The Agricultural Revolution gave humans the ability to abandon subsistence hunting and gathering. We learned that we could feed ourselves one season and, if we saved enough seed, we could even plant a new crop the next year. This concept is basic to agriculture, even basic to human civilization. But Monsanto has a better idea, and you’ll damn well learn to like it.
They haven’t fought to have their idea tried by the marketplace. They haven’t produced better crops and then sold so much that their competitors went out of business. Instead, they’ve lied and obfuscated. They’ve threatened individuals, states, and even countries. Their organized, premeditated thuggery is global and legend, and is too big to get into in this little column. So instead, we decided to concentrate on just one abuse that is threatening our system of government here at home. It’s not their lobbying, not even their actual crimes. It’s the Monsanto Protection Act, and it will make you Furious all by itself.
What does the Act do? It effectively bars federal courts from being able to halt the sale or planting of genetically modified seeds, no matter what health issues may appear from GMOs in the future. The provision’s language was apparently written with Monsanto’s input, and many members of Congress were unaware that the Act even existed within the Bill they were voting on. The President didn’t slow it down either, quietly signing it. The message it sends is that corporations can get around consumer safety protections if they get Congress on their side.
The Act is buried deep in Section 735 of the “Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2013,” or H.R. 933, an appropriations bill that President Obama has already signed into law. The bill was necessary to prevent another government shutdown, so it naturally drew a few quiet additions that wouldn’t have stood up well to broad examination. The rider was inserted anonymously but Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo) later said he “worked with” Monsanto to get the rider. It’s so egregious that even the Tea Party is mad about it. Here are a few links to stories around the web about it, along with a petition to repeal it.
Monsanto Protection Act put GM companies above the federal courts- (The Guardian) Campaigners say that not even the US government can now stop the sale, planting, harvest or distribution of any GM seed
Full Text of the just-passed Monsanto Protection Act– (WhiteOut Press) Includes some reporting on the roles of Senators Blunt and Mikulski in the act.
The Real Monsanto Protection Act: How The GMO Giant Corrupts Regulators And Consolidates Its Power– (Think Progress) Concise article with extensive hyperlinks for in-depth information
Petition to Repeal the “Monsanto Protection Act” (Section 735 of HR 933) (MoveOn.org)
Center for Food Safety Denounces Dangerous “Biotech” Earmark in Senate-passed Spending Bill (Center for Food Safety)
Corporate Giant Gets Immunity– (Tea Party Patriots) A rare chance to agree with the Tea Partiers.
Monsanto Protection Act Signed By Obama, GMO Bill “Written By Monsanto” Signed Into Law (Global Research)
Jon Stewart explains the ‘Monsanto Protection Act’– He has a real talent for putting the most complex ideas into a form we can all understand.
Update 5/14/13- The Supremes just came down with a decision in a case between Monsanto and a small farmer. Guess which way it went?
Blood-Boiling Bonus!
We couldn’t let this look at Monsanto’s abuses be limited to just the corruption of our justice system. Here are a couple more stories that will keep you cursing far into the night…
Monsanto’s Indian Suicide Belt
We wrote this “News To Make You Furious” article in June, 2011, about Monsanto’s activities in India. Monsanto targeted its patented BT Cotton to the poverty-stricken illiterate rural farmers of India, convincing them to take out loans at extortionate rates to pay for seeds costing 1000 times more than conventional varieties. The first problem occurred when pests and disease destroyed much of the crop that was guaranteed pest-and-disease resistant. The second problem occurred when the crops failed because Monsanto neglected to mention that their seeds required up to 50 TIMES the water of natural varieties, and on a rigid schedule. This was an insurmountable problem for rural farmers without artificial irrigation systems who depend on rain to irrigate their crops. Although Monsanto weathered the massive crop losses the farmers were not so lucky. Faced with the loss of everything they had, and looking at families condemned to a life of begging with no way out, a wave of suicides has been sweeping through the Indian farm belt.
The predominant method of choice? The same insecticide that proved so useless on the Monsanto cotton.
Argentina-A Poster Child for the Health Hazards of GMO Crops
Roundup Ready soy is now being cultivated on a massive scale across the globe, along with the exponentially increasing use of the herbicide Roundup. It’s a win-win for Monsanto. But it’s a loss for just about everyone else. Argentina’s population is being sickened by massive spraying of herbicides on its genetically engineered soya fields. Glyphosate, the main ingredient in Roundup, is blamed for the dramatic increase in devastating birth defects as well as cancer. Sterility and miscarriages are also increasing…
