Seed Monopoly: The Cost For Monsanto's Roundup

Utltimently this group of brokers has really broken the farm system, farmers rely on banks to fund their seed cost each year, a vast majority of Americans today have no idea about where their food comes from, what is in their food, and very little knowledge about how to grow or harvest the food that their very lives depend on. In addition farmers have lost their way, in the world of chemical farming, and seed production. Farmers that buy GMO crops are not even allowed to save their seeds for the next years planting, something that has been not only the way to do it, but was vital for thousands of years.

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 Bartlett’s are a family of four that live in the San Joaquin Valley in rural California. Mark Bartlett, the father, is 39-years-old and Maggie, his wife, is 37-years-old. They have two daughters, Kate, who is 12-years-old, and Sarah, who is nine-years-old. For several generations, Mark’s family owned and operated a small private farm that produced mainly soy and corn. However, in the recent years with the rapid growth of Monsanto and other similar agriculture conglomerates, the Bartlett’s have been forced to shut down the operation of their farm. Last year they were faced with a lawsuit against Monsanto wherein Monsanto claimed that the Bartlett’s had illegally obtained Monsanto-trademarked seed. Following this lawsuit, the Bartlett’s have

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).

I believe that if a company has a patent seed with a particular gene that shows up in a farmer’s crop should not be able to own that crop. There could be many different reasons why a particular gene shows up in a farmer’s crop. Many of which could not be there fault. For example, Percy Schmeiser was sued by Monsanto for growing one of Monsanto’s seeds. But Percy never bought any seeds from Monsanto. As you can see Monsanto’s seeds must have blown into Percy’s field by accident and started growing. Furthermore, no it’s not a farmers fault that they have someone else’s patent gene in their crops so they shouldn’t have to have their crops taken away.

When seed farmers sign a contract with Monsanto, they are required to use their engineered seeds. Monsanto sues the farmer if they do not use the seeds that they require them to use. The regulations of these companies cause

Monsanto is controlling the farmers and manipulating organic farmers to use their patented seeds and artificial growth hormone to increase production. As, Troy Roush, VP of American Corn Growers Association explains “In the case of Monsanto their control is so dominant, if you want to be in production agriculture, you’re going to be in bed with Monsanto (Food Inc 1:15:40-1:15-48). Monsanto should not have the right to control what the farmers can and cannot do. Monsanto has induced politician and the government to abdicate their responsibility to protect consumers through funding their campaign and heavy lobbying. As Michael Pollan clarifies “For the last 25 years, our government has been dominated by the industries that it was meant to be regulating” (1:17:07-1:17:13). The consumers and farmers should be the ones deciding and voting on the farming practices, not congress or large seed industries. I believe the farmers should reject to use Monsanto’s seeds and have the right to save, clean and reuse the seeds from their harvests. It should be unacceptable and illegal for the government to change ancient agricultural farming; hence we would have a healthy food chain. Government and congress should focus on the interest of consumers and farmers and not be conquered by large companies. The government needs to revisit the seed patenting law and sign an agreement of the

Monsanto's Round-up ready corn was genetically modified to kill bugs by busting there stomach open and gust to spill. When the ingredient used was Bacillus thuringiensis. People from North America were suffering from autism and diseases that were unknown and intestine damage that was a big loss. Some organisms in the US. But there was still pigs, cows, and smaller mammals like rodents and hamsters.

While I agree it is important to find a sustainable food source and way to produce such foods, people in this generation tend to be more concerned with organically and naturally grown foods. There are several companies that now offer 100% certified organic foods in which a number of people are now learning towards after hearing all of the derogatory statements involving Monsanto's genetically modified products. Many Monsanto stakeholders should already growing concerned of the safety implications of genetically modified foods. Biotech crops are completely unnatural and many are stating that Monsanto is "playing God" by creating these genetically modified seeds. Stakeholders are also concerned about destructive effects on those who ingest their products that are modified with the Roundup. It is a very valid and growing concern and because of this, Monsanto's stocks have continuously plummeted over the last few years; which is also where the stakeholder concerns lie. At this time there is no substantial evidence that has been produces to indicate that Monsanto's GM seeds will or can cause human harm, and it could very well be a long time until we can know for sure they won't. But in the meantime, as long as farmers are able to produce massive crops and save billions by using Monsanto's products, Monsanto will continue to produce these goods and service those willing to use them. I feel that there will come a day when they do discover that these GM products lead to harmful or fatal diseases and when they do, there will be a major shortage of food worldwide. It was stated back in September 2012 that French researchers had found a direct link between Monsanto corn and numerous cancers in lab rats. The two year study

However, in Burkina Faso, this is not the case. In the film “White Gold, Organic Dreams [Pet Child], Professor Jean-Didier Zongo discusses what farmers are told versus the reality of the situation. A farmer “It was promised that the yield would increase. In the beginning it increased, soon after it collapsed. It was promised that insects would be fought. But they developed a tolerance after a short time. And so on…”(Organic Dreams,1:25) This company promises many things to these poor farmers. One thing the farmers don’t realize is that there is no diversity within the seeds that allow the seed to develop it’s own defenses or success rate. Diversity allows the strongest seed to reproduce and make more seeds with even stronger characteristics. GMOs try to do this artificially which lead to their downfall every time. Suppose a farmer learned this and decides not to purchase any more of these seeds, Professor Zongo also stated that, “If a farmer doesn’t follow the flow and refuses to adapt the GMOs, they are cut from fertilizers and can’t sell their products.”(Organic Dreams,1:00) In this case, the farmers are being punished for forming their own opinion about these bad

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

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.

Genetically Modified foods are made to withstand harsher condition than normal soybeans, meaning that more of them will survive to then be sold. Furthermore, these GM soybeans will also last longer due to their implanted gene. With a bigger amount of soybeans, the farmers can then allow the soybeans to be sold for a cheaper price, which will ensure that customers will buy their products as they are cheaper than others. Due to those reasons, farmers with the right to use GM soybeans will make more money and do so faster as they will have more soybeans to sell. This however is a disadvantage for small farms who do not have enough money or who don’t want to buy GM soybeans as they will produce fewer soybeans as they do not possess the genes which make them resist herbicides and harsher weather. A smaller amount of soybeans to sell will then make the farmers without the right to use GM soybeans have less income. Furthermore, these farmers are unable to make the soybeans cheaper as they would then not make any profit. Another factor which is heavily impacted by the GM soybeans is the

The objective of this report is to analyze the differences in Monsanto’s experiences in the United States and Europe and the reasons of opposition in Europe, despite that, why Monsanto pushed ahead so hard.

Big businesses have a major influence towards American agriculture. Large capital investments have contributed to the success of American agriculture. Monsanto is the world’s leading agricultural biotechnology company that has used fundamentally changed the way many