Monsanto Purchases World’s Largest Vegetable Seed Company

[garybeck]

Monsanto Purchases World’s Largest Vegetable Seed Company

“Monsanto Company to Acquire Seminis, Inc., a Leading Vegetable and Fruit Seed Company

Acquisition Expected to Add Near-term Income Growth and Diversity to Monsanto's Seed Portfolio

ST. LOUIS (Jan. 24, 2005) - Monsanto Company (NYSE: MON) announced today that it signed a definitive agreement to acquire Seminis, Inc., for $1.4 billion in cash and assumed debt… “

The news of Monsanto’s agreement to purchase Seminis has received little attention from the media other than the financial pages and a few seed industry and anti-globalization web sites. But then again, why should it? How many consumers – of food or seed – have even heard of Seminis? And yet, as Seminis spinmeister Gary Koppenjan said, “If you've had a salad, you've had a Seminis product."

It is estimated that Seminis controls 40 percent of the U.S. vegetable seed market and 20 percent of the world market—supplying the genetics for 55 percent of the lettuce on U.S. supermarket shelves, 75 percent of the tomatoes, and 85 percent of the peppers, with strong holdings in beans, cucumbers, squash, melons, broccoli, cabbage, spinach and peas. The company’s biggest revenue source comes from tomato and peppers seeds, followed by cucumbers and beans.

more...
http://www.seedalliance.org/Seed_News/SeminisMonsanto/

[Wilms]

1. All your food are belong to us. n/t

[John Q. Citizen]

3. it would be funny if it weren't so sad...

[Blacksheep214]

74. Too Big To Fail!

We let it happen over and over!

[Subdivisions]

104. My first thought as well... n/t

[Mind_your_head]

2. Dear G_d/G_dess help us..... eom

[scarletwoman]

4. Monsanto needs to DIE.

Seriously, aside from the weapons industry, Monsanto is truly the most evil corporation on the planet, and the most dangerous to our survival.

Pure evil.

[Jakes Progress]

43. Except they're working to make sure we die first. nt

[Hannah Bell]

5. Monsanto owns or is affiliated with the largest seed developers and research companies

all over the world, including:

◦Calgene - Biotechnology company responsible for the Flavr Savr Tomato, the first GE crop marketed in the United States. Calgene also developed technology used in GE cotton and canola.

◦DeKalb Seed Company - has 11 percent of the U.S. corn seed market; Hybritech Seed International, a leading United States-based wheat seed producer, was formed by Monsanto from DeKalb's wheat research.

◦Holden's Foundation Seeds - 35 percent of U.S. corn acres are grown from seed produced with Holden genetics, that focuses on "value-added" traits, such as high-oil production or insect resistance (produced by adding a toxin gene). Companies like DuPont and Plant Genetic Systems (Bt corn developers) purchase the parent seeds from Holden and then develop the crops.

◦Asgrow Seed Company - produces Monsanto's soybean seeds (Asgrow Vegetable Seeds remains part of Mexico's Savia, owner of Seminis Vegetable Seeds (one of the largest seed producers in the world). Monsanto, does, however, maintain a collaborative relationship with Seminis to produce GE vegetables).

◦First Line Seeds - a Canadian soybean seed company.

◦Plant Breeding International Cambridge (PBIC) - which has established breeding programs for several crops, including winter wheat, barley, oilseed rape and potatoes. PBIC facilities are located in Britain, France and Germany.

◦Monsoy - a leading Brazilian soybean seed supplier.

◦Sementes Agroceres - a leading Brazilian corn seed supplier.

◦Agracetus - a research company that is currently developing pharmaceutical crops (pharm crops are GE crops designed to produce a drug or other non-food product).

◦Cereon Genomics - a Monsanto subsidiary focusing on plant gene sequencing.

◦Monsanto also bought Cargill's International (not U.S.) Seed Division, and has a 50/50 venture with Cargill called Renessen, to produce and distribute biotech crops (in particular, nutritionally enhanced oilseeds) worldwide.

