Green | May 01, 2009 | 13 comments

Monsanto in the McSpotlight

source: http://www.mcspotlight.org/beyond/companies/monsanto.html

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judiestar
Monsanto is an American-owned international agro-chemical and foods conglomerate. It employs about 45,000 people and peddles over eight billion dollars a year in chemical products all over the world. While Monsanto has been critised for some time for their production of NutraSweet and the genetically engineered rBGH (Bovine Growth Hormone), the latest criticism is for it's moves into the world of GMOs (genetically manipulated organisams). They produce 'RoundUp Ready' soya beans that are genetically altered to be resistant to their chemical herbicide 'Roundup' (the biggest selling agro-chemical in the world with sales totalling more than $620 million a year), which provides 40% of the companies operating profit.
Take a look at the Monsanto corporate web site and you might be excused for mistaking Monsanto for a caring company with only our best interests at heart. In 'The Monsanto Pledge' (which includes the slogan 'We pledge to be part of the solution', the company lays down seven principles that describe the company's apparent vision for a sustainable environment. They pledge to:

Reduce all toxic and hazardous releases and emissions, working toward an ultimate goal of zero effect;
Ensure no Monsanto operation poses any undue risk to our employees and our communities;
Work to achieve sustainable agriculture through new technology and practices;
Ensure groundwater safety;
Keep our plants open to our communities and involve the community in plant operations;
Manage all corporate real estate, including plant sites, to benefit nature; and
Search worldwide for technology to reduce and eliminate waste from our operations, with the top priority being not making it in the first place.

The propaganda continues with Bob Shapiro, the CEO of Monsanto, declaring;
"We take our responsibilities to our customers, employees, shareowners and people of the world very seriously."
"..we're working very hard to make sure our products and manufacturing facilities are safe for the people who use them and for the environment we live in. "
"..we're trying to improve people's lives all over the world."
"What is important and valuable to you is important and valuable to us."

It all sounds very nobel but words are just words, and their record tells a different story...
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13 comments // Monsanto in the McSpotlight

  • ras_menelik
    • 0
      ras_menelik  
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    • Legacy Seeds Inc.

      Growers should refer to Monsanto's Technology Use Guide for information on crop stewardship regarding the potential movement of pollen to neighboring crops. Know Before You Grow® is a service mark of National Corn Growers Association. For more information call 1-866-SELL CORN.

      IMPORTANT: The following information is current as of 6/10/2008: YieldGard Plus and YieldGard Rootworm with Roundup Ready Corn 2 are grandfathered for import and use in processed feed in the E.U. YieldGard Plus with Roundup Ready Corn 2, YieldGard VT Rootworm/RR2, and YieldGard VT Triple are neither approved nor grandfathered and there is zero tolerance for these traits in processed feed imported in the E.U. Growers of all products bearing the Market Choices mark must talk to their grain handler to confirm the handler's buying position for grain from these products. It is a violation of national and international law to move material containing biotech traits across boundaries into nations where import is not permitted.

      Roundup Rewards® applies only to Roundup® branded and other agricultural herbicides specified by Monsanto. Program details referenced in this publication are subject to change and should be verified by checking with your local Monsanto dealer or representative.

      B.t. products are not yet registered in all states. Check with your seed representative for the registration status in your state.

      Always Read and Follow Pesticide Label Directions. Roundup Ready® crops contain genes that confer tolerance to glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup® agricultural herbicides. Roundup® agricultural herbicides will kill crops that are not tolerant to glyphosate. When Roundup Ready 2 Yield™ soybeans are made available for commercial release and use, they will be subject to Monsanto Company's comprehensive stewardship plans consistent with its Stewardship Policy for Commercialization of Biotechnology-Derived Plant Products in Commodity Crops. Roundup Ready 2 Yield soybean seed and any product of a Roundup Ready 2 Yield soybean seed or crop can only be exported to, or used, processed or sold in countries where all necessary regulatory approvals have been granted. It is a violation of national and international law to move material containing biotech traits across boundaries into nations where import is not permitted. Roundup®, Roundup Ready®, Roundup Ready 2 Yield™, YieldGard®, YieldGard VT® and Design, YieldGard VT Rootworm/RR2®, YieldGard VT Triple®, YieldGard VT Triple PRO™, Cleaner Fields, Higher Yields®, Roundup Rewards®, Roundup WeatherMAX®, Transorb and Design®, Vistive®, START CLEAN, STAY CLEAN™. and Cleaner Fields, Higher Yields.® are registered trademarks of Monsanto Technology LLC. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. ©2008 Monsanto Company.

