Bayer-Monsanto: A Mergr of Two Evils
Ronnie Cummins- Organic Consumers Assoc.
A Crime Is a Crime
It’s been about a week since Monsanto and Bayer confirmed their intention to say “I do”—ample time for media, lawmakers, consumer and farmer advocacy groups, and of course the happy couple themselves, to weigh in on the pros and cons.
Reactions poured in from all the usual suspects.
Groups like the Farmers Union, Food & Water Watch, Friends of the Earth and others didn’t mince words when it came to condemning the deal.
Predictably, the corporate heads of state last week promoted the proposed $66-billion deal as an altruistic plan to improve “the lives of growers and people around the world.” This week, they told Senate Judiciary Committee members that the merger “is needed to meet a rising food demand.”
Is anyone out there still buying the line that Monsanto and Bayer are in the business of feeding the world? When all the evidence says otherwise?
Even if that claim weren’t ludicrous, who thinks it’s a good idea to entrust the job of “feeding the world” to the likes of Bayer, a company that as part of the I.G. Farben cartel in the 1940s produced the poison gas for the Nazi concentration camps, and more recently sold HIV-infected drugs to parents of haemophiliacs in foreign countries, causing thousands of children to die of AIDS?
Race to the Bottom
On Sunday (September 25) thousands of runners will show up early in the morning in 37 cities in 22 countries for the Global Energy Race, sponsored by Bimbo, the world’s largest baking company.
Nothing wrong with organizing a global race to draw attention to personal health and climate change—unless you’re running a company that feeds junk food to kids, and contributes to global warming by destroying the world’s soils with pesticides.
Bimbo USA is a subsidiary of Mexico-based Grupo Bimbo, which has operations in 21 countries. Here in the U.S., Bimbo’s operates more than 60 bakeries (according to the company website) and markets a long list of brands, including Arnolds, Sara Lee, Thomas’ English Muffins, Orowheat, Stroemans.
In July, Bimbo bought the Eureka Grainiac Organic line. The company also sells a brand called “Nature’s Harvest".
For the most part, Bimbo products are junk food. Search the website Fooducate.com and you’ll find nutritional information on a lot of Bimbo products, many of which high-fructose corn syrup, trans-fats, artificial color and petroleum-derived antioxidants and high levels of sugar.
That’s some crazy cognitive dissonance—encouraging a healthy lifestyle while feeding the world unhealthy food.
In a promotional video for the Global Energy Race, Bimbo promises that the race will “rock your world.” The company also promises to donate up to 250,000 slices of (junk) bread to food banks—up to 10 slices per race registration.
We challenge Mr. Servitje and Bimbo to rock our world, by taking the lead in ridding the world’s bread of toxic pesticides. A company the size of Bimbo could have a huge impact on health and global warming if instead of organizing races, the company stopped dumping pesticides into the world’s soils.
Countdown to Justice
While the CEOs of Monsanto and Bayer were droning on last week about their (phony) love of farmers and their (bogus) plans to feed the world, organizers of the International Monsanto Tribunal were booking flights for witnesses, and finalizing programs for both the formal tribunal and the People’s Assembly.
The International Monsanto Citizens’ Tribunal is less than a month away. The People’s Assembly will begin on October 14. The tribunal itself will begin on October 15.
Both will take place in The Hague, Netherlands—also known as the International City of Peace and Justice.
Five distinguished international judges will preside over the tribunal. Thirty witnesses and scientific and legal experts will present testimony during the two-day proceedings.
More than 45,000 citizens and nearly 800 organizations have already signed on to endorse this historic citizens’ initiative. Have you signed yet?
To mark the end of the tribunal, and World Food Day (both on October 16), those who can’t travel to The Hague are organizing protests and house parties in a show of solidarity. Want to participate in an event near you? Or organize your own? Email campaigns@organicconsumers.org for details and materials.
The tribunal, announced nine months ago during the COP21 Climate Summit in Paris, has been in the works for more than a year. We’re almost there. We still need your help.
Sign on as a supporter of the Monsanto Tribunal (no donation required)
Make a donation to the Monsanto Tribunal
Share this post on Facebook. Post on social media using hashtags #ExposeMonsantosCrimes and #MonsantoTribunal
Email campaigns@organicconsumers.org for help organizing a World Food Day protest or house party
Email campaigns@organicconsumers.org for your free packet of Tribunal/ Monsanto Makes Us Sick leaflets, posters and stickers
Learn more about the People’s Assembly
Register to attend the People’s Assembly and the formal Tribunal
Download the MonsantoTribunal leaflet
Download the Monsanto Tribunal poster
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More on the Monsanto Tribunal here and here.
Unstoppable.
In any event, the food movement is going to continue to grow, and its vision will force a social and intellectual transformation of our society. The benefits of this transformation will be immense.” – Jonathan Latham
Last week, in an article titled “Food Liberation: Why the Food Movement Is Unstoppable,” Jonathan Latham, co-founder and executive director of the Bioscience Resource Project, laid out his theories about the food movement. One of the points he made, backed up by the New York Times, is that the food movement has created ‘complete paranoia” within the junk food industry:
Not long ago, The New York Times asserted that the center aisles of US supermarkets are being called "the morgue" because sales of junk food are crashing; meanwhile, an international consultant told Bloomberg magazine that "there's complete paranoia" at major food companies where food movements are being taken very seriously.
We just wrapped up our third-quarter fundraising. Once again, you came through. Donations of $5, $10, $15—they all added up, proving once again, that the grassroots food movement is powered by millions of people determined to take back our food movement from the degenerative corporations that have corrupted it.
Thanks to you, this movement is unstoppable. We are grateful beyond words.
Donate to the Organic Consumers Association (tax-deductible, helps support our work on behalf of organic standards, fair trade and public education)
Donate to the Organic Consumers Fund (non-tax-deductible, but necessary for our GMO labeling legislative efforts)
Support OCA's Regeneration International Project (tax-deductible, helps support our work on behalf of organic, regenerative agriculture and climate change)
A Theater Near You? By allowing corporations like Bayer and Monsanto to patent and monopolize seeds, we’ve left ourselves frightening vulnerable. How do we get out of this mess? By protecting the diversity and freedom of seeds. “SEED: The Untold Story” opens in 60 cities this week. The film arrives in New York on September 23, and in Los Angeles on September 30 for a week-long run. Find a complete listing of screenings here. Described by the Hollywood Report Card as “ . . . a beautiful piece of art, careful, deeply colored, and poetic . . ,” SEED completes the trilogy that began with “The Real Dirt on Farmer John” and “Queen of the Sun: What Are the Bees Telling Us?” For tickets, visit www.seedthemovie.com |
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Cuba! |
