If you're like me, then you are probably overwhelmed with emails and articles opining on the evils of Monsanto — and for good reason. Monsanto is a chemical company that began genetically engineering seeds in order to sell more chemicals.
DOW & Monsanto are brewing up a new chemical agent.
The company's business model is based on privatizing life, privatizing our genetic heritage (seeds), and poisoning the Earth. But did you know that Monsanto is just one of the major chemical players that have taken over our agriculture? Others include Syngenta, Bayer, DuPont, and BASF. Monsanto is corporate villain number one, providing PR cover for these other companies that do the same thing with far less public attention. That is about to change. There is one company that may even be worse than Monsanto. And unless we act soon, that company is going to start contaminating our farms and our food in ways we have never seen before. Meet the Dow Chemical company.
So how is Dow Chemical becoming the new Monsanto? As we all know, Monsanto has been the leader in producing genetically engineered pesticide-promoting crops (PPCs). By inserting bacterial DNA into corn and soy, Monsanto scientists were able to allow these plants to withstand massive spraying of their weed killer Roundup. Normally, if sprayed over the whole field, the weed killer would kill both the weeds and the crop, but now only the weeds perish and the GE crops survive. Monsanto aggressively promoted these crops, and large farmers adopted it because now they could conveniently spray their fields, even aerial spray, and not have to be careful with their herbicide use. It became convenient for large corn and soy farmers, and a boon for Monsanto as it began selling hundreds of millions more pounds of Roundup.
However, a predictable problem emerged. After a decade and a half of heavy use of these Roundup-promoting crops, many farmers began to see that Roundup was becoming less effective. It stopped killing the weeds. The weeds had adapted, and Roundup-resistant weeds were growing at an alarming rate. Farmers, increasingly desperate, began using more herbicides and mixing in more toxic herbicides. Soon, large conventional corn and soy growers realized that they needed an alternative to Roundup. That's what Dow Chemical was waiting for. The company had genetically engineered new generations of GE corn and soybean varieties that are able to withstand spraying of 2,4-D. The big prize for Dow Chemical is to have their 2,4-D replace glyphosate as the go-to chemical of choice for these non-organic farmers. They only need approval from the USDA, approval that could come as early as March 2014.
2,4-D is far more toxic than Roundup. The chemical has been linked to non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, lowered sperm counts, liver disease, and Parkinson's disease. Studies have also demonstrated the chemical's adverse effects on hormonal, reproductive, neurological, and immune systems.
via Meet the New Monsanto: Dow Chemical… and Their New ‘Agent Orange' Crops | Andrew Kimbrell.