Political engineering

Monsanto dropped a cool $2 million on lobbying in Q1 2009 4

monsantoJolly gene giantSource: ETC Group Monsanto dominates the global market for GMO seeds like Microsoft dominates the operating-system software market. 

You don’t skirt around antitrust enforcement like that without having good friends in Washinton. And to make friends, you’ve got have guys in suits working the Hill and the agencies. La Vida Locavore’s ever-enterprising Jill Richardson got her hands on Monsanto’s first-quarter lobbying disclosure form (PDF). Turns out, the GMO-seed giant spent $2 million pushing its agenda in Washington the first three months of the year.

Conspiracy theorists fixated on a food safety bill called HR 875—insisting that Monsanto is planning to seize the globe’s farmland (why would a highly profitable transnational want to move into a low margin business like farming?) and ban organic agriculture—will be disappointed. The form makes no mention of food-safety bills.

Monsanto does, however, mention lobbying on Senate Bill 384—the so-called Global Food Security Act—which would gear U.S. foreign aid policy to promote GMO seeds in developing countries.

As Jill points out, a Monsanto flack dropped by La Vida Locavore last month to deny that that the company had worked to shape the bill. Shame, shame.

Monsanto’s other big legislative concern? Strengthening already-draconian patent protection for the GMO seed industry—the one it dominates like Microsoft dominate operating system software.

 

 

Grist food editor Tom Philpott farms and cooks at Maverick Farms, a sustainable-agriculture nonprofit and small farm in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. Follow my Twitter feed; contact me at tphilpott[at]grist[dot]org.

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  1. Delay And Deny's avatar

    Delay And Deny Posted 9:14 am
    30 May 2009

    What we need here is the equivalent of Open Source Seeds (kind of like Moblin for netbooks). As far as farmland, you know what I think...everyone should be living on 2 acres...in Agraria!

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  2. gullyfourmyle's avatar

    gullyfourmyle Posted 9:47 am
    01 Jun 2009

    Monsanto is regarded as the biggest terrorist organization in the world pretty well anywhere outside the USA and by many within the USA because of the horrific tactics they use. Creating super weeds is one of their latest Frankensteinian acts.When Mad Cow disease hit in North America (Alberta, Canada) a lot of ranchers took a huge financial hit - some went bankrupt. Why should one single farmer have taken any sort of hit? They should have been paid by food suppliers for their troubles.It turns out that Canada's agriculture minister was in bed with the feed industry.That's why food production around the world is being compromised - there is big money in it.

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  3. Monsanto Company Posted 3:43 pm
    01 Jun 2009

    The blog you cite points out that Monsanto supports the bill - a fact never disputed by us. The fact remains that Monsanto was not involved in the drafting of the bill.  I realize you may not be inclined to believe anything Monsanto says, so maybe hearing it from Lugar’s office will help. Readers familiar with public policy knows that there’s a difference between supporting a bill and “shaping a bill.”  It appears as though those opposed to biotechnology are confusing the two in this case.  If they’re doing so intentionally … shame, shame. We encourage anyone interested in learning about why Monsanto patents its seeds, and the truth about seed market "domination", to visit our Web site. John (at Monsanto) 

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  4. Alida Antonia Cornelius's avatar

    Alida Antonia Cornelius Posted 7:12 am
    09 Jun 2009

    John, any company which uses helicopters to spy on it's customers to see if they have paid for NEW seeds or used seed from a previous crop is just not going to win many friends....and really any company which sells synthetic hormones for cows to make them produce more milk when there is a milk surplus and it's causing small farmers to go out of business and slaughter their herds, not too many people are cheering for Monsanto anymore, including farmers who are now suspicious of you....
    Just remember this old saying...the bigger you are, the harder you fall.

    I am praying for that to happen.

    You claim to want to feed the world.

    Yes, if people want to sell their souls for your products.

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