Monsanto – A Menace to Public Health – Part 1

Once in a great while I will get up on a soap box about something that I truly believe is in the best interest of my friends and family, and those I work with or for.  This article is one of those times that I am on my soap box. This article, “Monsanto – a Menace to Public Health – Part 1” is the beginning of a series on Monsanto that I believe needs to be addressed.

For many people that are not familiar with eating healthy or eating organic foods, the name Monsanto is not even on the radar.  While they may have heard the name at one time or another, they probably could not even tell you what it makes or represents as a company.  Most people do not realize the reach of this company, what it’s involvement is in the food production industry is, or how deeply they are entwined in the affairs of government.  For some, in their eyes it doesn’t really matter. They have their own problems to worry about and don’t “need another thing to worry about” as one email to me stated.

Whatever your disposition is about healthy eating, food safety, or what big business is up to in the world around you, hopefully this article will provide you with enough information to tweak your curiosity and cause you to want to investigate and learn how Monsanto may very well affect your way of life and your health. As a company that hopes to fully control the food market globally, at very least, you may find that how they are going about doing it to be interesting enough to finish this article.

Imagine a law stating that you cannot grow organic vegetables for consumption, trade, barter, or sell. Imagine that there was a law that said that if you do, that you could be fined and/or imprisoned. Imagine that this law says that you are prohibited from growing organic vegetables in your own backyard and could suffer criminal charges if you do? Sound far fetched? Think again. If Monsanto has their way, organic farming will be a thing of the past – and all under the guise that organic foods pose a health risk to consumers.  It is real and it is happening.  But, I am getting ahead of myself. The subject of this article surrounds a product that has been mass marketed for some 30 years.

Ever heard of a weed killer called RoundUp, manufactured by Monsanto? Experts are now saying that Monsanto’s RoundUp is worse than DDT! If you don’t know what DDT is, you will want to check that out also.  This stuff is bad news.  I know first hand because I have used it in the past when I was involved in the ornamental horticulture industry (my original degree was ornamental horticulture and landscape design). They made the stuff out to be the savior of one’s fight against weeds. Finally a safe weed killer that didn’t affect the soil. NOT!

RoundUp is an herbicide that is widely used to control weeds in home gardens as well as commercial agriculture.  When it was first introduced to the public, it was praised by everyone that had issues with weeds as being a wonderful product that would kill weeds on contact, but go ‘inert’ once it got below the surface of the ground… WRONG! Turns out that it does far from that, and some experts and scientists believe that Monsanto has known this from the beginning.

Even with well-documented research and findings by independent studies that RoundUp and the chemicals that they use in it, instead of the EPA pulling the product from the market like the way the FDA enforced the pulling of Tylenol when there was even the slightest hint that it was harmful to humans, the EPA is currently conducting a “Registration Review” of glyphosate. Glyphosate is the active ingredient in the herbicide RoundUp, and it is a bad boy for humans and animals, let alone the foods we eat that have been exposed to is. This is just barely scratching the surface of the problem though.

RoundUp is owned by Monsanto. If you Google Monsanto you will get an ear and an eye full about them. If you care about your children’s future (and even your own in the next 20 years), you will want to become well acquainted with Monsanto. Because of the GMOs and mutated strains of plants – mainly seedless fruits and vegetables where you must buy your seed to plant a new crop each year (yes, Monsanto sells the seeds) – Monsanto was recently named the worst company in the world by the Natural Society.

This is a corporate initiative world domination for gaining control over the food production industry that is cloaked under the ideology that farmers need good quality seed for their crops so that they can produce more food that is less resistant to bugs and disease, and weeds (a misnomer)…. The foods from their seeds are for one, genetically altered, i.e. whose DNA has been altered. When you mess with the DNA of anything and it is ingested by any other living organism (that has its own DNA), big problems can occur, mainly sickness, disease, mutations, chronic illness, terminal illness, and well, that means death.  The real shame of their ability to produce food is that the fruits and vegetables and grains that their seeds produce is less nutritious than foods grown with un-mutated seeds.

