MONSANTO
Originally a chemical company founded in 1901, the history of Monsanto famous in their crimes to society. The Monsanto today is focusing on supporting farmers around the world by bringing better seeds for farmers. Monsanto provides seeds, crop protection as well as field corn, cotton and soybeans. With more than 20,000 employees and 404 facilities across 67 countries, Monsanto invested $1,5 billion to research new innovations. (www.monsanto.com )
Monsanto is one of the first chemical companies to apply the biotechnology industry business model to agriculture, it is also well known for their controversy in producing genetically modified seeds for crops. This kind of system concerns some stakeholders about the negative effect on the environment and ecosystem while growing GMO seeds and the possibility that it will affect health. On the other hand, the system helps some farmers in preventing loss crop yield and increasing revenue, especially farmers in developing countries, even though this is yet to be proven. (https://stakeholderdoce.wordpress.com/)
People always connect Monsanto with Lobbying and political Contributions. Some of the people that work with Monsanto were US Public official connections, people that work with the government or involved in making decision for Monsanto such as from FDA, EPA. These matters gain critics
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With this system, farmers can increase yield because they don’t have to use lots of land as the system allow them not to plant far apart. Monsanto sells glyphosate under a brand called Roundup, but foreign markets are concerned about it. The controversy involved a World Health Organization agency as they predict that this can harm human health. (https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/its-the-chemical-monsanto-depends-on-how-dangerous-is-it/2015/10/04/2b8f58ee-67a0-11e5-9ef3-fde182507eac_story.html
Monsanto is for a lot of people the great evil in the agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology because of the genetically engineered (GE) seeds, field where the company is the leader worldwide. The number in this industry has been growing pretty fast and the expectations for 2020 are very positive, with a 250 Billion US Dollars industry.
With high interest and relatively low power, they oppose Monsanto and their genetically processed seeds. The organic suppliers virtually cannot compete with Monsanto, as the variety of supply is entirely different. Their legitimacy and power is derived from their capital, which can be used alongside the media, to lobby against Monsanto’s practices. By capitalizing on society’s negative view on genetically modified products, they can criticize and publicize the controversial actions taken by Monsanto. Bad publicity can lead to a declining share value and overall net income. Conclusively, Monsanto’s competitors represents an antagonistic stakeholder and therefore should be taken into account to minimize
Monsanto which is located in 6 continents and 68 countries is the biggest seed company of the 21st century. Monsanto was founded in 1901, St. Louis, Missouri, United States by John Francis Queeny. Likewise, Monsanto Headquarters are currently located in St. Louis, Missouri where founded. Monsanto had about 20,600 workers in 2011. Hugh Grant, the current CEO of Monsanto, has been in this position since 2010. He has a salary of about f $1,391,356 per year excluding his additional profits.
Monsanto employs over 20,000 employees dispersed throughout their facilities within 69 countries. John F. Queeny, founder of Monsanto, started the company in 1901, which at first manufactured saccharine. Later, John son Edward directed the companies into the agriculture industry. The company is best known producing Round up, an herbicide, and for developing genetically modified (GM) through biotechnology. “Monsanto developed G.M. seeds that would resist its own herbicide, Roundup, offering farmers a convenient way to spray fields with weed killer without affecting crops” (Barlett, D. L. & Steele, J. B, 2008). Since the start up the company has encounter several lawsuits, patent issues and critics. The company also faces many concerns about the
As Jensen points out, farming and industry accounts for the vast majority of total water usage in the world (477). The increasingly scarce resource is a necessary ingredient when growing food. Technology continuously improves to make it easier for farmers to grow crops while using less water. Scientists at the University of Georgia utilize what they term “variable rate irrigation” to let farmers automate the current systems of irrigation to water only the crops that need it (Gies). This is an example of retrofitting current farms, but there is a new way of farming coming to cities that reuses practically all of its water and stakes claim much less acreage in the process. The future of agriculture belongs to vertical and urban farming. These types of farms reduce the use of water, chemicals (such as pesticides, herbicides and fungicides), soil and space (The Economist). These farms are so cutting edge that they are mostly in the experimental stages. Firms like Famgro farms are testing “stackable” farming systems that can scale with demand, even further reducing waste. Famgro’s stackable farms are ideal for cityscapes where land is at a premium; furthermore, reaping the added benefit of being in close proximity to the customers that they serve. Customers will enjoy high quality, fresh produce at only a slightly
Genetically modified? That alone should be a cause for alarm, and have you wondering, what exactly is in this that I am eating? Yet every day millions of American’s choose to load up on food filled with GMO’s, and not even know it. First we must understand what GMO’s are. GMO’s are any organism whose genetics has been altered using genetic engineering. We should not be tampering with nature, and should try to grow organically as much as possible. There has not been enough research on GMO’s to know the potential long term effects it can have on us, so this is why GMO’s should be banned.
