Monsanto Corporation: Powerful and Controller of the Near Future - Term Paper Example

The of the paper is “Monsanto Corporation: Powerful and Controller of the Near Future.” The paper is all about the Monsanto Corporation’s power and control over the environment and living things including humans and animals. On the first part of the paper, the history of the Monsanto Corporation was discussed. In the history, the products that were manufactured by the corporation were included. On the second part, the effects of the Monsanto’s products were discussed. The effects of the products were discussed on the following four areas namely the essence of dirt was violated, farmers lives and livelihood were sacrificed, people’s health is in danger especially to the children, and shorter lifespan of people and animals. On the third part of the paper, the impact of the great power and the attitude of the corporation were also discussed. The documentary entitled “The Garden” was used in this discussion. It displayed the attitude shown by the corporation. And the last part is the conclusion which is the idea and the opinion of the writer were written. Monsanto Corporation: Powerful and Controller of the Near Future On January 1, 2002, an article was published by The Washington Post written by Michael Grunwald which was entitled “Monsanto Hid Decades of Pollution: PCB’s Drenched Ala. Town, But No One Was Ever Told.” This article is regarding the contamination of a nearby creek from an area of wet lands where the Monsanto Factory hid PCB toxins. It was said on the article that some scientists tested the said creek from toxicity by releasing fish and in three and a half minutes, most of the fish died. A lawsuit had been filed against the corporation but on January 5th the corporation issued a clarification regarding the article stating that the Monsanto Corporation had no involvement in the ongoing lawsuit concerning PCB pollution which was made by the old Monsanto Corporation in Anniston Alabama Solutia Incorporated. The corporation said that the Monsanto Corporation’s chemical operation had been spun off in the year 1997 into a Solutia Incorporated which is responsible for the issue and which is the defendant of the lawsuit. The above example is just one of the happenings that showed the power and attitude of the Monsanto Corporation. The growing power, attitude and global control of Monsanto Corporation lead to the violation of the essence of “dirt,” leading to the farmers to become slaves and the risk of human and animal’s health. Monsanto Corporation’s History Monsanto Corporation was founded in the year 1901 at St. Louis Missouri. John F. Queeny, an Irish immigrant and a 42-year-old who is a purchaser of a Drug Company of the Meyer brothers, started this kind of corporation. The Monsanto name of the corporation was taken from the maiden name of his wife for the main reason that it is well known to the other German business people who are responsible in supplying goods. The corporation’s purpose from the very beginning are to produce more crops, conserve the environment especially the soil and water as possible as a resource and improve the lives of the farmers. Years passed and the company learned to run a chemical company. In 1911, the corporation received the support of Teddy Roosevelt. The first product the corporation made and distributed was called the saccharin. It is an artificial sweetener that was bought by one of the biggest companies now, the Coca-Cola. By 1916, they produced caffeine and aspirin. By the year 1927, Monsanto became one of the biggest producers in the world market of commodity chemicals such as rubbers and others. After some decades, Monsanto Corporation became the head of producing industrial chemicals like plastics. In 1929, a man-made chemical was produced by the corporation which is called the PCB, Polychlorinated Biphenyls. In the year 1960’s, the corporation started producing agricultural products by producing pesticides which are made in the corporation with different kinds of chemicals. One of these kinds of artificial pesticides is the DDT which was used for farming. The purpose of this kind of pesticide is to help in removing insects and for disease control of plants They also produced a chemical named Agent Orange that when sprayed or dusted onto trees it will cause their leaves to fall. By the year 1970, they also produced the Roundup herbicide. Another product produced is the POEA or the Polyethoxylated Tallow Amine. They also produced the Genetically Engineered seeds from this product they have produced, the corporation was considered as the Multinational Agricultural Biotechnology Corporation, or this corporation is considered as the head in Biotechnology. They produced Roundup Ready Soybean. They’ve created GMO for seeds and GMO to produce more milk to cattle. Effects of Monsanto’s products With the rise of Monsanto Corporation’s products, there were many effects that were proven and found out particularly to the environment and to human and animals’ health. A. The essence of “dirt” was violated Dirt is the source of who human beings are and where we come from. In the teaching of Christianity, Jewish and Muslims, God formed man from the dust and breathe the breath of life. The first human being in the universe is Adam and in Hebrew word it means “dirt” while the first woman, Eve, means “life.” This proves that dirt has a relationship with human beings and vice versa. Dirt has much