Monday, July 19, 2010 by: Tony Isaacs, citizen journalist (托尼.艾薩克斯，公民記者，2010年7月19日，星期一)
http://www.naturalnews.com/029222_GMOs_Haiti.html
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（自然新聞網(wǎng)）孟山都向海地地震災(zāi)區(qū)捐贈(zèng)了幾百?lài)?STRONG>專(zhuān)利雜交種子、化肥和農(nóng)藥，但許多人認(rèn)為這是一次為了將其產(chǎn)品打入新市場(chǎng)并留下后門(mén)的圖謀。最初，孟山都計(jì)劃捐贈(zèng)抗“草甘磷” 轉(zhuǎn)基因玉米種子，但遭到海地農(nóng)業(yè)部的拒絕。雖然孟山都把捐款說(shuō)成是為賑災(zāi)盡一份力量，但其“慷慨”卻遭到質(zhì)疑并被斷然拒絕。(NaturalNews) In what many believe to be an attempt to backdoor its products into a new market, Monsanto has donated hundreds of tons of patented hybrid seeds, fertilizers and pesticides to earthquake stricken Haiti. Initially, Monsanto planned to donate GMO "Roundup ready" seeds, but that offer was rejected by Haiti's Ministry of Agriculture. Though Monsanto termed their donation an effort to help provide earthquake relief, Monsanto's "generosity" is being met with skepticism and outright rejection.
Last month, 10,000 farmers marched in protest against Monsanto and a group of small farmers burned a symbolic quantity of hybrid corn seed in the central square of the agricultural town of Hinche. A 200,000-member national coalition is encouraging Haiti farmers to burn all Monsanto seeds already distributed, and has called on the government to reject additional shipments.
Peasant leader Chavannes Jean-Baptiste told IPS News: Farmers want to preserve their traditional "organic agriculture that respects the environment and fights against its degradation. We defend native seeds and the rights of peasants on their land." Jean-Batiste also said "Fighting hybrid and GMO seeds is critical to save our diversity and our agriculture" and maintained that a "county has a right to define its own agricultural policies, to grow first for the family and then for local market, to grow healthy food in a way which respects the environment and Mother Earth."
另一位農(nóng)夫說(shuō)：“種子和水是人類(lèi)的共同遺產(chǎn)。”
Another peasant farmer stated, "Seeds and water are the common patrimony of humanity."
The corn seeds Monsanto donated to Haiti have been treated with the fungicide Maxim XO, while the calypso tomato seeds were treated with Thiram. Thiram is a highly toxic chemical which the EPA examined and deemed to be so dangerous that agricultural workers are now mandated to wear protective clothing when handling them.
Multinational seed giant Monsanto is known around the world for its aggressive GMO and hybrid policies. It is also known for intimidating and suing farmers and small agricultural companies it claims have violated its contracts and patents, including farmers whose fields have been contaminated by pollen from adjacent genetically engineered crops or who have had voluntary seed sprout from a previous year's crop. By 2007 Monsanto had already collected over $21.5 million in judgments in the U.S. alone.
Monsanto is also infamously known for the deaths and health problems resulting from its highly toxic herbicide product Agent Orange, which caused cancer in large numbers of U.S. Veterans. The Vietnamese government claims that 400,000 of their citizens died or were disabled and 500,000 children were born with birth defects as a result of Agent Orange.
While Monsanto is calling the seeds a donation, it isn't hard to see how the company will benefit by getting farmers hooked on a need that only it can supply, as it has done elsewhere around the world - most notably in the U.S. and Canada. Once Monsantos seeds are introduced, they often also profit from sales of their fertilizer, pesticides and herbicides, whose demand usually increases in proportion to the use of its seeds.
Seed company giants Monsanto, Syngenta, Dupont and Bayer control more than half of the world's seed patents. Monsanto has almost 650 seed patents, most of which are for cotton, corn, and soy. The company also owns almost 30 percent of the share of all the world's biotechnology research and development.
The world's largest confederation of farmers, Via Campesina, has called Monsanto one of the "principal enemies of peasant sustainable agriculture and food sovereignty for all peoples."
Congratulations for speaking out against the most EVIL MAFIA of all times!!!
These DeathSeeds are for one and only purpose: to control the population, by causing illnesses and cancer. It's happening now in south america, and usa.
So what american farmers do ??? nothing. they co-operate for $$$
GMO farming is the worst--the very worst disaster ---to ever hit this planet! We are already eating and drinking more than enough pesticides. Anyone who has done any research at all knows that pesticides increase cancer and other diseases. Our politicians will NOT listen to us! They serve the big corporations.