Wouldn’t you know it that Monsanto is also the company that has intentionally developed super-weeds that reduce yields, is responsible for a deadly new pathogen that is now plaguing plants with new diseases that is becoming widespread, and causing infertility in animals – which means it will affect humans in the same way.  AH! …but guess what??? Monsanto makes the very thing you need to prevent this… THEIR SEEDS for crops and THEIR special formula of pesticide that can kill the ‘super-insect’ mutations that they have created themselves, and their weed killer are all ideally suited to address the problems that they have intentionally caused. It’s sort of like an arsonist being a fire insurance sales man.

A little tidbit about the global domination Monsanto is aiming for… Check this out. What used to be a fanatics view that there were only a few companies in the world that would control food production is now not so ‘fanatic’. As an example, look into who is helping in funding the agricultural recovery of Iraq – funded impart of course by American taxpayers – and do a little digging to see what the conditions that the ‘benevolent company’ that is helping Iraq has placed on the Iraqi government in return for help…. yep …. you guessed it.

Monsanto….. And those conditions?  Monsanto will help in rebuilding the agricultural infrastructure of Iraq, BUT Iraq must purchase all of their crop seeds for their agricultural industry much come from Monsanto, which just happen to be seedless crop seeds. This basically means that all seeds for crops will have to be purchased every season for every crop. Iraq is just the beginning too. Do some research if this bothers you and become informed.

Let’s just assume that you do not care about a company having this much power in the world and within governments to find it any of your business what they do overseas (which will be every 3rd world developing nation that needs to feed their people). If this doesn’t bother you and you want to start eating or are already eating organic produce and fruits, consider this.

As I mentioned earlier, Monsanto is behind the initiative to have all organic crops irradiated in the same way that meats are being irradiated for ecoli. This does a few things in their advantage. It kills the seeds ability to produce more produce, and it kills the majority of the nutritional value of the food (enzymes, etc.) – the life giving attributes.

Monsanto’s billions of dollars in cash reserves are behind aggressive lobbying for law making that will outlaw growing, selling, trading, bartering, or producing for sell, trade or barter, any organic crops that are not irradiated or where the seeds from the crops are not ‘legal’ seeds. This goes for homeowners also. You could be arrested for growing organic fruits and vegetables in your own back yard because they could be considered a public health risk.

Are they making headway in this pursuit? Yep. Right again. And remember my just mentioning ‘legal’ seeds? Guess who the government and EPA are siding with in what seeds are ‘legal’ ….?

Monsanto.

I realize that I have digressed from the original alert about RoundUp, so let me get back to that to finish up.

In a statement released by the EPA, it will be “gathering data on glyphosate through the summer of 2012 and making a final decision no earlier than 2015.”

By this time, it will be too late. Monsanto is intentionally working to introduce pathogens into soils and the air that can adversely affect any crops that are not using their products. The EPA has the power to ban glyphosate immediately, but there are too many politicians, EPA officials, and governments that have too much too lose financially in the way of grant monies, donations, gifts, favors, and many think under the table bribes.

Make NO mistake about it, Monsanto is a dangerous behemoth with global domination i its sights for the food production industry.  As for the whole RoundUp controversy, the right thing to do is for the EPA to ban RoundUp and the use of glyphosate immediately.  These chemicals are dangerous,  and given glyphosate is worse than DDT, it should be outlawed to use.  (NOTE: If you don’t know what DDT is, research it! VERY BAD STUFF!)

This is just one part of a  very dangerous initiative being carried out by a very big conglomerate that if they have their way, will see that it is considered illegal to have a garden in your back yard unless you use their seeds, use their products to kills their insects and diseases they have created. The worst part about this is that the food produced from their seeds will not provide but a small fraction of the nutritional value the food source originally provided.

If all of this interests you, consider checking out Organic Consumers Association, educating yourself and others by referring them to this article, and contacting your State and Federal representatives all the way to the President and voicing your concern.

This link will take you to a video documentary that is a must see if you get curious after reading this article. A healthy consumer is an informed consumer.

For your health, always!