importance to human beings’ life but after the rise of Monsanto Corporation in the agricultural era, the essence of dirt was violated. From the very beginning, human beings depend on dirt. It is the source of life. From the documentary entitled “Dirt! The Movie”, it has been said that dirt has life in it. If human beings take care of it, it will take care of the human beings in return. It is the source of fertility. Many years ago, our ancestors depend on dirt. They got their food from the dirt. It is where they plant their food. Their lives depend on the field. But as the years passed, people demanded for natural resources that has completely changed the relationship of human beings with dirt. There are ways in destroying the dirt. First is through coal mining. People are destroying dirt in pursuit to raw materials, one considered to become valuable. People don’t consider that the effect of coal mining is drought, hurricanes and floods. Second is through industrial farming practices. In industrial farming practices such as monoculture which was first introduced by the Monsanto Corporation, deplete the life of the soil. The chemicals take away the life, water, the structure and the very organism that makes the soil fertile. Many farmers believed that through monoculture, they produce more but actually they produce less and produce nothing for the soil. The purposes of pesticides kill insects and other unnecessary plants in the field. The essence of dirt which is to be taken cared of was violated. The relationship between human being and the dirt was also destroyed. B. Farmers lives and livelihood were sacrificed Physiologically, insects and plants are like human beings so if they kill the insects and plants they kill people, too. The crop which was used with monoculture produces food empty with nutrients but loaded with toxins that will kill people, too. Industrial farming practices have robbed the soil of its nutrients and created a huge demand for industrial fertilizer. Because of this huge demand and industrial way of farming, farmers tend to be broke and lose their lands, have debts and unable to pay and which leads them to commit suicide. In India alone, two hundred thousand farmers had committed suicide by hanging on the trees or drinking pesticides. C. People’s health is in danger especially to the children Many scientists found out and proved about the dangers of all the products mentioned above and Monsanto has supported them as safe. But there were researches which were done and resulted to have powerful health risks especially to the children. The artificial sweetener which was present in soft drinks is very dangerous to the heavy consumers especially to the children. This kind of sweeter has been confirmed to be used by the government because they found out that it does not have any harmful substances. Nevertheless, in 2005, the Cesare Maltonic Cancer Research Center in Italy tested animals and has proved that the sweetener can cause cancer like leukemia and lymphomas. It also proved that the sweetener affects the brain receptors of human beings. The main consumers of milk are the children. Milk can be found in ice cream products, cheese and yogurt. Milk that is injected with bovine growth hormone is dangerous to humans’ health. Many countries in Europe banned the BGH products. The DDT product’s purpose was really good but findings proved that it is poisonous to the environment and to the health of people and animals. The Agent Orange has been proved to cause birth defects. Some scientist tested this product to the animals and the result was cleft palate. It can also cause cancer. This chemical was the caused of 900, 000 deaths, disabilities and birth defects during the Vietnam War because they were exposed to this deadly chemical. The PCB, a man-made chemical wherein when it enters to the human or animal body, stayed within the fats and develops a chain reaction that poisons the environment and the wild life. It was found out that this chemical can cause cancer, hepatitis, diabetes and skin problems. The Roundup herbicide is dangerous to plants. The effect of this herbicide kills all plants in general without the ability to recognize a difference between the plants from the other. This product also is dangerous to people’s skin. It was proven that children who have run through the fields with “Roundup Ready” have had skin problems. D. Shorter lifespan of people and animals Corn is one of the most harmful products of the Monsanto Corporation. It affects the everyday life of American people. It is also the cause of the shorter life span of American people. Obesity in America increased rapidly. The rapid increased of this condition results to the shorter life span of the people in America because obesity has something to do with diabetes and high blood pressure. Obesity has something to do with what people in America eat. From the documentary entitled “King Corn,” it proves that most of the food that people eat contain with corn, a Monsanto Corporation product. Corn is in everything like body lotion, batteries, magazines, margarine, apples and more but most of it you can find it in corn-fed burgers and sweetened sodas. This was proven by the two college graduates, Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis. They have found out that a mass production of corn was produced every year and the only way to use this mass production is by using them as an ingredient to the products of America. A