As all of you out there know, we just finished up that wonderfully informational film Food, Inc. One of the most chilling parts, at least to me, was the part of how controlling the big company Monsanto was over its clients on the subject of their patented seeds. These farmers couldn’t save their seeds for the next year (which could save a TON of money if they were allowed to) for fear of infringing on their contracts with Monsanto. More and more each year, these farmers have to depend on Monsanto to provide their seeds because less and less companies are selling GMO-free seeds/products to their customers. From what I’ve read online, as much as 91% of all soy beans produced are grown from GMO seeds (Something I got from a fellow wordpress blogger, though no one from our class–small world, right? If you want to visit his blog, here’s the link –> http://davidfarside.wordpress.com/2010/09/23/is-monsanto-poisoning-the-world%E2%80%99s-food/). Slowly, Monsanto is taking over as the predominant producer of soy seed for farmers. So what choice do they have but to comply and buy their product? And they must follow the rules of their contract or be sued by the company. From their link http://www.monsanto.com/food-inc/Pages/default.aspx , a concerned patron asked if it is true that most farmers have to settle because they can’t afford to pay their legal fees. Of course, Monsanto slyly avoided answering that question. Instead, they claim they are “committed to the success of farmers”, yet how can that be when more and more farmers are going in debt because they cannot afford to keep buying seed they cannot even save for the next year. And if they do save it, they cannot afford the legal fees that accompany such an endeavor. It boggles my mind how Monsanto even knows that farmers are saving seed. Food, Inc. hinted at Monsanto having spies watching their farmers to see if they violate their contracts, but that seems so extreme. In today’s society, though, anything is possible I guess.
To me, they are increasingly becoming the Big Brother of agriculture. For those of you who have read the awesome book 1984, you know what I’m talking about. He’s always watching. Break the rules and you are punished.
