What’s wrong with Monsanto?

Monsanto – Corporate Rap Sheet

It’s May 13 2019, Alva and Alberta Pilliod settle into their courtroom seats to hear the jury’s verdict. They’re nervous and so is the lawyer representing them because they are suing Monsanto which is now been bought out by the German chemical company Bayer, on the ground that the company’s weed killer Roundup caused them to develop a type of cancer called non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

It’s the last day of their case and the lead juror stands up to read the verdict, the room falls deadly silent and Alva & Alberta hold hands finally after a short preamble the juror exclaims that Monsanto must pay 2 billion dollars in damages to the Pilliod family, the case was closed.

So what exactly has Monsanto done to receive such a massive predict.

We going to talk about Monsanto, how they operate, how they pollute.

What Is Monsanto?

Monsanto is an American agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology corporation that was founded in 1901.
Up until the late 90s Monsanto was a chemical company that grew to power by supplying deadly toxic concoctions to the US military during their imperialist endeavours.

But when peace rolled around Monsanto like any tricky salesman quickly found a new market for its chemicals, agriculture by transforming their weapons of war onto herbicides and pesticides, Monsanto introduced a militaristic mentality to farming by waging war instead on the soil insects and weeds.

Generally known for producing genetically modified organisms (GMOs), having a bad environmental record, using dangerous pesticides, and clashing with local farmers. But how did they get this reputation?

Frankenfood and the Terminator Seed

The company first got into trouble when it introduced GMOs to Europe and had its new, scientifically advanced product widely rejected as “Frankenfood.” Once global protests died down and GMOs became more socially acceptable, Monsanto purchased Delta Pine and Land Company, the inventor of a seed that could only be used once. By purchasing this so-called “terminator” seed, Monsanto settled into a reputation for exploiting farmers. Instead of relying on natural laws, farmers would have to buy new seeds from Monsanto – every single year.

This is just a small taste of Monsanto Bayer seed empire.

GMO bt Cotton seed case in India as an example.

Chemical Catastrophes

As if this wasn’t enough, Monsanto already had a long history as a chemical company. Monsanto was one of the original producers of both Agent Orange (dioxin), a toxic herbicide that caused serious health issues after use during the Vietnam War, and DDT, a pesticide that’s devastating environmental effects were detailed in the best-selling book Silent Spring.

Monsanto also developed the popular herbicide, glyphosate (brand-name: Roundup®), which was recently labelled a “probable human carcinogen.”

For years Monsanto’s no.1 tool was glyphosate, more familiar name Roundup®, quite literally Monsanto characterizes their customers as cowboys with Roundup® as their pistol of choice but Monsanto Roundup® kills more than just weeds.

They produce cotton, soy, corn, alfalfa, sorghum, and canola, which are all sprayed with Roundup to manage the surrounding weeds.

It kills soil by damaging presence of certain beneficial micro bacteria which decreases soil fertility in long run.

It kills Beneficial plants, led to superweeds.

It’s production created a no. Of toxic mines and factories that continue to pollute surrounding towns and watersheds.

While the cancer-causing “weed killer” is causing countless lawsuits, it also contributed to other issues in the agricultural world.

The Roundup-Resistant Seed Controversy

In 1998, Monsanto sued an independent farmer after he refused to pay the licensing fee for growing “Roundup-Ready Canola.” The farmer claimed the seeds were blown onto his farm by mistake and the patented canola was practically indistinguishable from his own crops. Additionally, the farmer was not intending to use Roundup® on the seeds. The documentary, David vs Monsanto (2009) shows how many farmers have had their livelihood destroyed by Monsanto’s ridiculous patents and lawsuits.

From Roundup to Dicamba

Most recently, certain “superweeds” have become resistant to Roundup and other glyphosate products. In response, Monsanto, which is now a part of the agricultural giant, Bayer, started using a powerful herbicide called dicamba on its crops. Although Bayer/Monsanto has been able to develop dicamba-resistant strains of soybeans and cotton, the herbicide can be carried in the wind and cause damage to other, non-resistant crops.

Countless farmers have had their crops destroyed and their yields reduced as a part of this damaging practice. This time, however, they are able to fight back.

Lawsuits Against Bayer/Monsanto

In the past 3 years, dicamba-resistant soybeans, grown from “Xtend” seeds, have taken over 60 to 70% of the American soybean market. The seeds are worth about $1 billion per year. While some farmers are on board with the new product, others claim Bayer/Monsanto violated antitrust laws when it introduced the plants.

Bayer’s has had to come to terms with Monsanto’s past. It settled over 100000 of those lawsuits with a pay-out of 10 billion dollars, one that gives hope for a stronger reckoning with polluting history of Monsanto but with that pay-out came an exception, Bayer can still sell roundup.

According to these farmers, they had no choice but to buy the seeds from Monsanto, which understood that drifting dicamba could drive competitors out of the market.

Their claim rings true when considering farmers who stick to traditional crops and how much destruction they have faced.

Dicamba-use is heavily contested and controversial. Additionally, dicamba may be even more dangerous than glyphosate in terms of toxicity.

Glyphosate has been deemed a probable carcinogen by WHO, an analysis shows long term exposure increases chance of contracting non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma by 41% which is exactly what Alva and Alberta Pilliod were diagnosed with and compensated.

The debate about GMOs’ safety, both in terms of potential dangers to the environment and to human health, is complex. The whole debate has gotten so very, very polarized.

Of course, it will be hard to pull Bayer away from this lucrative business. This generates billion dollars in revenue. Monsanto was one of the first companies to experiment with genetically modified organisms and crops, but there have been many others since. There are positives and negatives to the incredible growth that this industry has seen over the years.

The solution then must run encounter to obsession with scorching land with pesticides.

We must involve surrounding communities in gardening and food system focused not on control efficiency and attack but on care, abundance and biodiversity to produce food free of pesticides and corporate controlled seeds.
This new paradigm of smaller, more intimate food systems that produce food not only nourishes body but also taste good is what we should be growing towards not Bayer’s monopoly over our food.

Writer: Shikhar Thapa (Student, IAAS, TU)