We must hit them in the wallet. Even though we, the American public, are guinea pigs with seemingly no right to labeling so we can make our own choices, we can still refuse to buy the corn, the soy, the sugar beet sugar, canola, and cottonseed oil.
I am writing to Montana Wheat Co. in my state because they are not polluted yet. I am thanking them for being a non-GMO company; and I am sending them lots of information that I have found through my research. Monsanto treats farmers like they are ignorant dogs. They deceive them into planting their corrupted seeds which require their poisonous herbicides. we must educate people. Power is in numbers. The politicians (at least most of them) don't seem to give a damn! I get terrible reactions when I eat anything containing GMOs. No wonder when you learn what you are eating!
Control and distribute the drug regardless of harm.
It is a CRIME what they are doing to food, the environment, and PEOPLE'S HEALTH!!!!!
"Better Living through Chemistry"......NOOOOOOTTTTT!!!!!
It is the chemicals that are causing the toxicity. It is toxicity that is harmful. The plants absorb that and then you eat it!!!!!
Oh, Great!!! Now I have to buy a FOOD FILTER!!!!!!
And the Hell of it is that you can probably NOT get away from these genetically modified products from these Seed Syndicate companies here in the USA!!!!!
I thought the whole idea behind GMO was to make the plant LESS dependant on fertilizer and pesticides, by making it stronger and more resistant in the first place!!!!!!!!
And yet they give more and more F & P's with their GMO SEEDS?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
Does not make sense that they are strengthening the food, but at ACTUALLY WEAKENING IT!!!!!!!!! Making it more dependent on F & P's.....THEIR PATENTED F & P's for THEIR PATENTED GMO SEEDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
GLOBAL BRANDING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THE EPA NEEDS TO JUST BAN THEIR CRAP!!!!! And that is the polite word!!!
Isn't the "P" in in EPA supposed to stand for PROTECTION?
Where the freakin' hell is our protection?
The EPA is and has been for years protecting only big business instead of the the PUBLIC whom they were implemented to protect.
FDA, EPA, USDA, are all a sham because they are solely serving corporate interests over the public interest. Stand up now and be heard ! Let's make our government work for us ! After all, we pay their salaries, don't we?
Bravo to those Haitian farmers. Unlike most of our farmers, they've obviously done their research, and know that GM food is just another way for certain Western companies to control the world food supply.
Shame on Monsanto for pretending that their toxic 'donation' was intended to help Haiti. Shame on Monsanto of exploiting the hardship and poverty of others to grab control.
Shame on you and the other multinationals who are eroding our diversity and free choice. I feel ashamed for your children and grandchildren who do not realise that their comfortable little lives are built on the misery, poverty and hunger of millions of other little children. I feel ashamed for them when one day they realise that their own countrymen are being fed toxic food because of your greed.
Should politicians do anything to stop GM foods? Of course they should. But most of them probably have fingers in the profit-making pie, as they do in the big profitable pharmaceutical pie and the armaments pie. Don't look for help there.
It's up to us to demand action, to put our votes where they count, to support GM free industries and farms. It's up to us to be willing to pay a little more for healthy food, so that more farmers and small grocers can make a decent living providing it for us.
Uhh Anonymous 6 I do believe that was kinda the point. Conditions are terrible in Haiti and in the midst of the hardship and turmoil the evil that is Monsanto is trying to take advantage. Cheers to the farmers who even in the face of this trajedy are fighting to maintain their identity and traditional way of life. Not to mention keeping those toxic crops from spreading.
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nmcd72 7/21
孟都山公司是所有人的敵人。
Monsanto is everyone's enemy!
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ThomasW 7/21
孟山都是奪命鬼，而他們卻樂(lè)此不疲，惡心啊！！！！！
Monsanto spells DEATH and their happy with that designation....sick!!!!!
what great courage given that they are still enduring such great diffaculty. watched the cnn special on them 6 mths later, nothings gotten better. the promised US $'s, still havent shown up, the hospitols are closing or empty. they are still in the exact place they were, kudo's to Sean Penn, who's there and has been for months, helping, setting up a hospital, etc. HUGE SHAME ON MOSANTO!!!! greed!!!!!!!!
Yeah, I like what Sean Penn and Oliver Stone have said about Hugo Chavez as well. Our brainwashing media make Chavez out to be the bad guy, when really he is the good guy. Mainstream Media is a lying machine.
How would a bunch of Haitian farmers even know about Monsanto and their drugged up seeds? Hell, half or more of the people right here in American don't know it -- and when told, they don't believe it. This sounds more like wishful thinking if you ask me.
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nmcd72 7/21
很多很多事情全世界都知道，就是美國(guó)人不知道。
Americans don't know A LOT of things that the rest of the world knows.
