Monsanto And USDA: Destroying American Agriculture One Crop At A Time

“Tractor-chasing lawyers have prematurely filed suit without any evidence of fault and in advance of the crop’s harvest.” 1 — Monsanto

wheat

U.S. wheat farmers are holding Monsanto responsible for creating and patenting a product that is so toxic to farmers’ financial health that its mere presence on a single U.S. farm results in consumer rejection and consequent decreased value for all wheat on every farm in the U.S.A.1

What product could possibly produce such devastating financial losses? Monsanto’s Roundup resistant, genetically modified wheat.

Naturally, Monsanto sees itself as the victim in this outrageous situation, even suggesting that villainous souls may have intentionally planted Monsanto patented wheat to “sabotage” Monsanto.2

There’s frightening irony in the fact that Monsanto created genetically modified wheat with the intent of selling it to farmers, and after that same wheat shows up in a farmer’s field, Monsanto suggests that saboteurs are out to destroy Monsanto.

This isn’t the first time farmers have had to bear the cost of irresponsible biotechnology giants.

“The 2000 release of Aventis SA’s StarLink corn cost as much as $288 million in lost revenue and a yearlong drop in the grain’s price, according to a 2008 report by the Government Accountability Office. The 2006 release of Bayer AG’s Liberty Link rice cost as much as $1.29 billion in lost exports, food recalls and other expenses, the GAO said, citing an environmental advocacy group. Bayer in 2011 agreed to pay $750 million to about 11,000 U.S. rice farmers who sued the company.”3

Once again, there is frightening irony in Monsanto’s demeaning use of the phrase “tractor-chasing lawyers” to describe farmers who seek legitimate compensation due to real financial losses farmers have and will experience due to Monsanto’s unwanted transgenic wheat.

Dr. Mercola states, “Monsanto employs an arsenal of private investigators and agents who secretly videotape farmers, snatch crop samples from their land and even fly helicopters overhead to spy — all to catch farmers saving or sharing seeds. As of 2005 Monsanto had 75 employees and a $10-million budget solely to investigate and prosecute farmers for patent infringement.”4

Some of the farmers Monsanto sues for patent violation didn’t want and didn’t buy Monsanto seeds at all. Rather, Monsanto’s seed or pollen contaminated their farms. That fact doesn’t deter Monsanto from suing these farmers. 4

Suing farmers is a lucrative revenue source for Monsanto. As of November 28, 2012, Monsanto has raked in $23,675,820.99 from farmers. But that figure doesn’t include Monsanto’s gains from confidential, out-of-court settlements. According to Center For Food Safety, “Farmers have paid Monsanto an estimated $85,653,601 to $160,594,230 in settlements of these seed piracy matters.”5

In light of Monsanto’s allegation of potential “sabotage” in the case of their genetically modified wheat, one has to wonder how they came up with such an idea. Do Monsanto investigators spread Monsanto seeds while trespassing on farmers’ property? Do Monsanto investigators get paid on commission? Do they earn a percentage on court victories?

There’s more irony in the fact that while Monsanto claims no responsibility for the Monsanto wheat found in Oregon, Monsanto is currently conducting open-field GM wheat testing in Hawaii and North Dakota.6

Of course that means Monsanto is actively planning to unleash yet another version or versions of GM wheat—wheat that will once again result in lost market share for U.S. farmers.7 And Monsanto will do it with the blessing of the USDA. Considering the fact that the USDA’s mission includes promoting American agriculture, isn’t it ironic the USDA continues to approve genetically modified crops that destroy American agriculture?

Virtually no one wants biotech seeds or food and absolutely no one needs biotech seeds or foods, but Monsanto doesn’t care what people want or need. Monsanto will use any and all methods to muscle and money their way into governments, fields, and foods.

They will even use war to their advantage. Since the U.S.A. “liberated” Iraq from Saddam Hussein’s oppressive regime, the “liberators” gave “free” genetically modified seeds–including wheat–to Iraqi farmers, locking the farmers into perpetual Monsanto serfdom.8

Monsanto has always used their patented seeds to their legal and financial advantage while shirking responsibility for the immense damage that results from their patented seeds and poisons.

