On June 4, 2010 a "gift" was given to the rural farmers of earthquake ravaged Haiti; 60,000 seed sacks of hybrid corn seed and other vegetable seeds. This seemingly wonderful, benevolent gift was given to the farmers who had exhausted their supply of corn seed feeding refugees. It was given by the Monsanto Corp., widely considered by people who consider such things, to be one of the deadliest companies on the planet (look it up there's plenty of stuff out there). More about Monsanto later. So anyway June 4th is apparently World Environment Day and in it's observance, about 10,000 farmers came together in Papaye and walked the 4.35 miles to Hinche to receive their gift. Upon arrival, to the surprise of the entire world, they promptly burned all 60,000 sacks. Chanting "Long live the native maize seed!" and "Monsanto's GMO [genetically modified organism] & hybrid seed violate peasant agriculture!".
Whoa! That's incredible! Haiti is one of the poorest and most poorly governed nations on Earth. The country just suffered a catastrophic earthquake that caused massive destruction. There's very little food, let alone seed to ensure future food supply and farmers are burning free corn seed, one of Haiti's staple crops!? Why would they do such a thing? It seems so ridiculously stupid and ungrateful, right? It does until you consider the fact that the corn seeds were treated with the fungicide Maxim XO, and treated with Thiram, a chemical so toxic the EPA has ruled it too toxic to sell for home garden use. Handling anything treated with Thiram requires the use of protective clothing that Monsanto failed to include with the gift. According to the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services Hazardous Substance Fact Sheet (link below), "repeated exposure [to Thiram] can affect the kidneys, liver and thyroid gland. High or repeated exposure may damage the nerves." The stuff is poison.
Disaster relief and rehabilitation have become extremely big business in recent years. Multi-billion dollar corporations swoop in moments after crisis hits and offer a hand in the clean up and rebuilding process. The problem is their other hand is hidden behind their backs and it's not until they have fully entrenched themselves in the repaired society's framework, that their true motives are revealed. It's that same tired Capitalist takeover, power trip; it just comes under the guise of charity. Monsanto is no stranger to the disaster relief business they're recognized all over the world as a very charitable organization and have donated millions of dollars worth of goods. Make no mistake though, they are an evil company, responsible for delivering death and destruction to wherever they happen to place their filthy paws. Boycotting Monsanto seems like it would be rather easy but the problem is this, they have major government ties and food grown with Monsanto seed is EVERYWHERE. It's in most cattle, pig, and chicken feed and it's used to grow the source plants for countless food products. So unless you know where every ingredient in everything that you eat comes from, you are most likely eating something that was grown using Monsanto's hybrid seeds. Here are some Monsanto facts I found on the wonderful truth-out.org site: http://www.truth-out.org/
"Monsanto is also responsible for other life-changing inventions, such as the crowd-pleasing Agent Orange. The Vietnamese government claims that it killed or disabled 400,000 Vietnamese people, and 500,000 children were born with birth defects due to exposure to this deadly chemical.[vi] Up until 2000, Monsanto was also the main manufacturer of aspartame, which researchers in Europe concluded, "could have carcinogenic effects." In a rare demonstration of social justice, in 2005, Monsanto was found guilty by the US government of bribing high-level Indonesian officials to legalize genetically-modified cotton. A year earlier in Brazil, Monsanto sold a farm to a senator for one-third of its value in exchange for his work to legalize glyphosate, the world's most widely used herbicide.[vii] In Colombia, Monsanto has received $25 million from the US government for providing its trademark herbicide, Roundup Ultra, in the anti-drug fumigation efforts of Plan Colombia. Roundup Ultra is a highly concentrated version of Monsanto's glyphosate herbicide, with additional ingredients to increase its lethality. Colombian communities and human rights organizations have charged that the herbicide has destroyed food crops, water sources and protected areas and has led to increased incidents of birth defects and cancer.
With more than 11.7 billion dollars in sales in 2009 and more than 650 biotechnology patents - most of them for cotton, corn and soy - Monsanto is an economic powerhouse. Nine out of ten soybean seeds in the US are also linked to Monsanto. Together with Syngenta, Dupont and Bayer, Monsanto controls more than half the world's seeds with no effective anti-trust oversight. One of the world's most powerful corporations, Monsanto teamed up with United Parcel Service to have the 60,000 hybrid seed sacks transported to their intended destination for Easter 2010 in its drive to trickle down some good to the little guys. Distributing Monsanto's seeds on this auspicious occasion was a $127 million project funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), called "Winner," designed to promote "agricultural intensification."[viii] According to Monsanto, the original decision to donate seeds was made at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland,[ix] unbeknownst to Haiti.
"Without chemicals, life itself would be impossible." -Monsanto's former motto.
The genetically-modified seeds such as those donated and later immolated, cannot be saved from year to year. Some so-called terminator seeds - the DNA of which is altered so as to not drop seed after harvest - require the farmer to buy new seeds from Monsanto the following year in a legally binding contract, instead of collecting the seeds that would have naturally developed on the plant before its DNA was modified. Other GMO seed which do drop fertile seed may not be replanted by contract. Diminished yields, health problems and weakened prospects to buy the next season's seeds in consequence of and combined with that binding contract with Monsanto have driven many rural farmers to poverty, and subsequently led to a rash of farmer suicides in rural India. Since 1997, more than 182,936 Indian farmers have committed suicide, according to a recent study by the National Crime Records Bureau.[x] "As seed saving is prevented by patents as well as by the engineering of seeds with non-renewable traits, seed has to be bought for every planting season by poor peasants. A free resource available on farms became a commodity which farmers were forced to buy every year. This increases poverty and leads to indebtedness. As debts increase and become unpayable, farmers are compelled to sell kidneys or even commit suicide," Indian author Vandana Shiva noted in her 2004 article "The Suicide Economy And Corporate Globalisation."
Foreign farmers are not the only ones affected by these product features and associated business practices. As of 2007, Monsanto had filed 112 lawsuits against US farmers for alleged technology contract violations on GMO patents, involving 372 farmers and 49 small agricultural businesses in 27 different states. From these, Monsanto has won more than $21.5 million in judgments. In estimates based on Monsanto's own documents and media reports, the multinational corporation appears to investigate 500 farmers a year.[xii] "Farmers have been sued after their field was contaminated by pollen or seed from someone else's genetically engineered crop [or] when genetically engineered seed from a previous year's crop has sprouted, or 'volunteered,' in fields planted with non-genetically engineered varieties the following year," said Andrew Kimbrell and Joseph Mendelson of the Center for Food Safety.[xiii] A Monsanto seed will often magically appear in an ordinarily organic field, giving Monsanto grounds for an onerous lawsuit that will eventually lead to the complete occupation of the innocent farm."The documentary "Food Inc." does a great job covering Monsanto's depths of depravity. It's definetly worth watching and is streaming on Netflix! http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/Food_Inc./70108783?trkid=2361637#height1895
Amidst all the rubble and destruction, the power of the human spirit is still on full display in Haiti. The power infused into the decision of the farmers to refuse this deliberate and legitimate threat to the entire peasant class of their country is historic, monumental, and revolutionary. It's a jaw dropping example of strength and courage. The time in which we are living are shifting and evolving at an incredible pace. It seems as if people of the world are waking up and realizing that there is so much more. No longer will the people suffer in silence. No longer will their voices go unheard. REAL freedom is alive, and it's here...if you want it. Be encouraged.
Momento simbólico de quema de la semillas de monsanto from AgwoEko on Vimeo.
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