What's for dinner and where's it from?
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Submitted by scottjason on Mon, 2008-06-02 10:04. |
Vanity Fair published a fascinating story this month about Monsanto, a company that sells genetically modified (G.M.) seeds.
As food costs rise, it makes more sense to pay attention to how food gets from the ground to the dinner table and to consider alternative production models.
I didn't know much about Monsanto and now realize why that's a problem:
"What (Americans) may not know is that the company now profoundly influences — and one day may virtually control — what we put on our tables.
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Monsanto portrays its move into G.M. seeds as a giant leap for mankind. But out in the American countryside, Monsanto’s no-holds-barred tactics have made it feared and loathed. Like it or not, farmers say, they have fewer and fewer choices in buying seeds.
And controlling the seeds is not some abstraction. Whoever provides the world’s seeds controls the world’s food supply."
The article explains that Monsanto is moving into the dairy industry to get the government to keep milk producers from labeling milk as hormone-free because it insinuates that milk produced by cows given more hormones is bad.
I make it a point to buy organic, hormone-free milk. I honestly believe it tastes better, though some may argue that.
Monsanto's move bothers me. It shouldn't be up to a private company to dictate what I'm allowed to know. As a consumer, I'm entitled to more information, not less.
Slow and local food
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Submitted by heidiwrites on Tue, 2008-06-03 07:50.
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I'd love to see an article in the SunStar about the slow food and local food movements. We have a number of CSA farms around here that get little to no press. We live in the agricultural capital of the world and should be eating seasonal, local food, but go to SaveMart and you'll see your produce still comes from South America. Where our food comes from is a big story ... and it will be a critical one in the days to come as rising fuel costs contribute to exorbitant inflation in the supermarkets. GM food, while sinister in its implications, is just one facet of the story ...
Syndicate
Monsanto
I watched a piece on Monsanto and their production of seeds. I do not recollect what station I viewed it on, possibly CBS's 60 minutes. They have a patent on a genetically altered/made seed. They have gone so far as to file lawsuits against farmers who are found to have the seed on their fields who have not bought it from Monsanto. The twist is that in many of these cases, the seeds were displaced on these fields due to winds or other natural causes from other farmers who had purchased it from Monsanto.
I was left with the impression of a large company dominating and controlling a very important sector of our food chain and the means they would go to have secrecy and control.