Take that you dirty rotten murderous Monsanto! it's time to put Big Chemical, Big Ag, Big Pharma, Big Oil, Big Government and the rest of the crooked Bigs back in their place or Out-of-Business! they ALL are ruining this Great country.
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naturerocks 7/21
真精彩啊！要是世界其他地方的人也這么做就好了。
FANTASTIC! now IF ONLY PEOPLE IN THE REST OF THE WORLD WOULD DO THE SAME...
Good for Haiti, someone needs to reflect some sense. This is difficult to wrap my head around "By 2007 Monsanto had already collected over $21.5 million in judgments in the U.S. alone." That was done by sueing good farmers who refuse to use their deadly seed. That itself SHOULD be criminal. All of USA should be outraged. The goverment can't be counted on to protect it's people, they are the ones that have allowed this in the first place!!!! WAKE THE F#*K UP PEOPLE.
Ahhhh, God that felt good...just because people live in poverty, doesn't mean they're stupid!!!! WAY TO GO FOLKS!!! I'd really like to see more nations bitchslap Monsanto. Just look at what this SATANIC company has tried to pull on farmers here in the U.S. where their rotten seeds have blown into traditional cornfields. They SUED those farmers for copyright infringement!!!! These people didn't plant or even want these evil plants anywhere near their property! These things SHOULD be outlaw and ALL GMO seeds worldwide BURNED. While we're at it, let's also burn Monsanto's leadership at the stake too. The people are just plain EVIL!
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E. 7/20
干得好，海地！！！很高興他們?cè)诿仙蕉級(jí)赫ブ熬妥约赫玖⑵饋?lái)了！！
Way to go Haiti!!! Glad they are standing up for themselves before they're oppressed by Monsanto!!
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Gary C 7/20
海地人比美國(guó)人聰明嗎？加油，海地！！！
are haitians smarter than american farmers? Go Haiti!!!
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NARDA 7/20
這一大耳光把孟山都扇得好。加油，海地！！;)
Big slap in the face for Monsanto. Go Haiti!! ;)
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Multiverse Dancer 7/19
非常高興他們站起來(lái)反抗孟都山！這篇文章讓我笑逐顏開(kāi)。:-)
I'm glad they are standing up to Monsanto! This article brought a big smile to my face. :-)
This article uses alarmist language that seems unnecessary for the situation. There is more to the story than presented here. I hope you'll check out Hybrids in Haiti on Biofortified.
I would have thought Monsanto was being philanthropic had I not recently seen the film, "Food, Inc." These farmers are wise to not even get started with Monsanto.
Monsanto donated vegetable seeds to farmers in Haiti, to help increase food production and aid the country during its recovery. The reason for us donating the seeds that we did? The Haitian people need good quality seed, because the better the seed, the better the chances for more food from the same land.
The post above has some inaccurate information regarding Monsanto's seed donation, including information that Thiram belonged to the ethylene bisdithiocarbamates (EBDCs) class of chemicals. This is incorrect. The current classification is (dimethyl dithiocarbamate) DMDC. Source: Oregon State University, 1996.
For more information on Monsanto's seed donation and to answer many of the questions asked, you can see the post on the Monsanto blog.
We talk even more about the seed donation on our website
I just have one qusetion. do the Haitians have another source that will give them 60,000 seed sacks (475 tons) of seeds? I was donating to Haiti but I can stop now since they don't need my money anymore. Thanks!
OUTSTANDING!!! WAY TO GO MR. JEAN-BAPTISTE!!! TELL MONSATO TO TAKE THEIR JUNK AND HEAD OUT!! THEY HAVE NO RESPECT FOR MOTHER NATURE, ONLY FOR MIGHTY DOLLAR + WORLD CONTROL WITH THEIR JUNK / OR AS YOU PUT IT SIR "A NEW EARTHQUAKE"
Promptly return to us all of the generous donations, in cash and in kind, we have shipped to Haiti. We now understand we have made a terrible mistake in offering assistance to an otherwise proud and thriving peasant royalty lanquishing in their exquisitely crafted utopian ecosystem.
We had no idea our misplaced compassion would threaten a grand legacy, centuries old, of tastefully understated all-natural prosperity in Haiti. Our error in judgement was innocent enough. No insult was intended. Just return the loot and we will call it even. No hard feelings.
1. Haiti needs help recovering from their natural disaster
2. Haiti needs to rebuild everything for their future
3. The rejection of Monsanto's "donation" does not mean Haiti needs no help, it means the "help" from Monsanto comes at too high a price
4. The future of the food production and biodiversity of Haiti will/may be irreparably compromised if the seed provided by Monsanto is utilized
Help today at the cost of tomorrow is not exactly "Help".