◦Monsanto also owns, or co-owns, the Indian biotech crop companies MAHYCO (Maharashtra Hybrid Company), EID Parry and Rallis, and the Philippine seed company AgroSeed.

◦Monsanto and Delta & Pine Land (DPL), the world's largest cotton seed company, collaborated to bring GE cotton (Roundup Ready herbicide resistant and insect resistant varieties) to market. Also, DPL continues to hold the rights to sell Monsanto seed in several countries. Due to anti-trust concerns, Monsanto was blocked from buying DPL in 1998, but the two companies continue to collaborate on GE cotton. In a collaboration with the USDA, DPL also developed and holds the rights to the notorious "terminator" technology.

http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/campaigns/genetic-engineering/ge-industry/monsanto

[Wilms]

11. Now add to that, Monsanto is a PERSON. n/t

[PuraVidaDreamin]

20. This is bad

very bad

[Hannah Bell]

30. ? publicly held...

[LLStarks]

33. It's slavery then... nt

[robinlynne]

61. no. the supreme court ruled that corporations are persons and have free speech as such.

and that therefore corporations can spend unlimited amounts of money to advertise about election campaigns.

[femrap]

80. An evil person that

needs to be placed 6 ft. under.

[Tunkamerica]

85. Yep, with all the rights and few of the responsibilities

[LWolf]

19. How many of those seeds end up in packets

that I buy from seed distributors that send me their catalogs each January?

[bvar22]

31. Thats MY question too.

Apparently, 70% or more.

This is not something we have paid a lot of attention to over the last few years.
We are still experimenting, and enjoy planting new types and varieties of vegetables, sometimes just buying the packets on display at the stores.


They hit ALL of our favorites:

75 percent of the tomatoes, and 85 percent of the peppers, with strong holdings in beans, cucumbers, squash, melons, broccoli, cabbage, spinach and peas.

I don't want a single penny of OUR money going to Monsanto.
We have started directing our seed purchases to smaller local (state) distributors and "seed banks" who claim they are protecting the "seed stock", but I still have some doubts.

WE are going to start aggressively saving our own seeds this year.

[LWolf]

78. I was trying to stay with open pollinated seeds which I could save.

For most everything but tomatoes; I've always lived in climates not friendly to them, and while I played with some open-pollinated tomatoes, I got the best results from "Ruby Cluster," a hybrid that could take the temperature extremes, sandy, alkaline soil, and high winds and keep producing loads of tomatoes through the season, even when the temps were hitting 101-112 every day.

I haven't started a garden in my new place. I always have big plans, but there is so much to do just to manage the weeds on my 6 rocky acres I never get around to building the beds.

Tomatoes would be tricky here, too; we can have frost on any day of the year.

[rucognizant]

60. Where have you people been?

I picked up on this article 5 years ago & was the one who called Fedco Seed Co-op in Maine to warn them. They eliminated ALL Seminis seeds from their stock for the following year., and stepped up their heirloom seed program though-out the state.
Johnny's Seeds is also GM/Seminis free seed stock.
Last summer when I needed late seeds to replant after the extreme rains had killed the first planting, I was forced to buy Burpe
seeds. I scalle d the company & after a rather contentious conversation, the woman finally e-, mailed me an affidavite stating their seeds were GM free.........................
THAT doesn't necessarily mean she was telling the truth!!

[LWolf]

76. I have boughty seeds from

Johnny's, from Territorial Seed, Seeds of Change, and other heritage and specialty seed companies. It's been 5 years now since I bought seeds, and I never thought to ask them how many were GM. I just thought about it reading this OP.

[KakistocracyHater]

92. I've bought seeds from an orange bell pepper-it's more expensive than red-

& guess what? When the peppers matured they were red. I've bought tomato plants & again, they were not what the label & price said. Even hollyhocks, I bought double mixed colors & when they bloomed-they were all white.

Yellow & orange bell peppers have seeds that germinate at a smaller rate than the cheaper red seeds, most of the red peppers' seeds germinate, thus the higher price for orange & yellow.

