Monsanto and Genetically Modified Organisms

[Raeus and Ashra]

A French documentary regarding Monsanto, GMO's and their effects around the world:
http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=m ... q=monsanto


A Non-GMO Shopping Guide:
http://www.westonaprice.org/federalupda ... 72403.html

[Kold]

In the past 2 years I've probably read about 6 books and seen 8-10 documentaries that have mentioned Monsanto and some fucked up thing they've done. It's really pretty scary when people like that are in such powerful positions in regard to our food supply.

[Raeus and Ashra]

One would do well to take notice when a company is allowed to patent life (which is almost inconcievable to me), especially when this "patented plant" has the ability to spread it's genetic material to other plants of the same species. All it takes is a paternity test for the company to confiscate historical farms, simply because of the way the wind blows. It amazes me even more when the greed infects other farmers, who are encouraged to rat out their neighbors, like some kind of modernized and Hitler inspired Salem Witch Hunt.
Not to mention the implications (prices could be controlled, there would be less genetic diversity to rebound from plant sicknesses [as witnessed with India's rice], hybrid seeds can not be replanted [like a hybrid horse/donkey can't usually bear live young], and the effects of genetically modified foods [and pesticides they are designed to survive] on our cells and bodies) of one money-making company with the ability to "own" the rights to our foods.

~Ash

Interesting quote I found in "Four Season Harvest" by Eliot Coleman:

"...I have little use for the fragmentation of natural processes caused by the shortcut of agricultural chemicals. Whether intended as drugs to induce artificial fertility or as weapons to turn live creatures into dead ones, chemicals attempt to influence single parts of a rich and interconnected system. Chemicals miss the elegance. They were concieved in an age of hubris by minds that ignored the marvelous balances of the natural system. They have perservered in an age of awareness through the aggressive marketing of large industrial concerns. The peddlers of chemical fertilizers appreciate the sales potential of products that need to be applied frequently and create user dependence by their mode of action."