It’s long past time for Monsanto to stop profiting from genetic contamination. It’s time for Monsanto to pay in full for the devastating losses farmers experience due to Monsanto’s unwanted and—in the case of wheat—illegal genetically modified products.

Good for the two or three farmers who are suing Monsanto. But it will take far more than two or three to make a difference. Five million Brazilian farmers have sued Monsanto, and yet Monsanto continues to cram its unwanted products down the throats of the world.9

Of course, there’s nothing ironic about any of this; it’s just business as usual at Monsanto.

Notes
1. Andrew Harris & Alan Bjerga, “Monsanto Sued by Farmer Over Gene-Altered Seed Release,” Bloomberg, June 4, 2013, http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-04/monsanto-sued-by-farmer-over-gene-altered-seed-release.html

2. David Knowles, “Monsanto says sabotage may be behind GMO wheat in Oregon as more farmers file suit,” New York Daily News, June 6, 2013,
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/monsanto-sabotage-behind-oregon-gmo-wheat-article-1.1365598

3. “Monsanto Legal Risks Linger With Suit as Wheat Futures Rebound,” AgWeb, http://www.agweb.com/mobile/newsdetail.aspx?ArticleId=336468

4. Dr. Joseph Mercola, “Monsanto’s Many Attempts to Destroy All Seeds but Their Own,
March 07, 2009, Mercola.com, http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/03/07/monsantos-many-attempts-to-destroy-all-seeds-but-their-own.aspx

5. “Monsanto v. U.S. Farmers, 2012 Update,” Center For Food Safety,
http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/files/monsanto-v-us-farmer-2012-update-final_98931.pdf

6. Fritz Kreiss, “Monsanto Found to Have 2 ‘Secret’ GMO Wheat Test Fields in the US at this Time,” Occupy Monsanto, June 4, 2013, http://occupymonsanto360.org/blog/monsanto-found-to-have-2-secret-gmo-wheat-test-fields-in-the-us-at-this-time/

7. Sean Ellis, “Monsanto creating new Wheat Technology Center in Idaho,” Capital Press, June 6, 2013, http://www.capitalpress.com/content/SE-Monsanto-Idaho-Main-061413

8. F. William Engdahl, “Iraq and Washington’s ‘seeds of democracy’,” Current Concerns, 2005, http://www.currentconcerns.ch/archive/2005/05/20050507.php

9. Amanda Taylor, “Monsanto: The Big Bad Wolf,” The Vancouver Vector, April 11th, 2013, http://www.vancouvervector.com/world/monsanto-the-big-bad-wolf/

Will Run For Real Healthy Food!

This reading and blog are dedicated to Dr. Timothy Harland Hill, a man who served in Vietnam and eventually died from the effects of Monsanto’s Agent Orange. To learn more about the effects of Agent Orange on U.S. veterans and their families, please check out http://www.covvha.nethttp://www.facebook.com/#!/COVVHA, http://www.vietvet.org/aodiocan.htmhttp://www.vietnow.com/pagesagent/fieb.htm.

Thanks to Brooke for inviting me to read at Writer’s Read! And thanks to Dr. Dan Etulain for recording the event.

I read a selection from my upcoming book Sexy Body, Sexy You: Unleash The Secrets of Weight Loss, Life, Love, and Loot.

This selection is the final part of the chapter on biotechnology, genetically modified foods, and Monsanto.

Following the text of my reading, I’ve included several Monsanto and GMO related links.

Thank you for standing with us as we run the country for healthy, real food.

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I grew up with the outlandish and apparently outdated idea that God created the Earth and life. Within that belief system, I never would have considered it possible for a human being to patent life. God created our food and I thanked Him for it every time I ate a meal with my family. I figured if He made it, He got it right. It was healthy as is. How silly of me! God doesn’t own it. Monsanto, Cargill, Dow, and other biotech corporations own it. And I’m not talking about buying and selling food. I’m talking about patenting the genetic makeup of food. Now that I’ve been enlightened, our mealtime prayers at home go something like this:

Oh Divine Monsanto,
We thank you that you’ve had the wisdom, courage, and forethought to provide your children with DDT, PCB’s, Agent Orange, and genetically engineered foods. We know you’ve perfected the world’s food supply out of your love for us. We thank you for liberally sharing your seeds with the world’s poor. We thank you for working with the Coalition Provisional Authority, for protecting and liberating Iraqi farmers from their seeds of terror. We thank you for improving the lives of the Indian farmers who haven’t yet committed suicide due to your GMO cotton. We thank you for suing American farmers when your GMO’s contaminate their pesky natural foods. We thank you for spending millions to keep GMOs unlabeled. Through your love, world hunger has been alleviated, farmers enriched, bodies purified, minds sharpened, and spirits ennobled.
In the sacred names of Donald Rumsfeld, John Ashcroft, Paul Bremer, Michael Taylor, ad nauseum.
Amen.