sweetener called the high fructose corn syrup is one of the most important food products in America. These sweeteners can be found in ketchups, tomato sauce, cereals, fruit juices and many more. The HFCS has no way of nutrition. Minerals, vitamins, o fats or proteins and fiber cannot be found in the product having HFCS because of the different kinds of transformation the product. It will just provide calories that cause overweight. The reason American people cannot avoid such kind of food is that because of its over sufficient of supply, easy to obtain, that can be afforded and the presence of HFCS in the diet of American. In the first generations, the cattle of our ancestors eat grasses only but the result was longer lifespan of animals. It took for almost two to three years before slaughtering these cattle but in our generation now, it was proven that in fifteen months only, the cattle are being slaughtered. The food that the cattle eat now contained corn that affects even their lifespan. Of course, we cannot avoid eating meat from these cattle, so it is also one of the reasons that affects human’s health. It was discovered that corn fattens the animals but on the other hand it was also proven by some nutritionists that corn feeding can cause the cattle sick. Too much consumption of corn causes the cattle to be sick and before these cattle die, the farmers kill them already so that they can still sell the meat. Those cattle that eat grasses, a percent of saturated fat can only be found in their meat unlike to those cattle that eat products with corn, nine percent saturated fat can be found in their meat. This fatty meat is used most often in the fast food markets and can be sold cheaply. The result of corn is a shorter lifespan of human beings and animals. The impact of great power and attitude of the Monsanto Corporation Despite of the effects of the products of Monsanto Corporation, the corporation was able to cover all the negative issues. Monsanto Corporation has the power to defend themselves in protection of the profits they are getting. They have a player in every corner to cover themselves. They have the power to get the livelihood of the farmers. They have the power to destroy a person’s dignity. Their attitude in playing the game is without honor, respect, value for life and basic decency. An example of these kinds of power and attitude that the Monsanto Corporation has applied is the documentary entitled “The Garden.” This documentary was produced in the year 2008 by the director Scott Hamilton Kennedy. The story is all about the fourteen-acre community garden at Alameda South Central Los Angeles which was built after the L.A. riot in the year 1992. The community garden was served as the falling back for the people. After the three days riot, Doris Bloch has seen the effect of it. The people in that place have low income. So from her house she has seen the vacant lot that was used for homeless people at night time. She made it as a garden which people could grow their own food. Since 1992, the people particularly the Hispanic immigrants cultivated improved and planted plants and vegetables in that land. From that garden they were able to feed their families and they were able to build a community. In the year 2003, Horowitz the owner of the land is trying to get the land back. The story behind was, the land was not given to the people but it was a loan. Mr. Horowitz received five million dollars for the land in that year. In the year 2003, the City Council agreed to sell back the land to him for the same price but this decision wasn’t made public so the farmers fought for their rights. This documentary is not all about the land but it is also all about the discriminations of the immigrants and the black people. The Concerned Citizens of South Central lead by the blacks was one of the influential groups to Mr. Horowitz. They planned to make the land a soccer field and a warehouse so they raised 4.7 million dollars. Unfortunately, graph and corruption was proven from the developer of the said group of citizen. The documentary is also all about greediness. In the case of Horowitz, he promised to give the land to the farmers if they will be able to raise the amount of 16.3 million dollars in less than two months. However, when the farmers were able to raise the amount, he changed his mind and continued the eviction with the help of the higher authorities. His main reason of changing his decision is that he doesn’t like the attitude of the people and their cars. Yet as of 2008, the land was still empty. Horowitz didn’t put up any building structures. Horowitz showed how greedy and little conscience he has. The film is also all about politics. Antonio Villaraigosa, a councilman during that time that the farmers are facing the problem fully supported the farmers. The farmers also supported him for the reason in his candidacy of becoming a mayor. Fortunately, he won as a mayor but he didn’t support the farmers on their fight. He talked during the interviews but he didn’t do any action. On the day of eviction, the farmers were waiting for him to appear and help them but they didn’t see him. The sympathy was there but no action was made. Even the congresswoman was there promising to tell to the president about their problem but same thing, no action was made. They were more on promises but no action was done. The result of the eviction made Villaraigosa regretted but he cannot do anything already. Mr. Horowitz