PANNA: MASIPAG Moves on Mosanto

MASIPAG moves on Monsanto

"Imagine a world where giant chemical corporations control the food we eat, the seeds we grow and the water we drink. Imagine a world where it is not even possible to save a seed without facing up to seven years in prison; a world where tomatoes contain the genes of fish, and the seeds of our plants are genetically altered to be sterile. Imagine a world where the water and air are poisoned. Welcome to Monsanto's world, the world that Monsanto is creating right now and that will be ours if we don't stand up and stop it."
Selling Food.Health.Hope™: the real story behind Monsanto Corporation

A new report, Selling Food.Health.Hope™: the real story behind Monsanto Corporation, by MASIPAG, a Philippine farmer-scientist network, opens with this nightmare vision of the world Monsanto would create, and proceeds to build a powerful case against the biotech giant with an accumulation of evidence from all over the globe. MASIPAG published the report, authored by Sara Wright, a doctoral student at the University of Washington in the U.S. and doing research in the Philippines, as part of an early June launch of a global farmer boycott of Monsanto products.

The report is a detailed look at the corporation's crime studded history: poisoning two U.S. communities with PCB (polychlorinated biphenyls are organochlorines linked to birth defects, cancer, infertility and now banned); marketing the herbicide Agent Orange that devastated Viet Nam and super formulations of Roundup herbicide now devastating Colombia; threatening farmers and food security with aggressive marketing of genetically engineered crops in developing countries; and developing the terminator seed technology despite worldwide criticism for its environmental and ethical risks.

The report analyzes the economics of Monsanto's growth and questions the viability of a policy that alienates not only farmers, but investors, "In 2003, continuing controversy over GMOs, especially on its new genetically engineered wheat, its failure to find a new CEO, and an antitrust lawsuit which alleges Monsanto was involved in price fixing over the basic ingredient of the company's top-selling Roundup weed killer, have made its shares drop even further. In fact, Innovest Strategic Value Advisors concluded not only that Monsanto should receive the lowest possible environmental and strategic management rating, but that investors should be greatly concerned about sustained market rejection, regulatory restrictions in key markets and likely contamination scandals."

The report details the push (by Monsanto with other biotech corporations) to build markets for GE seeds and crops in the Global South, pointing to pressure for conversion to GE soy in Argentina and ensuing environmental risks and higher costs for small farmers, and the commercialization of Bt corn in the Philippines, where Monsanto held field tests in direct defiance of local GE bans.

"Monsanto writes laws, bullies countries, and places its executives in the highest places of the most powerful government on earth. It is trying to control the whole food chain and create a system that will hold farmers, consumers and the environment to ransom.

This is the company that is now in danger of controlling our food system. This is the company whose reports the Philippine government is trusting to supposedly show the safety of GMOs."

MASIPAG is a member of RESIST! (Resistance and Solidarity Against Agrochem TNCs), which is leading the farmer boycott against Monsanto products in the Philippines. RESIST! is a member of the International Alliance Against Agrochemical TNCs (IAAATNCs). In October 2002, RESIST! staged street demonstrations at the annual meeting in the Philippines of CGIAR, the Consultative Group of International Agricultural Research Centers.

Through MASIPAG'S community-based trial farms, sustainable farming alternatives, and farmer-led training and research, farmers' organizations reclaim control over genetic resources, production systems and associated knowledge. The organization is affiliated with the global farmers movement, working for just and sustainable trade and agriculture policy, especially on the issues of farmers' rights and the patenting of life forms.

Selling Food.Health.Hope™: the real story behind Monsanto Corporation is available from MASIPAG, 3346 Aguila St, Rhoda Subd, Anos, Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines 4030, phone/fax (63-49) 536-5549, email info@masipag.org.