If we sent the Army Corps of Engineers and the Navy CB to Haiti to rebuild their city out of cardboard it would provide shelter, but for how long, and at what cost in the future? Would that be a valuable donation?
Not every gift is worthy of receipt. In the case of the Monsanto seed, the Haitian farmers are careful and cautious about preserving their future and the future of their young at the expense of a donation that may cost them more in the long run than it cost them now.
Americans (we) have a difficult time recognizing that tomorrow is more important than today. The Haitians have a much stronger grasp on that concept than we do.
Please realize that the seeds Monsanto is donating are hybrid seeds, not GMO. Hybrid seeds have been planted in the US for several decades. As these seeds are not GMO, any seeds CAN be saved and planted the next year. They are NOT required to use any specific chemicals on them. People that buy in to this type of crap are ridiculous.
jjdoublej Even if they are just hybrid seeds, most hybrids are sterile. So you could save all the seeds you want, but would get very few if any to germinate. So you would still be right back to buying more seeds next year. Most seed companies are aware of this, and tend to offer more hybrids, so that you have to buy more seeds from them, rather than being able to save your own. So maybe you should actually look into the claims that you are making instead of saying its ridiculous crap and burying your head in the sand.
monsanto may do things that are bad but their critics are mostly opposed to gmos for no sane reason. i remember them getting criticized for making seeds that make sterile plants (that won't reproduce and make new seeds) and they get criticized for their gmos dumping their genetics into the global gene pool. you can't criticize them for both without flagging yourself as a capriciously unserious reactionary idiot.
1. "i remember them getting criticized for making seeds that make sterile plants" - sterile plants means you can't let some plants go to seed, save them, and generate a new crop from those seeds the next year. Instead, you have to head back to Monsanto and spend more $ next year.
2. "they get criticized for their gmos dumping their genetics into the global gene pool" - GMOs freely mixing with other non-GMO plants thank to air pollinating crops such as corn means the overall variety of crop genetics becomes dwindled and gradually more crops become fertilized w. GMO pollen. More of the same type of plant (on a genetic level) means higher likelihood of broad disease spread, lack of disease resistance, and possibly even a reduction in nutritional value. GMO cropping makes it difficult for other farmers to protect the heirloom varieties of the same crop thanks to cross-pollination (at which point Monsanto has been known to sue the non-GMO farmer because their crop could not be considered Monstanto crop).
If that doesn't make sense to you, you should think deeply about who the real idiot in this situation is.
I've spent 2 months in Haiti working for the Navy. Haiti was once a very fertile and productive country. Haiti does not have an agriculture problem. It has/had a government and social class problem. They don't need seeds from monsanto. They need things like building codes, roads, infrastructure and public education.
Monsanto is only trying to get their foot in the door on the agriculture market. Luckily there are a few Haitians that are smart enough to close the door in their face.
The comments of those supporting Monsanto's "generosity" do not ring true, leaving me with the suspicion they have more than altruistic motives for supporting this business. I too am biased. I have read "Monsanto's Harvest of Fear." Google it, and you'll learn why.
Is Monsanto still in the practice of suing farmers whose crops have been pollinated by crops on other farms that have used Monsanto seeds, and putting those small farmers out of business?
I'd also like to know more about the farmers in India that are committing suicide as the only way to escape being debt-slaves to Monsanto.
Thank you,
A Concerned Mom
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Jig 07/13/2010 11:50PM
孟都山：這個(gè)星球上最大的禍害之一，千真萬(wàn)確。
Monsanto: one of the largest destructive forces on the planet.
How typical of America to donate and expect the peasants to be grateful. How dare they say they don't want the seeds? Don't they know that America rules the world?
Monsanto is not America! Come on! and I am really against Monsanto practices. Let's not take shortcuts. Monsanto has some "not-so" hidden motives for sure! But please do not equates a whole country with one company!
Doc Mudd I get the distinct impression you are a hired goon intent on not seeing the truth of the matter.
Monsanto's general nature, and record of illegal and abusive activity evinces a scheme where profit is prioritized over health, safety, and market independence.
Allow me to play the fool when I say, if I haven't said it clearly enough, fuck the monopolistic uncaring cunts at Monsanto. If using a tragedy as a method to secure a future market is defined as "charity" then I rather not have Monsanto as my benefactor. I would just as soon starve.
If you have been reading, there appears to be more than just "armchair agronomists" commenting on this article. I happen to be an agronomist that spends much of my time in the third world, and I can tell you that the advantages of open pollinated (heirloom) seeds are real. There are many reasons why the Haitians are wise to reject this so called gift, the least of which is not Monsanto's horrible track record. Gm and hybrid seeds are always going to favor the producer,always! Hybrid seeds have their advantages in certain farm production, but not in developing or unstable countries.
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