was more powerful. The power that Horowitz had shown is the same thing with the attitude and the power of the Monsanto is displaying. They have the power to turn their mess into good. They have the power to control the future of the soil, the environment, the animals, the farmers and the people. Just like the case of how Horowitz did, wherein he got his land back through his power with his influence to the authorities that helped him especially in the person of the councilwoman named Jan Perry. The Monsanto Corporation has this kind of power also. An example of this is Monsanto Corporation has sued many farmers already who were proved to be using Monsanto seeds, but were not customers of the said corporation. Even though the case was because of wind transfer by a neighboring farm which is a customer of the corporation, they don’t have any considerations at all. They put down the farmers by forcing them to but their farm equipments and chemicals. Of course the farmers are forced to obey the corporation and if they cannot afford the demand of the corporation, the tendency is giving up their farms to them but they are still the workers of their own land. In some cases, without the knowledge of other people, they ask for a large amount of money to the farmers in exchange for the withdrawal of the case filed to the court. Another example of how powerful this corporation was when journalists Jane Akre and Steve Wilson were removed from their job as journalists by the Fox News television station they work. The reason was they refused to change their investigation report on Posilac, a Bovine Growth Hormone (BGH) made by Monsanto. At first, they bribed the lawyers of the corporation bribed them with money in exchange of changing their repots but they didn’t accept it. The result was they ordered the owner of the Fire News television station to fire the two journalists. This is just a proof how powerful Monsanto Corporation is. They can buy an organization for their own sake. They can buy the dignity of people that are against them. The attitude of the corporation is full of greediness particularly with money. They cannot afford to loose a hundred dollars. Just like Horowitz, the corporation has less compassion as long as their profit is increasing. Stop: Power and global control of Monsanto The growing power, attitude and global control of Monsanto Corporation lead to the violation of the essence of “dirt,” leading to the farmers to become slaves and the risk of human and animal’s health. If you’re going to visit their site, they published that the corporation’s main goal was all about their help to farmers by using as little resources as possible such as the soil and water so that they could preserve the environment. But the corporation is the main violators of their own purpose and goals. They did the opposite for the sake of their own profits and not for the sake of the farmers. Because of the growing power and global control they had, they are continually destroying the lives and the environment. Greediness of money controlled them that they try to apply it to every customers they have. Despite of the effects of their products mentioned above, they are still reigning, gaining more profits and enjoying what they have. This only proves that they have powerful players and influential people around the company who are protecting, covering, and providing them security. I strongly believe that the global control of the Monsanto Corporation towards the environment and to the farmers is just a first step for them to control the whole world. The corporation played the game in a way that it destroys human beings life and the environment. The corporation knew very well on how to control this world. If we, the consumers will not act now we well find ourselves in great danger and in great pain in the future and for the next generations to come. Our ancestors survived with the use of traditional ways in farming and yet the results were longer life span and healthier environment. If we act together not to support Monsanto’s products, we will be able to stop the negative effects of their products and we will be able to cut their power over us. Think now and act now! References Benenson, B. & Rosow, G (Directors), & Benenson, G., Gene. R. & Daily E. (Producers). (2009). Dirt! The Movie. United States. Cesca, B. (2010, February 4). Monsanto: The evil corporation in your refrigerator. Daily Finance: An AOL Money & Finance Site. Retrieved October 29, 2011, from http://www.dailyfinance.com/2010/02/04/monsanto-the-evil-corporation-in-your-refrigerator/ Kennedy, S.C. (Director). (2008). The Garden [DVD]. Available from http://www.iwannawatch.net/2011/03/the-garden-2008/ Monsanto. (2002-2011). Retrieved October 29, 2011, from http://www.monsanto.com/Pages/default.aspx Ryan, E. (2010). Monsanto: The Corporation Poisoning Our Environment. Environmental graffiti: The magazine created by you. Retrieved October 29, 2011, from http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/business/news-monsanto-multi-national-manipulator-1 Tokar, B. (2001). Redesigning Life? THE WORLDWIDE CHALLENGE to Genetic Engineering. Australia: Scribe Publication Pty Ltd. Shabecoff, P. & Shabecoff, A. (2010). POISONED FOR PROFIT: How Toxins Are Making Our Children Chronically Ill. USA: Chelsea Green Publishing Company. Woolf, A. (Director), & Woolf, A. (Producer). (2007). King Corn. [Motion Picture]. United States: Mosaic Films Incorporated. Read More