No one is watching the seed co.s, no one is inspecting them enough to change direction. There are potential jobs here, but.........

In a seemingly unrelated (but Chinese) problem of not getting what you pay for, the valentine cards my Mom bought: 1 package had cards but no envelopes, another had envelopes but no cards. Kind of like a Made in China lamp I bought that had pieces missing.

[bajamary]

55. thank you for this detailed info

Thanks so much for this detailed information.

Our DOJ should be suing Monsanto and the others for breaking the Fed. Anti-Trust laws.

I wish Obama's DOJ would stand up for us all.

[Jim Warren]

103. Sounds like

they're going to be some of the biggest land developers as well.

[Webster Green]

6. Mutherfuckers!

Monsanto must be stopped! Their goal is to own the entire world's food supply.

This is one of the most evil corporations in existence.

[Sebastian Doyle]

7. How do we kill this piece of shit corporation

..before it kills all of us? :evilfrown:

[Mind_your_head]

8. GREAT question.

I dunno.

Buy stock. Go to shareholder meetings and raise a little *hell*? That's been done/tried before with very limited success.

We're gonna be fighting for our very LIVES here very very soon....the riche on the 'Titanic' don't see it, but they're pretty 'dispensible' as well.....

*I* don't have/know the answer, but the answer is "out there".

[ananda]

9. OK. It's either get rid of Monsanto or..

.. evolve and adapt.

[Mind_your_head]

10. How does "evolve & adapt" work in this case?

My (and all of our bodies) have spent thousands, hundreds-of-thousands, ney, MILLIONS of years EVOLVING and adapting. Enter (from somewhere unnaturally off-stage) corporations who ADD NOTHING and only try to "reap" from which they did not "sow".

Explain to me how you see that all working out, please.

[Luminous Animal]

13. Or grow your own heirloom varieties and save your seeds

and donate some to a local seed bank.

[diane in sf]

12. oh shit

[MelissaB]

16. Exactly my thought as I read the title

of this thread. :(

[Vidar]

14. Poisoning the world the American Way.

[glitch]

15. 2005 -- so they've had 5 years to fuck up our vegetables too? nt

[NecklyTyler]

17. Monsanto is establishing legal precedence to prevent individuals from collecting and growing seeds

Farmers who want to collect seeds from their existing crops and plant the seeds later are facing court action for doing so. Monsanto takes the position that what is inside of the seed (the modified DNA) belongs to Monsanto, not the grower.

Monsanto must die

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

22. Remember Gandhi making salt in India?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_Satyagraha

Do I really need to go on?

[scarletwoman]

52. Exactly! We must resist & defy, we must engage in ACTIVE non-cooperation with the corporate agenda.

As Gandhi said, when challenged about passive resistance, "I have never advocated 'passive' anything."

[Ignis]

72. GREAT example.

:thumbsup:

[jeff47]

54. Perhaps you could back that up some?

Farmers who want to collect seeds from their existing crops and plant the seeds later are facing court action for doing so.

Got a Link?
Btw, the seeds that produced sterile offspring didn't sell very well. Farmers aren't stupid.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

65. Monsanto owns patents on some of its seeds.

Farmers buy licenses from Monsanto to buy seeds with desirable traits, pesticide resistance usually.

There have been a small number of cases where farmers have purchased the license, collected the seeds, and then not repurchased the license but planted the seeds in violation of the license agreement. In a few of these cases, the farmers have claimed that their crops were contaminated from wind blown seed and were thus not to blame, however Monsanto has proved in court that this is not the case.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

82. I tried to read that post, but all that registered in my brain was

"Poland attacks Germany".

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

90. Yeah, apparently a lot of people are having problems reading.

Schools these days.

[hootinholler]

100. What is ignored going on about now?

:rofl:

Nevermind, I really don't want to know.

-Hoot

[HCE SuiGeneris]

91. You siding with Monsanto

What a shocker!

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

95. Well, to me it IS a shocker, non-ironically.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MoralEventHorizon

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

96. I'm not taking sides.

You'll note I just explained the situation.

Funny how you think that's taking sides though.

