March Against Monsanto

[Blademaster]

Remember how big of a protest Occupy Wall Street was? Apparently another big one happened today, featuring two million people in over 400 cities spanning about 50 countries.

Yet I have a feeling most of us didn't even hear about this anywhere on the news (at least the non-Internet news).

If you don't know what Monsanto is, it's basically a huge biotech company that primarily sells genetically-modified organisms (typically called 'GMO's' for short) in the form of seeds and farming materials (pesticides, fertilizer, etc.). Essentially, they grow a large chunk of our food, at least in the States.

However, Monsanto has made a LOT of people unhappy in recent years due to their draconian and at many times illegal business practices. For starters, several members of the Obama Administration, the FDA, the USDA, and other offices have worked for Monsanto prior to their political careers, and as a result have used their positions to essentially make Monsanto legally untouchable. This means that investigative reports outlining health risks caused by Monsanto products are frequently censored or swept under the rug, the writers of said reports typically legally threatened or bribed to keep Monsanto's secrets. This sort of shady behavior has led to many countries including Japan, Australia, Russia, and most of the European Union outright banning Monsanto products due to simply not being allowed to know enough of what's in them. This is obviously problematic when dealing with products like the FOOD WE EAT.

Also, a Monsanto herbicide called Roundup is killing all our bees. Some sources say that 90% of ALL wild bees in the country are dead or dying. And even scarier, some bees that are resistant to Roundup are being illegally seized by Monsanto for bullshit reasons.


I'm not really sure what there is to discuss, but you guys should be aware of shit like this if you aren't. Maybe you can tell people to boycott Monsanto stuff or something, or at least give them a heads-up as to why you've seen so few bees in America this spring.

[MToolen]

Monsanto is headquartered here in St. Louis, so I get news on them quite often. It's pretty scary legal and scientific stuff. I mean, I understand their goals and business models pretty well. I just wish they wouldn't need to enforce their patents quite so harshly, especially to individual farmers who have been storing crops a different way for generations upon generations.

The lobbying/government worker tie-ins are suspect at first, until you realize that Monsanto simply is a huge player in food today. It would make sense to hire someone with experience from the other side, and I'm sure the FDA also hires people from Case-IH and even Kraft at that point.

[Lady Vulpix]

I signed an Avaaz petition for the EU to ban Monsanto's bee-killing products. Several countries have already banned them.

I wish Argentina would too, the problem drew a lot of attention from the media years ago, but like every important issue here, it was soon largely forgotten.

[Asilynne]

This is the sort of protest I can actually get behind. I do know that roundup is bad for bees (I took a beekeeping course) and I always avoid GMO when I can. Thanks Blade, I am jumping all over this and I'm SO GLAD more people are caring about the environment and where their food comes from

[Mikachu Yukitatsu]

I don't know how much this particular case concerns me, but I certainly don't like the way these companies treat nature as if they were above it somehow. The bug fan in me cries because bees are missing in your country.

[Magmar]

I don't know about the rest of y'all U.S. Americans on the forum, but my backyard has loads of bees. I always try to let them bee (bad pun is bad) and there's a bumblebee nest under my hot tub... which is fine. I don't use it anyway!

Regardless, I generally avoid GMO foods and make everything from scratch if possible. It's expensive and it means I don't eat out very often (the gluten allergy keeps me restricted to primarily the local Indian restaurant that makes all their own food from scratch as well and even then it's a treat). However, I have never felt healthier or happier since I gave up processed foods.

I wish I could have attended the march. I was at a wedding in the boonies.

[Oslo]

Yeah, the American food and beverage industry is pretty awful. Corporate lobbyists with deep pockets are able to get Congress to sign off on the most ridiculous stuff and it comes at the cost of the consumer's health. A friend linked me to an interesting article the other day about how, contrary to popular belief, dairy really has no place in a healthy diet given the associated risk of prostate and ovarian cancer. There are plenty of healthier sources of calcium and vitamin B-12 and so on, but dairy remains in the food pyramid strictly because of lobbyism from that particular industry. I would love to see more attention to the way vested interests influence our food consumption and I think the Monsanto march is a really great way to start a whole bunch of useful conversations.

And Magmar, I admire your commitment to eating well! I sure as hell could do with some improvement. :U

[Magmar]

I've heard that about dairy but I've also heard that about wheat... There's all these horror stories about what grains have become thanks to genetic modification. I've learned to cook and live without most grain consumption (exception: occasional rice/sushi). There's a blog called Wheat Belly... I seriously disagree with this "Diet Doctor's" approach (he focuses so much on the fat loss and condemning wheat it's almost ridiculous and kind of like No Wheat Church). However, you can make ANYTHING you would normally have to buy prepackaged if you have the right ingredients and he posts recipes for just about everything you can imagine. Those recipes are a great way to start.

[Blademaster]

(I took a beekeeping course)

Get some fucking honeybees then. I understand that extinction is a natural and inevitable part of our world but I don't think enough people realize just how fucked our agriculture is if the common honeybee dies out. Yes, we can survive it, but a lot of plants would take hits, from light to devastating.

I don't know about the rest of y'all U.S. Americans on the forum, but my backyard has loads of bees. I always try to let them bee (bad pun is bad) and there's a bumblebee nest under my hot tub... which is fine. I don't use it anyway!

Bumblebees are part of the Bombus genus. Honeybees, the Apis genus. I've seen fat fuzzy bumblebees myself this year, but literally zero of the poor European honeybee.

I go along with capitalism as best as I can, but this is shit you guys should know and pass along. Monsanto isn't 'just another evil/uncaring corporation.' They want to monopolize food itself. They eliminate all possible competition - from smaller farmers and producers with their absurd 'legal' tactics, and from nature itself with poisons so potent that even the humans their shit is made for are negatively affected as a result.

And the scariest part is that they're rich enough to not only do it, but also to do so with impunity and silence any who try to call them out.

GMO's aren't inherently bad.
Big business isn't inherently bad.

But a big business that lies about what you eat and threatens you if you investigate it yourself is pretty damn bad.

[Lady Vulpix]

Roundup is not only bad for bees, studies have revealed that even small traces of it can cause cancer on human beings. And they're pouring it on our food.

[RedStarWarrior]

Roundup is not only bad for bees, studies have revealed that even small traces of it can cause cancer on human beings. And they're pouring it on our food.

Maybe in Argentina because they can't afford good pesticide and herbicide.

Edit: I just wanted to add that a lot of farmers now use all natural pesticides. Certain plant extracts can actually drive away a lot of bugs and animals.

[Heald]

What's this? A danger of an underpopulation of bees around the globe? My video about bees ought to put a stop to that!



But for reallys, save the bees. Honey and honey mead are awesome.

[Blademaster]

What's this? A danger of an underpopulation of bees around the globe? My video about bees ought to put a stop to that!



But for reallys, save the bees. Honey and honey mead are awesome.

That thumbnail looks too damn much like your avatar.

Which means that this thread about awareness of corruption (in several ways) in our food comes to a grinding halt and derails into the unfortunate yet contingently hilarious concept of Rainbow Dash being assaulted by bees.

[Magmar]

Because bees.