new entrant came into the market that were able to utilize a lower cost strategy as well as learn from Monsanto’s mistakes and keep a clean record, they could potentially take market share away from Monsanto. This is mentioned briefly in terms of Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc., but additional information would be necessary to make a decision. Also, no information is made on Monsanto’s advertising or marketing efforts. They might not need to market products in the traditional consumer marketing sense, but an advertising campaign aimed at reestablishing corporate image could be very advantageous.

As parents, it is our job to look out for our children. Feeding them healthy, balanced meals is essential to their well being. But what if the products companies promote are not helping our children? What if they are hurting them? It turns out the brands we know and love may not have our best interests in mind when creating their products. Main brand companies use GMOs, genetically modified organisms, in their products. GMOs are created through a process called genetic engineering and in this process an organism’s genetic material is unnaturally modified through human intervention (Benson 2015). Well if companies are using them that must mean they aren’t hazardous… right? Unfortunately, that isn’t entirely true. According to Dick Benson, well over 60 countries world-wide have either banned the use of GMOs completely or have strict guidelines of when and how much they can be used. If so many countries have banned them then why are they being sold in the US?

Bogeyman and the face of corporate evil according to farmer’s digest are terms to describe Monsanto’s reputation. The company has received intense negative media criticism, such as protest, bribery scandals, cover up of environmental pollution are items that contributed to the companies negative reputation. According to (2014) since the exposure of the company's alleged unethical customs, Monsanto has developed a poor reputation as being a greedy, unethical, and arrogant monopoly. Consequently, they have lost the trust, business, and support of many people.