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When I’m totally pissed, I want to tell the people of power in Monsanto/FDA/USDA/congress to go screw themselves with a bunch of their mutant double helix monstrosities. But I don’t need to tell them. They’ve already screwed themselves and their children. And they’re hell-bent to screw the world, without regard to the consequences.

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That’s nothing new for Monsanto. Ask the diseased, disfigured, and disabled Vietnamese who have been screwed by Agent Orange. Ask the people of Anniston, Alabama who identify themselves at their local meetings by their blood PCB levels. Ask the Mexican farmers whose corn is now contaminated with GM corn even though Mexico doesn’t allow GM corn in their country. Ask the Indian farmers who are now depressed, destitute, or dead due to Monsanto’s GMO cotton. Ask the Iraqi farmers who have experienced the deliberate annihilation of their ancient farming methods which international researchers have termed the “ultimate war crime.” (http://tribune.com.pk/story/342986/control-by-seed/)

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GM products and associated poisons are already directly responsible for the suffering, illness, and deaths of millions of people. But the potential consequences are yet to be realized. Now that Monsanto and other GMO producing corporations have unleashed these mutant life forms into the environment, there is no going back. These corrupted life forms are now part of the Earth’s eco system. They are infecting and contaminating crops even in countries where GM products are illegal. Even if all GM products were outlawed today, there would be no way to eradicate these poisons from the earth.

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So what can you do to at least slow their spread? Choose to exercise two powerful tools with every meal: One. Don’t eat factory-farmed meat. The tortured animals that provide the vast majority of the meat on American plates grow fat on poison-saturated, GM feed. When you say no to meat, you’re also saying no to the GM feed that fattens those animals. Two. Say no to GMO’s on your plate. I realize saying no to GMO’s is easier said than done, but it’s not impossible. The good people at the Institute For Responsible Technology have created a fact-filled brochure called Non-GMO Shopping Tips. This brochure tells you where Monsanto and gang hide their GMO’s.

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Like any other company, Monsanto exists to make money. When enough people stop buying their poison, they’ll stop producing it. In Monsanto’s case, they’ll be forced to come up with yet another way to poison people and the environment. Refuse to be a Monsanto guinea pig.

If you want to actively fight against GMO’s, then join forces with The Institute For Responsible Technology at http://www.responsibletechnology.org/. The battle they’re waging against GMO’s is a battle that must be won. The very future of the human race and the Earth is at stake.

You might be wondering what GMO’s have to do with your sexy body, weight loss, life, love, and loot.

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There’s nothing sexy about cancer, tumors, allergies, and fertility and immune system problems. There’s nothing sexy about Order 81 and Indian farmer suicides. There’s nothing sexy about Monsanto destroying American farmers.

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When you choose to eat the foods that God and Mother Nature created in their naturally occurring forms, you honor God and Mother Nature. You honor your body and your health. It may be no coincidence that American butts have ballooned since GMO “foods” were silently spliced into the American diet, but regardless of that question, there is no question that GMO’s are dangerous, the only question is how dangerous they will ultimately prove to be to your health, the health of your children, the health of the environment, and the health of worldwide farming systems and the global food supply.

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When you choose natural foods, you show your love for people around the world whose lives are being destroyed by GMO’s. You support traditional and organic farmers. You love your own body enough to nourish it with safe and healthy food.

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When you choose natural foods, Monsanto will never see your money! Writing that gives me such pleasure, I’m going to write it again. Monsanto will never see your money! Wiping out Monsanto and their poisons would be a happy ending to a horrendous chapter in human history. A happier ending would be the day the linchpins of the Monsanto/government cartel serve the rest of lives in prison for crimes against humanity and their fat assets are carved up and distributed to the millions of victims and survivors around the world whose lives they’ve destroyed.