These are only few examples of the many lawsuits that have been filed against Monsanto since its creation in
Challenges facing the Monsanto Company have been many. This company has been engaged in unscrupulous undertakings that have resulted in innumerable lawsuits against the company. In many countries, Monsanto Company’s products continue to be banned while others face law suits on their viability and safety of the public.
Monsanto is a multinational agricultural and agrochemical biotechnology corporation based in America and is the largest producer of genetically engineered seeds. Monsanto argues that using science and newfound research to create genetically modified food is necessary in order to save our world from starvation. Eduardo Blumwald, a professor of cell biology and employee for Monsanto, says that genetically modified food could be “the only viable solution we have for our future” (Ostrander 24) where it is predicted that the temperature and population will soar. Blumwald argues that without genetically engineering food to produce under high temperatures with little water, the world could potentially starve in this predicted future. Yet regardless of “biotech industry promises, none of the GMO traits currently on the market offer increased yield, drought tolerance, enhanced nutrition, or any other consumer benefit” (“GMO Facts”). Instead, Monsanto genetically modifies food to resist RoundUp, a pesticide the company has created to kill any plants or bugs other than the genetically engineered crop. According to the World Health Organization, this pesticide “is a probable human carcinogen” (“GMOs”) due to glyphosate, a
With an ever increasing world population, massive third world hunger, and with an estimation that a child dies for every two seconds world-wide from starvation; this does not even take into account the number of people who are mal and undernourished, there is a great promise in the use of this technology to benefit not only the farmers, but also societies worldwide. We have been able to genetically modify plants so that they may be more resistant to insects, so that there is less pesticidal toxins sprayed. We have designed plants that require less water, less soil nutrients, preserving precious recourses. We have designed plants with higher yield, shorter seasons, plants that need less land to grow; we are said to be living in a time where we have the healthiest, most well-tested plants in the history of this
Monsanto scrutinizes neighboring farms, practicing their right to enforce their patent and contract. What they take into account and chose to ignore is that their genetic product is natural and cannot be controlled completely. Monsanto’s patent allows them to prosecute neighboring farms for any concentration of their patented genetic code in their crops, regardless of whether a farmer knowingly involved themselves in infringement or was the victim of natural pollination. Barlett and Steele cite the increasing number of legal cases and settlements as means of pressuring contracted farmers to follow procedure and of allegedly pressuring uncontracted farmers to sign with Monsanto to avoid
Eating is extremely important, it is also important to eat healthy. Most Americans eat without any concerns; they are not questioning or researching what they are feeding themselves or their family. A lot of that has to do with their financial stability, not having the time to prepare a meal due to their time-consuming work schedule, also lack of knowledge and education on what they are consuming. In this bibliography, I will go over all three articles and explain what they are about.
The most wonderful activity a human being can experience is new flavors and foods. For example, the first time a person tastes a delicious juicy piece of prime rib or a delightful hamburger with cheese and ham, his world is never the same. However, since the beginning of the twentieth century, the production of food has been supplemented by science. This has triggered an angry dispute between the people who support the advances of biotechnology and people who love nature. In order to understand the controversy, we have to know the meaning of genetically modified foods. With new technological advances, scientists can modify seeds from a conventional seed to a high tech seed with shorter maturation times and resistance to dryness, cold and heat. This is possible with the implementation of new genes into the DNA of the conventional seed. Once these "transgenes" are transferred, they can create plants with better characteristics (Harris 164-165). The farmers love it not only because it guarantees a good production, but the cost is also reduced. On the other hand, organizations such as Greenpeace and Friends of Earth have campaigned against GMO (“Riesgos”) because they think that they are negatively affecting the earth (Gerdes 26). Both the advocates and the opponents of genetically modified foods have excellent arguments.
Meanwhile, detrimental effects of GM seeds might outweigh their benefits. There is lack of researches that can gauge the long-term effects of GM seeds on humans and animals’ health. Critics blame glyphosate which is the main ingredient of Roundup herbicide for causing harm to farmers’ health and also the surroundings because of its lasting residues. In addition to the drawbacks of GM seeds, organic farmers stated that GM products will contaminate their conventional seeds and the combination between those seeds can create mutative one which poses a threat to the
The U.S. food and drug administration defines the term genetically modified organisms as "used by scientists to denote a living organism, that have been genetically modified, By inserting a gene from an unrelated species". In other words, they describe GMOs as an organism which has been inserted with a gene from an unrelated species. It is evident that the majority of American farmers utilize biotech seeds, because of the risks that the insect-resistant and herbicide-resistant traits help reduce. GMOs make the life of a farmer much easier as they do not have to worry about rushing to spray herbicides, keeping weeds out, or worrying about insects damaging crops and having to spray pesticides. For instance, Brian Scott, a farmer in Indiana, when corn root worms start indulging on his organic crops, the worms will cause significant damage before he can react accordingly and eliminate the problem with the use of chemicals.