Monsanto and Michael Pollan Talk About Creating a World That Can Feed Itself

Monsanto is the evil bastard of the agriculture industry, but I don't think we have to bash them for things they never released. The terminator seed, as it is dubbed, was developed but never released for fear it would pollinate other crops or plants and affect them as well.

That being said, Monsanto should burn to the ground. There's not a single sustainable thing they do. They are the biggest anti-sustainability conglomerate and as we well know with the economy, they way they want to do things is going to do nothing but end in a nice big crash. Bigger is not better, teaching and conservation is.

@Cybercat:

You're right, the technology was never commercialized. My mistake; I've taken that reference out. Thanks for spotting that!

@ cybercat

Though the terminator seeds were not released I think it was much more of a government suggestion/ruling* than a Monsanto business decision.

*Different countries took varying non-implementable views of these seeds. Monsanto would have loved to see farmers non-terminator crops be wiped out by terminator cross pollination and subsequently have more farmers purchase seeds them.

I don't believe Monsanto to be the salvation they consider themselves to be.
Monsanto have created to many environmental disasters to be trusted with things of such great importance.

It is amazing how much control Monsanto has.

Increasing yields drives down prices and famer's income. So farmers plant more mono-crops increasing harvest and driving prices down. So, famers plant even more crops.

These small family farms that have not gone local or organic are caught in a nasty cycle.

There has to be a better way to feed people, create a livelihood for small farmers and move away from mono-culture & pesticides...? !

Monsanto is here to sabotage the Human Race for a profit. It's has gone beyond business and beyond science into a caricature of all that is monstruous about greed.
But hey, they're friends with Google.

It's a matter of time until they sue Norway for patent infringment for the contents of their vault.

Regardless of whether the terminator seed hit the market or not; the fact it even came close to it speaks volumes about the company's goals I feel.

It's just pure evil in my opinion - global food security shouldn't be left in the hands of greedy shareholders who care about nothing more than about returns.

GMO crops *are* already infecting non-GMO crops - a coincidental side effect? Seems mighty convenient. Supposedly Monsanto then goes and chases farmers who have fallen victim to this cross pollination telling them that they have infringed on their IP rights - Kaching!

Monsanto has also been busy buying up seed companies around the world - including the brands that many folks plant in their back yard veggie gardens.

An eye opener is "The World According to Monsanto". The full documentary can be viewed here:

http://www.greenlivingtips.com/blogs/287/Monsanto-and-GMO-crop-video.html

I am very relieved that there are people out there that are willing to stand up to these mega corporations and form your own opinions and voice your concerns instead of follow along like the sheep they think we are. To prove that your voice does matter, citizens have been petitioning to get mandatory GMO's labeling in the United States. Recently Dennis Kucinich has introduced a bill to Congress and I am hoping that more people will come forward and join in to show the government how important this is to us!!! We have the right to choose if we want to consume GMO's or not! Visit "thecampaign.org" to get more info on the matter. And I wanted to thank all of you for questioning authority and voicing your opinions-THANK YOU!!

It's absurd how so many people can have so much vague hatred for corporations - until the corporation makes something they want. Monsanto is no more or less altruistic than any other company - Apple, Eli Lilly, Google, AT&T or GE. They all have some small number of greedy or pinned down businessmen and lawyers who make the news with corruption and cover ups, but 95% of the employees, 95% of the time go to work every day hoping that what they do makes the world a better place. It's simply stupid to think that all the scientists, breeders, program directors and salesmen at Monsanto (many of whom grew up on small farms themselves) have no regard for the products they contribute to. All the seed industry employees I've met have been passionate about the aspects of their jobs (small or large) that let them contribute to the world. Every year modern hybrid seed helps farmers keep their land a little longer and helps poor people (like myself) afford good food. It's fine if you want to have a elite, philosophical approach to your food, but don't try to make that decision for everyone else.