My biggest problem with genetically modified foods is not the health risks that could occur, rather the legal risks. I was surprised to see that a company can actually patent and “own” a plant seed. This scares me because of how the Canadian farmer, Percy, got
screwed by Monsanto seed company. He had been growing his crop for years and years, a crop that was not “Round Up Ready”. Round Up Ready was the seed that Monsanto had created and patented. It was able to withstand Round Up weed killer, so you could spray the whole crop and only kill the weeds, not the plants you wanted to harvest. It turns out that the farmer down the road had been using Round Up Ready seeds, and while transporting a load of some, he accidently lost some Round Up Ready seed in Percy’s field who had been using his own saved seed for years. Monsanto corporation routinely sends samplers out to canola farms across Canada and America, and during one of their samplings, they found their product in Percy’s crop. They noted he did not have permission to use their seed and Monsanto sued him. They said he infringed on their patent and were suing for that reason. It turns out that there was case upon case of other farmers who had always used only their own saved seed to plant crops, who had let samplers come out, and were later sent a letter saying they infringed on Monsanto’s patent. It also turns out that Monsanto is one of the biggest seed companies in the world, so it is in their best interest to take out all the farmers who don’t buy from them. Another example is the company who patented the gene that is linked to breast cancer. This means that nobody can study the gene anymore, nobody other than those affiliated with the company who holds the patent. The patent holding company actually sues universities and hospitals who are studying the gene for the sole purpose of curing breast cancer. It is all rather disturbing.
I have my share of fears about eating GM foods especially when they have been shown to cause problems in lab rats. I can not think of any reason why foods shouldn’t be labeled as GM. Everybody has the full right to know exactly what they are buying, otherwise it is like false advertisement.
Stephen Luntz. Australasian Science. Hawksburn: Sep 2001. Vol. 22, Iss. 8; pg. 34, 1 pgs
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I got so angry watching the parts about lawsuits against the farmers. What pisses me off so much is that Monsanto is essentially trapping them when they've done NO HARM TO MONSANTO. Monsanto just comes out of the blue and sucker punches them for daring to NOT use Monsanto's GM seeds. It's absolutely frightening how greedy they are, with no thought to what the future consequences will be to their current actions. The farmers should be able to counter-sue Monsanto for contaminating THEIR seeds that THEY have developed.
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