      HERCULEX® insect protection technology by Dow AgroSciences and Pioneer Hi-Bred. ®™HERCULEX, the HERCULEX Shield Logo and Quad-Stack are trademarks of Dow AgroSciences LLC.

      Ignite®, LibertyLink®, the LibertyLink logo and the Water Droplet logo are registered trademarks of Bayer.

      Agrisure®, Apron XL®, Cruiser®, Cruiser Extreme®, Maxim® XL, Dynasty® and the Syngenta logo are registered trademarks of a Syngenta Group Company.

      Clearfield® is a registered trademark of BASF Agrochemical Products B.V.

      Know Before You Grow® is a registered service mark of the National Corn Growers Association.

    • 2 years ago
  • kinolina
    • 0
      kinolina  
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    • French writer and filmmaker Marie-Monique Robin weaves together a disturbing portrait of Monsanto, the St. Louis, MO, multinational, which is the leading producer of GMOs and the best-selling herbicide product Roundup. Monsanto also developed Agent Orange, the chemical agent used by the American military during the Vietnam War. Find out more about this film at the National Film Board of Canada's web page here.

    • 2 years ago
  • victimofcoal
  • Commentor
    • 0
      Commentor  

    • Well if Governments didn't allow patents on bio-engineered plants and genes spliced into things -- as well as Juries not affirming those ridiculous rights! The juries should have found for the farmers that Monsanto sued for growing "unlicensed" crops simply because the pollen blown by the wind "fertilized" the neighbors crop which introduced the "patented gene" into it. Making it illegal for the farmer who did what he had always done saved some of last years crop as seed for next years (a time honored practice for thousands of years). Once planted the seed suddenly became theft of Monsanto's product even though the farmer never had an agreement with Monsanto.

      I'd like to be able to have someone take pages of my articles and distribute then on other peoples land... then claim that they didn't pay for the copies instead of being charged for littering --- oh I don't have millions of dollars to give the government so I can do it darn

    • 2 years ago
  • bayan
    • 0
      bayan  

    • monsanto are totally immoral. they genetically modify their seeds so that you have to buy new seed each planting season. The seeds produced by the plants themselves are infertile, this means that poor 3rd world farmers are not able to grow a crop one year then use the seeds from that crop to grow another one. they have to buy the seed all over again!

      "..we're trying to improve people's lives all over the world." fucking bollocks! makes me ill...

    • 2 years ago
  • artemis6
    • 0
      artemis6  

    • They have to say stuff like that . They are scared people are gonna sue them out of existence . True words mae37 . The end of them and all their ilk cannot come soon enough .

    • 2 years ago
  • ras_menelik
    • 0
      ras_menelik  
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    • Limitations to Bt crops
      Kenyans examining insect-resistant transgenic Bt corn.

      Constant exposure to a toxin creates evolutionary pressure for pests resistant to that toxin. Already, a Diamondback moth population is known to have acquired resistance to Bt in spray form (i.e., not engineered) when used in organic agriculture.[27] The same researcher has now reported the first documented case of pest resistance to biotech cotton.

      BT crops from............

      Bacillus thuringiensis is a Gram-positive, soil-dwelling bacterium of the genus Bacillus. Additionally, B. thuringiensis also occurs naturally in the gut of caterpillars of various types of moths and butterflies, as well as on the dark surface of plants.[1]

      B. thuringiensis was discovered 1901 in Japan by Ishiwata and 1911 in Germany by Ernst Berliner, who discovered a disease called Schlaffsucht in flour moth caterpillars. B. thuringiensis is closely related to B. cereus, a soil bacterium, and B. anthracis, the cause of anthrax:

      ENJOY YOUR "Cancer casing" vegan bounty!......

    • 2 years ago
  • mae37
    • 0
      mae37  

    • Monsanto is terrascaping the entire planet. My trees are all dying of a mysterious fungus and I will not replace them with GE trees! Look at the plants this year . They are engineered. Buy Heritage seeds only. Monsanto bought all the seed companies and their names.

      Round Up nearly killed me, and so did their quick dry Min Wax. Aspartame took 8 friends and family. It seems they are tied to eugenics.

    • 2 years ago
  • queenofit
    • 0
      queenofit  

    • Delusional

      In the most recent Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, a delusion is defined as:

      A false belief based on incorrect inference about external reality that is firmly sustained despite what almost everybody else believes and despite what constitutes incontrovertible and obvious proof or evidence to the contrary. The belief is not one ordinarily accepted by other members of the person's culture or subculture.

      If this company was a person, it would be locked up in a mental institution.

    • 2 years ago
  • stuburns
  • DeliaTheArtist
  • judiestar
  • judiestar
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