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Thread: monsanto

  1. #1
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    monsanto

    Could someone explain what monsanto is all about?

  2. #2
    Senior Member Jilly's Avatar
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    Not really. How is it even possible to explain the way they seem to put profit over people, the public good, heck, even the planet.

    Although I had been aware that the company existed, I first became informed about some of their practices whilst reading Alex Kotlowitz's book, There are no children here. I think it was somewhere in the first quarter of the book when I had to stop, find paper, pen and stamp, and write of my distress, as poorly formed as it was at that moment.

    I am certain that there are tons of on-line information about them and how they operate.
    It is well, when judging a friend, to remember that he is judging you with the same godlike and superior impartiality. Arnold Bennett

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    Senior Member iris lilies's Avatar
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    "If there was one word to explain what Monsanto is about, it would have to be farmers"

    http://www.monsanto.com/Pages/default.aspx

    But I imagine you won't like that answer, so here are some things Monsanto is doing in my town, MOnsanto's company town (St. Louis)

    Monsanto at the Missouri Botanical Gardens
    http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.o...to-center.aspx

    Monsanto in education
    http://www.wustl.edu/community/visit...aboratory.html

    http://monsanto.mediaroom.com/one-mi...L-grand-center
    etc


    For me personally, I cannot live without Roundup. Love my Roundup! Perhaps someday when I am old and creaky and have only a tiny community garden plot of 3' X 8' like all of the other greenies around here, I will be able to eschew the practical properties of that essential chemical. But now, while I work full time and have--how many is it now? gardens at 9 different addresses-- I need the help of an herbicide that works.

    Thanks for asking about Monsanto!
    Last edited by iris lily; 4-19-13 at 1:34pm.

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    Senior Member catherine's Avatar
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    I totally respect Iris lilies' opinions since she IS the hands-on farmer here and I'm just a wannabe, BUT I would still like to present another side of the coin:

    http://www.motherearthnews.com/Happy...#axzz2QvArILRM

    "If the independent seed company is losing their license and has to destroy their seeds, they're not going to have anything, in effect, to sell," Boies said. "It requires them to destroy things - destroy things they paid for - if they go competitive. That's exactly the kind of restriction on competitive choice that the antitrust laws outlaw."

    Some independent seed company owners say they feel increasingly pinched as Monsanto cements its leadership in the industry.

    "They have the capital, they have the resources, they own lots of companies, and buying more. We're small town, they're Wall Street," said Bill Cook, co-owner of M-Pride Genetics seed company in Garden City, Mo., who also declined to discuss or provide the agreements. "It's very difficult to compete in this environment against companies like Monsanto."
    I distrust Monsanto because of its ambition to own seeds, and also because I do believe Roundup can do damage over the long haul by increasing resistance. And the fact that they are trying to whitewash their image with claims that they care about sustainable practices is like Philip Morris saying they promote health by putting black box warnings on their cigarettes.
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    Senior Member iris lilies's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by catherine View Post
    I totally respect Iris lilies' opinions since she IS the hands-on farmer here and I'm just a wannabe, BUT I would still like to present another side of the coin...
    That's fine, and by "around here" I was thinking of my community garden coherts here in my neighborhood. But I suppose there are greenies around HERE on this website that garden only in 24 square feet. No one in their right mind needs Roundup for that.

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    My brother worked as a Monsanto executive for many years. He didn't like the way they were going with their research in biotech so left but won't give any specifics. As far as Roundup, I believe it is not as harmless as some seem to think and that is coming to light. I read that milkweed that used to grow between the crop rows before Roundup ready seed was used may be causing the rapid decline of monarch butterflies as it is their host plant.

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    Senior Member Jilly's Avatar
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    I abhor some of their practices and how they have failed to take responsibility for the long years in which they were one of the major players in environmental pollution and the deadly effects it has had on significant populations.

    The entire issue is complicated by their lack of cooperation in the realm of disclosure and their general refusal to just pull up their big-boy-panties and do the right things.

    That said, I like Roundup very much. It has a relatively short half-life as far as these kinds of chemicals go, only approximately 30 days. The stuff is easy to use. I think my favorite part is that you can simply paint it on plants that need to go. It works on only the green parts of plants anyway, so unless there is a large area to be cleared, dabbing it on or using a narrow and direct spray pattern means that there is not drift to adjoining plants.

    Potential problems are from how consumers use it. There is no accounting for the possibilities of improper and uninformed use by us humans.

    The resistance aspect never really occurred to me, thinking that if the plants were completely destroyed that there would not be any future plants in which to build resistance. But, whilst I know, because of how distressed I am about their practices, I do not know even a scrap about that science.

    However, I am rethinking part of this. I heard a program on NPR about how Roundup ready crops are destroying milkweed plants, which grow amongst crop plantings or alongside, ditches and fallow fields. Milkweed is the only food of Monarch butterflies and the decimation of their food source because of the insecticide protected plants is significant.

    Man.
    It is well, when judging a friend, to remember that he is judging you with the same godlike and superior impartiality. Arnold Bennett

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    Senior Member Jilly's Avatar
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    Pinkytoe, I was typing as you posted. Very distressing is that whole problem.
    It is well, when judging a friend, to remember that he is judging you with the same godlike and superior impartiality. Arnold Bennett

  9. #9
    Geila
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    I recently saw a documentary about Monsanto called The Future of Food. It was eye-opening and pretty heartbreaking.

  10. #10
    Senior Member SteveinMN's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jilly View Post
    That said, I like Roundup very much. It has a relatively short half-life as far as these kinds of chemicals go, only approximately 30 days. The stuff is easy to use. I think my favorite part is that you can simply paint it on plants that need to go. It works on only the green parts of plants anyway, so unless there is a large area to be cleared, dabbing it on or using a narrow and direct spray pattern means that there is not drift to adjoining plants.
    The firms around here that help convert lawn monocultures back to prairie use Roundup (or other brands of glyphosphate) to nuke existing grass/weeds before planting native species. It is, as you say, not as bad as some of the herbicides.

    Quote Originally Posted by Jilly View Post
    Potential problems are from how consumers use it. There is no accounting for the possibilities of improper and uninformed use by us humans.
    People like my mother, who will empty half a can of Raid on a spider or a couple of ants. Just part of an American belief, I think, that if some is good, more is better, and too much is enough.
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