"A new earthquake" is what peasant farmer leader Chavannes Jean-Baptiste of the Peasant Movement of Papay (MPP) called the news that Monsanto will be donating 60,000 seed sacks (475 tons) of hybrid corn seeds and vegetable seeds, some of them treated with highly toxic pesticides. The MPP has committed to burning Monsanto's seeds, and has called for a march to protest the corporation's presence in Haiti on June 4, for World Environment Day.
In an open letter sent of May 14, Chavannes Jean-Baptiste, the Executive Director of MPP and the spokesperson for the National Peasant Movement of the Congress of Papay (MPNKP), called the entry of Monsanto seeds into Haiti "a very strong attack on small agriculture, on farmers, on biodiversity, on Creole seeds..., and on what is left our environment in Haiti."[1] Haitian social movements have been vocal in their opposition to agribusiness imports of seeds and food, which undermines local production with local seed stocks. They have expressed special concern about the import of genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
For now, without a law regulating the use of GMOs in Haiti, the Ministry of Agriculture rejected Monsanto's offer of Roundup Ready GMO seeds. In an email exchange, a Monsanto representative assured the Ministry of Agriculture that the seeds being donated are not GMO.
Elizabeth Vancil, Monsanto's Director of Development Initiatives, called the news that the Haitian Ministry of Agriculture approved the donation "a fabulous Easter gift" in an April email.[2] Monsanto is known for aggressively pushing seeds, especially GMO seeds, in both the global North and South, including through highly restrictive technology agreements with farmers who are not always made fully aware of what they are signing. According to interviews by this writer with representatives of Mexican small farmer organizations, they then find themselves forced to buy Monsanto seeds each year, under conditions they find onerous and at costs they sometimes cannot afford.
The hybrid corn seeds Monsanto has donated to Haiti are treated with the fungicide Maxim XO, and the calypso tomato seeds are treated with thiram.[3] Thiram belongs to a highly toxic class of chemicals called ethylene bisdithiocarbamates (EBDCs). Results of tests of EBDCs on mice and rats caused concern to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which then ordered a special review. The EPA determined that EBDC-treated plants are so dangerous to agricultural workers that they must wear special protective clothing when handling them. Pesticides containing thiram must contain a special warning label, the EPA ruled. The EPA also barred marketing of the chemicals for many home garden products, because it assumes that most gardeners do not have adequately protective clothing.[4] Monsanto's passing mention of thiram to Ministry of Agriculture officials in an email contained no explanation of the dangers, nor any offer of special clothing or training for those who will be farming with the toxic seeds.
Haitian social movements' concern is not just about the dangers of the chemicals and the possibility of future GMO imports. They claim that the future of Haiti depends on local production with local food for local consumption, in what is called food sovereignty. Monsanto's arrival in Haiti, they say, is a further threat to this.
"People in the U.S. need to help us produce, not give us food and seeds. They're ruining our chance to support ourselves," said farmer Jonas Deronzil of a peasant cooperative in the rural region of Verrettes.[5]
Monsanto's history has long drawn ire from environmentalists, health advocates, and small farmers, going back to its production of Agent Orange during the Vietnam war. Exposure to Agent Orange has caused cancer in an untold number of U.S. Veterans, and the Vietnamese government claims that 400,000 Vietnamese people were killed or disabled by Agent Orange, and 500,000 children were born with birth defects as a result of their exposure.[6]
Monsanto's former motto, "Without chemicals, life itself would be impossible," has been replaced by "Imagine." Its web site home page claims it "help[s] farmers around the world produce more while conserving more. We help farmers grow yield sustainably so they can be successful, produce healthier foods... while also reducing agriculture's impact on our environment."[7] The corporations' record does not support the claims.
Together with Syngenta, Dupont and Bayer, Monsanto controls more than half of the world's seeds.[8] The company holds almost 650 seed patents, most of them for cotton, corn and soy, and almost 30% of the share of all biotech research and development. Monsanto came to own such a vast supply by buying major seed companies to stifle competition, patenting genetic modifications to plant varieties, and suing small farmers. Monsanto is also one of the leading manufacturers of GMOs.
As of 2007, Monsanto had filed 112 lawsuits against U.S. farmers for alleged technology contract violations or GMO patents, involving 372 farmers and 49 small agricultural businesses in 27 different states. From these, Monsanto has won more than $21.5 million in judgments. The multinational appears to investigate 500 farmers a year, in estimates based on Monsanto's own documents and media reports.[9]
"Farmers have been sued after their field was contaminated by pollen or seed from someone else's genetically engineered crop [or] when genetically engineered seed from a previous year's crop has sprouted, or 'volunteered,' in fields planted with non-genetically engineered varieties the following year," said Andrew Kimbrell and Joseph Mendelson of the Center for Food Safety.[10]
In Colombia, Monsanto has received upwards of $25 million from the U.S. government for providing Roundup Ultra in the anti-drug fumigation efforts of Plan Colombia. Roundup Ultra is a highly concentrated version of Monsanto's glyphosate herbicide, with additional ingredients to increase its lethality. Colombian communities and human rights organizations have charged that the herbicide has destroyed food crops, water sources and protected areas, and has led to increased incidents of birth defects and cancers.