[jeff47]

98. Mis-post (nt)

[Maru Kitteh]

69. They sued a farmer for keeping his OWN seed when the WIND blew their pollen over his fields

and they won. They ARE

EVIL

motherfuckers.

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Seeds+of+discontent.+%28Interview%29.%28canola+farmer+sued+by...-a082014415

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

89. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

They won because they were able to prove that Percy Schmeiser was lying and kept seeds intentionally to replant later.

[jeff47]

99. How about a good link?

The link you provided is an interview. The guy giving the interview lost to Monsanto, so obviously he's not going to have a good opinion of him. The folks doing the interviewing have a pretty strong hatred of any GM crops.

How 'bout something impartial, like a news story about the lawsuit?

Btw, it doesn't say the WIND blew their pollen over his fields. He says he doesn't know how the GMO canola got there.

I'm perfectly happy to consider Monsanto evil, but what I'm looking for is an impartial statement of the situation, so I can determine for myself if they're evil.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

105. Here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monsanto_Canada_Inc._v._Schmeiser

The Court's ruling concluded:

... on the balance of probabilities, the defendants infringed a number of the claims under the plaintiffs’ Canadian patent number 1,313,830 by planting, in 1998, without leave or licence by the plaintiffs, canola fields with seed saved from the 1997 crop which seed was known, or ought to have been known by the defendants to be Roundup tolerant and when tested was found to contain the gene and cells claimed under the plaintiffs’ patent. By selling the seed harvested in 1998 the defendants further infringed the plaintiffs’ patent."<2>

The case was then heard by the Federal Court of Appeal at Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, beginning May 15, 2002. The Federal Court of Appeal upheld the ruling of the trial judge.

The Federal Court of Appeal in particular stressed the importance of the finding that Schmeiser had knowingly used the seed, in their decision to find Schmeiser in infringement of the patent, and noted that in a case of accidental contamination or a case where the farmer knew of the presence of the gene but took no action to increase its prevalence in his crop, a different ruling could be possible (see paragraphs 55-58 of the appeal ruling).<4> No damages were assessed against Percy Schmeiser, the private individual. Only Mr. Schmeiser's farming corporation, Schmeiser Enterprises Ltd., was held liable, as Mr. Schmeiser had acted in his capacity as director of the corporation.

[NecklyTyler]

93. .

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x409650

[jeff47]

101. As mentioned above

How about a good link?

Your first link is to people who hate GM crops.

Your second link is broken.

Your link to CBS is a story from an investigative reporter that ends with Monsanto being legally forbidden from doing what the article claims is their bad behavior. Of the 2 lawsuits mentioned in the story, Monsanto dropped one and won the second, but there's no information about why they won the second - just the guy who lost claiming it was unfair, which isn't exactly a neutral opinion.

As I said, I'm fully prepared to believe Monsanto is doing bad things. But impartial information is the only way I'll know if they're actually doing bad things, or if they're doing things that some people don't like for other reasons (such as blanket opposition to GM crops).

Basically, I have difficulty believing most farmers are morons.

[NecklyTyler]

102. A corporation being able to lay claim to an individual's property is appalling to me

The entire concept of a corporation being able to lay claim to an individual's property is appalling to me. For Monsanto to even be allowed to file suit against someone for taking the seeds from a plant they grew on their own land and planting them is a travesty.

I now can see where you stand on the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects

[jeff47]

106. That's because it's not the individual's property

The seeds used to grow the first generation of plants weren't the individual's property. Monsanto didn't didn't sell the first generation of seeds. They licensed the farmer to plant them.

Since the first seeds weren't sold, Monsanto gets to say what happens to the plants grown from those seeds, and the seeds those plants produce.

It's not terribly nice, but it is the contract the farmers agreed to. So they're either complete idiots, or the farmers felt the value in this arrangement exceeds the value of saving seeds.

[pleah]

18. NOT good.

:scared:

[harun]

21. The Obama Admin should not approve these acquisitions.

[QC]

38. Don't hold your breath.... n/t

[Javaman]

23. I save my seeds and here's how to do it...

I have a large garden and buy only organic seeds. However, for the past 3 season, I have been saving my seeds.

