There is plenty of agitation in the US these days about "G.M.O.s", Genetically Modified Organisms, a purposely-broad term meant to describe all forms of life that are genetically modified. There are a lot of groups looking into various "organisms", but probably the highest-profile activity has to do with food stock plants, largely corn and different types of grains and cereal crops. Corporations being led by giants such as Monsanto have been hard at work for years to try to produce new versions of our most common dietary crops to make them more disease-resistant, drought-resistant, and even more pesticide-resistant, so that farmers, which these days mostly means agri-business corporate giants, can increase their profits by increasing their yields.
One of my favorite ironic combinations is companies that make weed-killing herbicides such as the well-known product "RoundUp" people use in their gardens, are working to make plants that are "RoundUp resistant", so growers can buy and pour more of these poisons on their crops to kill invading weeds while leaving genetically-modified (Monsanto) crops thriving. On a certain level it sounds good, but if you think about it, the idea of one company making both a poison and its antidote can't help but inspire some really scary horror sci-fi scenarios, possibly leading to situations where they spray huge amounts of this toxin that kills every plant it hits except if it is one that you bought from them. What kind of terrifying power does that put in the hands of one profit-oriented corporation?
Whatever it is, it is not as terrifying as what Monsanto and others are doing with the seeds that grow the grains and cereals and corn that we feed to our livestock to eat, or simply grow plants that are made into food. Under the guise of trying to engineer heartier plants that increase food supplies for a hungry world, they are also making it so the resulting plants cannot produce their own seed--and then, they PATENT them.
Back from the beginning of agriculture thousands of years ago, farmers would grow some plants for consumption and also some for seed, so that when the next season came around, they would have new seeds to plant, to keep the cycle going. It's a pretty successful strategy when you consider that it really accounts for the basic survival of the human species.
It is a very important and basic issue.
But Monsanto is working with government support to create a new world order of agriculture, wherein their seeds proliferate, producing crops that farmers harvest, and also require that farmers come back to Monsanto the very next year to buy more seed. It's a pretty powerful business model which is great if you're Monsanto, but not as great if you just like to eat.
The are designing these seeds to proliferate, force other species out, or cross-pollinate with them, so that even if a farmer very carefully works to maintain his own crops based on, dare I say it, OPEN SOURCE SEEDS, often his crops will be infiltrated by Monsanto crops, and then Monsanto can obtain that farmer's seeds or plants, put them through genetic analysis, and be able to PROVE that the seed contains some of Monsanto's seed genes, and declare, "You stole our property!", demanding that the farmer cease production and even pay reparation to Monsanto!
Every bowl of cereal you have for breakfast, every processed food that contains corn sugar, oil, or starch, or any part of corn, rice, you name it, and Monsanto is working to seize legal ownership of it.
I have to admit that one of the first things that pops into my mind is, "gee, I sure wish I'D thought of that!" but then I think, "Wait a minute...should one company really be legally permitted to own the fundamental rights to the food we as a species rely on for survival? So that the day will come when either we pay Monsanto a cut, OR WE DON'T EAT?
People held massive protests at a Monsanto board meeting in the last few days to demand that the law not ban, but simply require G.M. foods to disclose that fact on the label, so we as consumers can make an informed choice as to the kind of food we put in our own bodies. But Monsanto viciously--and successfully, because thanks to Republicans money now wins virtually EVERY fight, and they have WAY more money than any opposition--fights to avoid simply having to identify the "miracle foods" that they are creating for our "own good".
If it's so good, and G.M. Foods are so healthy, surely people would seek out foods with labels that proclaim "G.M.O.", why don't they even want us to be able to tell by reading the label? Are these people capable of doing ANYTHING that does not seem sinister in some way?
That's another area of enough concern to cause people to stage protests and get arrested to fight for. But meanwhile, you have to wonder what the world will be like when no own can grow any kind of edible plant, including not just grains but vegetables and fruits, without having to buy the seeds from just one company, Monsanto. Since they are working to create a monopoly on viable seed, they will also be able to set the price, because if you don't buy from them, there's nobody else to buy from. Remember? They sprayed thousands of acres of farmland with RoundUp which killed all plants except the ones grown from their own seed, so if you want food, Monsanto is the only place to get it. And none of those plants produce seed, so you have to buy seed from Monsanto.
Remember, no matter how complex it seems, they are mostly just producing sterile seed, and patenting it. It's not magic in this era of advanced genetics. They then pursue strategies to force the competition out of business, simple if you have the money and political clout they do.
Admittedly, I can't really even figure out how Monsanto itself will generate such huge amounts of "sterile" seed, but just because I can't understand it doesn't mean it isn't happening. And if Monsanto succeeds in "cornering the market" in some basic species of plants, what happens if THEY fail, and cannot produce enough seed?
"But...this cannot BE happening! First of all, it's OBSCENE. Second...don't we have anti-trust laws in this country? Haven't we already fought this fight and determined that monopolies are bad for society and thus cannot legally be permitted to exist?"
That's what I've always thought.
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