Ethical Investing
Monsanto Terminator Technology -- Worldwide Famine & Starvation
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Monsanto is in the process of acquiring and patenting their newest technology, known
as "Terminator Technology." This technology is currently the greatest threat to
humanity. If it is used by Monsanto on a large-scale basis, it will inevitably
lead to famine and starvation on a worldwide basis.
Billions of people on the planet are supported by farmers who save
seeds from the crops and replant these seeds the following year. Seeds are planted.
The crop is harvested. And the seeds from the harvest are replanted the following
year. Most farmers cannot afford to buy new seeds every year, so collecting
and replanting seeds is a crucial part of the agricultural cycle. This is the
way food has been grown successfully for thousands of years.
With Monsanto's terminator technology, they will sell seeds to farmers to
plant crops. But these seeds have been genetically-engineered so that when the
crops are harvested, all new seeds from these crops are sterile (e.g., dead,
unusable). This forces farmers to pay Monsanto every year for new seeds if
they want to grow their crops.
In less rich countries, hundreds of millions of people rely heavily on small
farms which produce foods for the region. If these farms begin to use
Monsanto's terminator technology, and cannot afford to buy new genetically
engineered seeds from Monsanto the following year, many of the people in the
region may starve. Under normal circumstances, food could be brought in from
other regions. However, many of those other regions will likely have the
same problems with famine due to Monsanto's terminator technology.
"It's terribly dangerous," says Hope Shand, "half the world's
farmers are poor and can't afford to buy seed every growing season, yet poor farmers
grow 15 to 20% of the world's food and they directly feed at least 1.4 billion people - 100
million in Latin America, 300 million in Africa, and 1 billion in Asia. These farmers
depend upon saved seed and their own breeding skills in adapting other varieties for use
on their (often marginal) lands."
What is even more frightening is that traits from genetically-engineered
crops can get passed on to other crops. Once the terminator seeds are released
into a region, the trait of seed sterility could be passed to other
non-genetically-engineered crops making most or all of the seeds in the region
sterile.
Camila Montecinos, an agronomist with the Chilean organization,
CET, has another concern, "We've talked to a number of crop geneticists who have
studied the patent," she says. "They're telling us that it's likely that pollen from crops
carrying the Terminator trait will infect the fields of farmers who either reject or can't
afford the technology. Their crop won't be affected that season but when farmers reach
into their bins to sow seed the following season they could discover - too late - that some
of their seed is sterile. This could lead to very high yield losses. If the technology is
transmitted through recessive genes, we could see several years of irregular harvests and a
general - even dramatic - decline in food security for the poorest farm communities."
Because of the worldwide condemnation of terminator seeds, Monsanto
appears to be verbally distancing itself from its own technology that it
is in the process of acquiring. Even without the threat of this technology
Monsanto is contributing significant to the destruction of health and
environment around the world. But if this technology is released by
Monsanto, it could spell disaster for hundreds of millions of people
around the world. How anyone could invest in such a company is difficult
to imagine!
Other resources for Monsanto Terminator Technology information on the Internet:
Disclaimer
http://www.ethicalinvesting.com/monsanto/terminator.shtml
Terminator: Profiting By Spreading Sterility (RAFI Web Page)