If you grow your own veggies, there is no reason why you shouldn't as well.

Here's how:

http://www.seedsave.org/issi/issi_904.html

[Mithreal]

46. +1

[jeff47]

57. One tip about corn

The super-sweet genes for corn are not likely to survive a generation or two. The corn will still be sweet corn, just not super-sweet. (The super-sweet gene gets in there by pollinating two specific strains of corn. Pollinating a super-sweet with itself will cause the gene to be lost in the next generation)

That's why the farmers who grow super-sweet varieties buy new seed every year - the saved seeds won't produce the super-sweet corn next year.

[Maru Kitteh]

75. super-sweet corn is gross

[Javaman]

94. So where do the suppliers of the super sweet corn get their seeds from?

Is the super sweet corn a reletively new variety?

Meaning, if you one uses the super sweet corn seeds year after year, does the corn revert back to it's original form of "not so super sweet" corn?

[jeff47]

97. Via carefully controlled pollination

They carefully control pollination of relatively small fields such that the 2 varieties cross-pollinate, yielding super-sweet corn. Think of it as putting condoms on the flowers.

It's not very practical to do on a full-size farm, since the labor costs go up exponentially. But relatively small farms can produce enough to plant a large farm, since all of the corn they grow ends up in the ground instead of eaten.

[Mari333]

24. even 'seeds of change' was taken over by Mars

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/may/07/howardyana-shapiro-seeds-change-interview

but hopefully they are being kept diverse.

[ensho]

25. terrible news! enough to make you cry

may Monsanto fall down

[L0oniX]

26. We live in the UCA. Are you ready to revolt yet?

UCA United Corporations of America

[MrsCorleone]

27. This snip from the posted article makes my skin crawl.

"There is also speculation that if Monsanto can slowly start building the GMO vegetable-fruit market, then the debate over GMOs will become a moot point, as they will have made their way onto the plate and thus gained acceptance (or at least acquiescence)."

We go out of our way in my household to avoid the main GMO crops (canola, soy, corn, beets, papaya) & their derivatives, and we are concerned about genetic modification of more crops. This would limit our food choices even further. Anybody know if there have been more GMO foods have been officially approved for consumption in the U.S.?

[KansDem]

44. "Monsanto's GMO Corn Linked To Organ Failure, Study Reveals"

In a study released by the International Journal of Biological Sciences, analyzing the effects of genetically modified foods on mammalian health, researchers found that agricultural giant Monsanto's GM corn is linked to organ damage in rats.

According to the study, which was summarized by Rady Ananda at Food Freedom, "Three varieties of Monsanto's GM corn - Mon 863, insecticide-producing Mon 810, and Roundup® herbicide-absorbing NK 603 - were approved for consumption by US, European and several other national food safety authorities."

Monsanto gathered its own crude statistical data after conducting a 90-day study, even though chronic problems can rarely be found after 90 days, and concluded that the corn was safe for consumption. The stamp of approval may have been premature, however.

--more--
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/12/monsantos-gmo-corn-linked_n_420365.html

[MrsCorleone]

53. Thanks for the article.

Here's another on GMO peas.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn8347

snip
"A decade-long project to develop genetically modified peas with built-in pest-resistance has been abandoned after tests showed they caused allergic lung damage in mice."

snip
"Jeremy Tager, Greenpeace Australia's campaigner on genetic engineering, agrees. "These results indicate the potential for unpredicted and unintended changes in the structure of transferred proteins. And I'm not aware of any country that requires feeding studies as part of its approval process.""

____________

I don't know about you, but I'm sick and tired of these big BioAgs poisoning the food supply for profit.

[Blackhatjack]

28. The Significance of This Acquisition Cannot Be Overstated ....

Seed stocks are the protected stores of Non-genetically modified DNA for most vegetables and fruits.

Put those seed stocks in the hands of a company that is engaged in genetically modifying the existing supply of seeds to guarantee profits for itself is the foundation for a major disaster.