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Monsanto and gang defeated California’s Proposition 37 by lying to and inciting fear in voters. Fear Monsanto! Don’t fear their lies! Americans have the right to join some 50 other countries that already label GMO’s. You have the right to know if your food has been genetically modified. Vote with your wallet, vote with your food purchases, and vote with your vote. Say Yes to Labeling, say Yes to Natural Foods, and always, always, always, say No to biotech bullies like Monsanto!

—–

Learn more about Monsanto and their deadly legacy:

Monsanto’s Harvest of Fear
http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2008/05/monsanto200805

Monsanto: The Donald Rumsfeld of Corporations. A brief history
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/04/12/711021/-Monsanto-The-Donald-Rumsfeld-of-Corporations-A-brief-history

The Real Victor in Iraq: Monsanto
http://www.thepanelist.net/opinions-culture-10084/1252-the-real-victor-in-iraq-monsanto

The World According To Monsanto GMO Documentary
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VEZYQF9WlE

Monsanto Threatens to Sue Vermont if Legislators Pass a Bill Requiring GMO Food to Be Labeled
http://www.alternet.org/story/154855/monsanto_threatens_to_sue_vermont_if_legislators_pass_a_bill_requiring_gmo_food_to_be_labeled

How Monsanto Is Sabotaging Efforts to Label Genetically Modified Food
http://www.alternet.org/story/156032/how_monsanto_is_sabotaging_efforts_to_label_genetically_modified_food

Cancer Related Stories And Research at Institute For Responsible Technology
http://www.responsibletechnology.org/posts/?tag=cancer

Indian farmers protest Monsanto GM corn field trial in Haryana
http://digitaljournal.com/article/335327

India prepares to kick Monsanto to the curb
http://www.naturalnews.com/037649_India_Monsanto_GM_foods.html

Monsanto Indian Farmer Suicide
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Av6dx9yNiCA

Monsanto’s GMO Seeds Contributing to Farmer Suicides Every 30 Minutes
Read more: http://naturalsociety.com/monsantos-gmo-seeds-farmer-suicides-every-30-minutes/#ixzz2HuVDECdF

Genetically Modified DNA Contaminates Ancient Mexican Maize
http://www.rodale.com/gmos-and-corn-contamination

GM contamination of wild Mexican maize revealed
http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/gm/gm-contamination-of-wild-mexican-maize-revealed

Agent Orange: Birth defects plague Vietnam; U.S. slow to help
http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/agentorange/chi-agent-orange3-dec08,0,2946008.story

Vietnam’s war against Agent Orange
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3798581.stm

Agent Orange & Birth Defects
http://www.vva.org/veteran/1207/agent_orange_feature.html

Children of Vietnam Veterans Health Alliance
https://www.facebook.com/COVVHA?fref=ts

Agent Orange Legacy
https://www.facebook.com/agentorangelegacy?fref=ts

Monsanto Hid Decades Of Pollution
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines02/0101-02.htm

PCBs Drenched Ala. Town, But No One Was Ever Told
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines02/0101-02.htm

MONSANTO KNEW ABOUT PCB TOXICITY FOR DECADES
http://www.chemicalindustryarchives.org/dirtysecrets/annistonindepth/toxicity.asp

Monsanto found guilty of polluting
http://www.ethicalinvesting.com/monsanto/news/10074.htm

Anniston, Alabama: In-Depth: The Story on Monsanto
http://www.ewg.org/node/19826

Mutant Seeds for Mesopotamia: Order #81
http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_1022.cfm

The Amazing Revolving Door – Monsanto, FDA & EPA
http://rense.com/general33/fd.htm

Seeds of Deception: Exposing Industry and Government Lies About the Safety of the Genetically Engineered Foods You’re Eating

Genetic Roulette—The Gamble of Our Lives
https://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/6236/p/salsa/donation/common/public/?donate_page_KEY=8963

Massive Fund Attack on GMO Labeling Proposal in California
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/09/13/california-gmo-labeling.aspx

Lone Farmer Prevailed Against One of the Most Powerful Companies on the Planet
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/11/03/david-versus-monsanto.aspx

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