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Monsanto

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Monsanto a sustainable agriculture company.

Monsanto Company is a publicly traded American multinational agricultural corporation headquartered in Creve Coeur, Missouri. Founded in 1901 by John Francis, by the 1940s it was a major producer of plastics, including polystyrene and synthetic fibers. Monsanto has become the world leader in genetically modified organisms. Present in 46 countries, leader in biotechnology produces 90% of GMOs grown worldwide (soybean, rapeseed, cotton, corn, etc..) and became one of redemption by the first seed of the planet that could ultimately control the entire food chain. Notable achievements by Monsanto and its scientists as a chemical company included breakthrough research on catalytic asymmetric hydrogenation and being the first company to mass-produce light emitting diodes (LEDs). The company also formerly manufactured controversial products such as the insecticide DDT, PCBs, Agent Orange, and recombinant bovine somatotropin. On their official website this company looks like a perfect and respectable agricultural society. Their principal slogan is “Monsanto a sustainable agriculture company”. The website also shows advertisement such as "Our innovations helps farmers produce more food using less natural ressources" , "Monsanto is playing a key role in helping farmers adress the challenge of water", "Monsanto company named one of CR' magazine's 100 best corporate citizens", or “learn how Monsanto is connecting the dots to a more sustainable future”. A big part of the meal we eat contains some technology from Monsanto. However, the company has been and continues to be the subject of investigations and lawsuits relating to both chemicals and genetic engineering it put on the market and methods of lobbying. It is accused of promoting products harmful to health and to the ecosystem and to falsify the results of scientific investigations. It seems interesting to do some research to know if Monsanto Company is really unhealthy and dangerous. First, Monsanto is the subject of regular criticism of its Agent Orange sales to the U.S. military in the 1970s, causing serious illness and the birth of 150,000 children in Vietnam with severe malformations. Like other manufacturers of Agent Orange, a herbicide and defoliant used by the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War, which was found to be carcinogenic, Monsanto is seen lawsuits by U.S. and South Korean veterans as well as an association of Vietnamese victims, some of which have resulted in a conviction of the company. The company is also criticized about PCB. There is a lot of background about it; but in 2002, Monsanto was sued by 3,450 residents of the city of Anniston (Alabama) for the contamination of rivers and soil to PCB17. Internal documents showed that the company had known for more than 30 years the fish surrounding rivers were contaminated by discharges of one of its plants. Monsanto had also a production center of PCBs in Newport in South Wales. The Guardian revealed in 2007 that the firm had paid contractors to bury hundreds of tons of highly toxic PCB waste on site Groesfaen, near Cardiff, knowing the risk of contamination to the environment and people the area near. Monsanto was condemned to pay millions of dollars which is no such a problem for this company, any other sanctions were taken. Monsanto was also convicted of false advertising regarding Roundup wrongly presented as biodegradable. Indeed, two complaints have focused on false statements placed on the packaging of the herbicide Roundup and for its biodegradability: one in the United States and the other in France. Mosanto was condemend to the removal of entries judged false on all containers of this herbicide. Another creation by this company is aspartame. Aspartame is an artificial, non-saccharide sweetener used as a sugar substitute in some foods and beverage. Although its name sounds tame, this deadly neurotoxin is anything but. This product is toxic and dangerous for humans. Aspartame is manufactured by Monsanto using genetically modified bacteria. The company comercialized the product saying it is completely safe. It is wrong. Aspartame is actually poison and many organisation are trying to make this product forbiden. It is not easy because of the financial importance of it. Again, Monsanto just thought about profit and don't care about the effect of this product. Moreover, why cattle growth hormone develloped by the company are forbiden in Canada and in Europe because it is considered as dangerous and unhealthy and very develloped in the United States? There is a lot of things wrong or doubtful around the Monsanto The image that Monsanto wants to give is to be environmentally friendly, promising better returns while promoting sustainable agriculture. It even gives the appearance of humanitarian organization focusing on world hunger. However, never a firm has been so controversial. It threatens food security but also the ecological balance of our planet. It is one of the biggest polluters ever. Corruption seems to be an important part of the way this company is directed. For example, Dan Glickman Secretary of Agriculture for Bill Clinton said about tests on GMOs and their legalization in the United States: "Honestly, I think we should have more tests but agribusiness would not because 'they had made huge investments to develop these products. And as Head of Regulatory Department of Agriculture, I had a lot of pressure to not be too demanding ". Monsanto can pay people to be able to sell product with dangerous effect on the environment and also directly on humans. With millions of dollars allocated to lobbying and lawsuits each year Monsanto can appear unbeatable. The movie Erin Brokovich with Julia Robert denounced the story of the pollution in Hinkley (California) by Monsanto. It is inspired by a true story; the fight of a simple woman against this society shameless. She discovers that hundreds of people poisoned was touched by water pollution. She denounced it in spite of all the pression by giant companies; finally the society was condemned to pay millions of dollars to compensate people living in this little city. Erin Brokovitch fight turned into a world famous movie and helped people to know about the wrong side of this company. Though, even if it is impossible to compete with the millions of dollars and lawyers of Monsanto, it is still possible to fight the system. First informing people about the danregousness of their product and the way they control the chain food system. A documentary realised by Marie Monique Robin in 2007 is very interesting and powerfull. The movie, which is translated into more than 15 languages and has been broadcast in over twenty countries, is experiencing a major public success and was greeted by the national and international press. Here is the link to watch the trailer . Then, everybody should think about their choices about food not only to protect our healthy, but also to try to dampen economic success from Monsanto.

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