And yet it flies right over the heads of the MSM and government watchdogs(if there are any left).

[Echo In Light]

29. Creepy

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

32. We're all doomed five years ago.

[Kievan Rus]

34. Cue the Imperial March

[thereismore]

35. World hunger has a brand name. nt

[Ignis]

39. +1. Well stated.

:thumbsup:

[amborin]

36. k&r

[Chrisbee]

37. I buy my seeds from Baker Creek Heirlooms or save my own.

www.rareseeds.com is a company started by a 17 year old from Southern Missouri. Great selection and non GMO.

[DKRC]

40. Thanks for the link

Requested their free catalog just now.

:thumbsup:

[Anwen]

79. That's my favorite seed company!

They have an amazing selection of heirlooms. I just discovered them this year and bought all my seeds from them.

[Agony]

41. Worker owned Fedco Seeds dumps Monsanto/Seminis

You might be interested in how Fedco Seeds handled this scenario. If you buy seeds you should consider Fedco.

http://www.fedcoseeds.com/seeds/monsanto.htm a few clips below, much more at the link

Maybe you’ve never heard of Seminis, but if you’ve ever perused these pages, you’ve almost undoubtedly tasted Seminis. Celebrity, Big Beef and Sweet Baby Girl tomatoes, North Star, Red Knight and Fat ’n Sassy peppers, Mars and Candy onions, Yellow Doll and Jade Star watermelons, the Seneca squashes—all are Seminis varieties. Seminis was our largest supplier, selling us 70 items in the 2005 catalog, accounting for more than 11 per cent of our seed business. In addition to offering a superb line, they shipped on time, supplied high quality seed with good germination, and backed their products with excellent variety descriptions and sales materials.

The Monsanto buyout presented us with a serious ethical dilemma. In striving to carry the best possible varieties at reasonable prices, we have based our selections largely on the merits of the varieties, rarely on our supplier preferences. Could we be purveyors of Monsanto products and still sleep well at night? Many of our customers have depended upon Seminis’ good genetics. However much we may think we require these varieties in the short run, they come at a devastating social cost, ultimately the complete alienation of sower from seed.

Fedco Drops Monsanto/Seminis

We responded to the news by polling our customers. Should we drop the Seminis/Monsanto line, phase it out, keep it but give it its own customer code, or maintain it without change? We received an unprecedented 1,157 responses. 54.8% voted for us to drop the Seminis/Monsanto line immediately, and an additional 17% to phase it out over time. Many included thought-provoking comments such as these:
• Drop the Seminis varieties unless this puts the entire coop in jeopardy.
• Every dollar that goes to Monsanto does not go to a producer who is protective of agriculture, our world, our health.
• You don’t need to sell your soul for a Sunsugar.
• Let the customers decide!
• Phase out as you find quality replacements.
• Call upon my sense of adventure to try the new varieties you find!
• Unbury the supplier codes and make them more prominent.
• Give your customers a choice on their purchases for a transitional period…tax the b…ds for the public good…and spread the money like manure for our new crop of seed providers—breeders, growers and distributors.
• It’s a hard thing to fight a Monsanto when we’re so deeply embedded in a system that produces Monsantos. Sort of like Jefferson hating slavery while owning slaves.
• Buyers’ choice is real democracy. We, the buyers either keep them in business or put them out of business.
• Double the retail price for Monsanto seed and send the additional receipts to those who suffer from Monsanto like Percy Schmeiser.
• Monsanto should be Rounded Up and composted.
• We’ll survive on the sweet tastiness of the moral high ground.

After our staff expressed a clear preference for taking decisive action, our purchasing team decided not to do business with Monsanto. We chose instead to purchase a one-year supply of the available Seminis items in March before the merger was consummated, and not to replace those varieties when they ran out. We have clearly identified these varieties in the catalog and assigned them their own customer code of ...

Grow your own food,
Agony

[crazylikafox]

45. Thank you for the link. I am bookmarking & will consider ordering from them.

[grahamhgreen]

42. This should be rejected by the SEC or whomever...

[AzNick]

47. Aren't there laws against horizontal concentration !?!?!?

This is becoming ridiculous.

[Democrat_in_Houston]

50. We're global! Are haven't you gotten the meme?

[glinda]

48. This is a National Security issue when they get this big.

[glinda]

49. Told our Bird Food Store lady about it today and she freaked!

[Tailormyst]

51. This may well be the most evil company on the planet.

And I do mean that. No exaggeration.

[bajamary]

56. Watch the documentary: "Food, Inc"

Look for and watch the excellent documentary, Food, Inc. which was just nominated for an Oscar.

Many public libraries have a DVD of this film.

You can view it instantly on Netflix.

[MrsCorleone]

59. Just to add: Watch "The World According to Monsanto" and "Seeds of Deception"

[QuickDraw McGraw]

58. 2005?

This story is five years old!

[Shining Jack]

62. Most of this shit was predicted long ago...

and were watching the building starting to collapse in slow-motion and nothing is being done.

[Maru Kitteh]

63. OH SHIT.

This is so very not good for anyone on the planet.

[BrklynLiberal]

64. Defintely not good news for the world's food supply

[proud patriot]

66. Monsanto must be stopped

[marmar]

67. OK, since corporations are people, according to the Supreme Court.....

...... Shouldn't Monsanto be considered a serial killer? How much death has this entity been responsible for?

[L0oniX]

68. I'm serving notice to Monsanto. We're coming to get you!

The real war is clearly between us and the corporations.

[RedCloud]

70. Hey Monsanto. I grows mah own trees with fruits and nuts. Fuck you!

And Ah gots me sum relatives 'round dah world. We don't need you motherfucker!

I was a crazy kid living right next to that stupid Monsanto plant and all its noise. I drove my mother crazy with, "Monsanto. The place that goes dee doo dee doo dee doo, all day long!"

And don't forget Ralston Purina and its Monkey Chow formula. That's probably what we will get to eat and a bowl of water.

[Mind_your_head]

87. Some corporation will soon "own all the water" too. You can 'bank' on that! n/t

[defendandprotect]

71. Congress should stop this sale -- How do we like being ruled by the dollar bill???

[bertman]

73. Thanks for posting this, garybeck. This is a life and death battle. Literally. Long term no doubt,

but still life and death.

Rec.

[EmeraldCityGrl]

77. Please buy your seeds from reputable heirloom seed

companies. If you keep a garden start thinking about saving seeds and joining a seed exchange.

I really feel organic farming has become a civil rights issue. There are some very powerful forces
at work to completely control our food sources. They are capable of anything to get what they want.

Access to safe, healthy food is a basic human right and needs to be protected.

[rhett o rick]

81. Capitalism at it's finest. Ayn Rand would be estatic. Middle class will suffer. nt

[lonestarnot]

83. Are there laws against monopolizing a market? How are they getting away with this shit?

current SCOTUS would shoot down any chance of fighting their corporate takeovers I guess. Tentacles just keep spreading like a wildfire. Disgusting.

[PufPuf23]

84. Important good info in this thread k&r

[idahoblue]

86. This is old news

Here is what my friend who works for Seminis has to say:

Monsanto bought us out 3 yrs ago. It was not a good move for us
as far and I'm concerned, and my co-workers feel the same. But, we're
grateful to have jobs in this economy. No place else in Txxxxx offers
near the pay or benefits. There are several monopoly suits going on,
but we're not privileged to most of the legal stuff...

[Mind_your_head]

88. Your 'friend' is a very "lame" selfish, short-term thinker......

...and that sort of short-term, selfish thinking is what has brought us to this point in the first place. I'm sure that's why you posted it.

Thanks. Now, let's really EDUCATE and undo all of this.

Peace and POWER to the long-term thinkers who don't/won't "do it/compromise/" for the money - and they just 'know better' (understand the consequences of what unbridled RAPE of nature will bring forth)!.....*hint* It won't be 'pretty'.
M_Y_H