Vía Campesina, the world's largest confederation of farmers with member organizations in more than sixty countries, has called Monsanto one of the "principal enemies of peasant sustainable agriculture and food sovereignty for all peoples."[11] They claim that as Monsanto and other multinationals control an ever larger share of land and agriculture, they force small farmers out of their land and jobs. They also claim that the agribusiness giants contribute to climate change and other environmental disasters, an outgrowth of industrial agriculture.[12]
The Vía Campesina coalition launched a global campaign against Monsanto last October 16, on International World Food Day, with protests, land occupations, and hunger strikes in more than twenty countries. They carried out a second global day of action against Monsanto on April 17 of this year, in honor of Earth Day.
Non-governmental organizations in the U.S. are challenging Monsanto's practices, too. The Organic Consumers Association has spearheaded the campaign "Millions Against Monsanto," calling on the company to stop intimidating small family farmers, stop marketing untested and unlabeled genetically engineered foods to consumers, and stop using billions of dollars of U.S. taypayers' money to subsidize GMO crops.[13]
The Center for Food Safety has led a four-year legal challenge to Monsanto that has just made it to the U.S. Supreme Court. After successful litigation against Monsanto and the U.S. Department of Agriculture for illegal promotion of Roundup Ready Alfalfa, the court heard the Center for Food Safety's case on April 27. A decision on this first-ever Supreme Court case about GMOs is now pending.[14]
"Fighting hybrid and GMO seeds is critical to save our diversity and our agriculture," Jean-Baptiste said in an interview in February. "We have the potential to make our lands produce enough to feed the whole population and even to export certain products. The policy we need for this to happen is food sovereignty, where the county has a right to define it 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."
Many thanks to Moira Birss for her assistance with research and writing.
Beverly Bell has worked with Haitian social movements for over 30 years. She is also author of the book Walking on Fire: Haitian Women's Stories of Survival and Resistance. She coordinates Other Worlds, www.otherworldsarepossible.org, which promotes social and economic alternatives. She is also associate fellow of the Institute for Policy Studies.
1 Group email from Chavannes Jean-Baptiste, May 14, 2010.
2 Email from Elizabeth Vancil to Emmanuel Prophete, Director of Seeds at the Haitian Ministry of Agriculture, and others; released by the Haitian Ministry of Agriculture, date unavailable.
3 Ibid.
4 Extension Toxicology Network, Pesticide Information Project of the Cooperative Extension Offices of Cornell University, Michigan State University, Oregon State University, and University of California at Davis, http://pmep.cce.cornell.edu/profiles/extoxnet/pyrethrins-ziram/thiram-ext.html
5 Jonas Deronzil's comments are from an interview in April. He was not specifically discussing Monsanto.
6 MSNBC, January 23, 2004. "Study Finds Link Between Agent Orange, Cancer." The Globe and Mail, June 12, 2008. "Last Ghost of the Vietnam War"
7 www.monsanto.com
8 La Vía Campesina, "La Vía Campesina carries out Global Day of Action against Monsanto", Oct. 16, 2009, http://viacampesina.org/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=797:peasants-worldwide-rise-up-against-monsanto-gmos&catid=49:stop-transnational-corporations&Itemid=76
9 Center for Food Safety, "Monsanto vs. US Farmers," Nov. 2007.
10 Andrew Kimbrell and Joseph Mendelson, Center for Food Safety, "Monsanto vs. US Farmers," 2005.
11 La Vía Campesina, October 16, 2009, Op. Cit.
12 La Vía Campesina, "La Vía Campesina Call to Action 17 April 2010 - Join the International Day of Peasant Struggle," Feb. 23, 2010, http://www.mstbrazil.org/?q=node/639
13 Organic Consumers Association, "Taxpayers Forced to Fund Monsanto's Poisoning of Third World," Finland, Minnesota, http://www.organicconsumers.org/
14 Center for Food Security, "Update: CFS Fighting Monsanto in the Supreme Court," May 11, 2010, http://truefoodnow.org/?CFID=23809091&CFTOKEN=67921769
Follow Beverly Bell on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Other_Worlds
http://www.alternet.org/economy/137059/1,500_indian_farmers_commit_mass_suicide:_why_we_are_complicit_in_these_deaths/
Answer: Absolutely nothing. But it is a good propaganda point.
Most people buy seed every year because either 1) it is a hybrid or 2) they don't want to go through the effort to harvest/clean seeds or 3) they understand that better seeds are produced every year.
This is basic science and farming, folks. It's not that difficult to understand!
Agricultural development is critical for Haiti and was even before the earthquake. Lambi Fund of Haiti, a partner organization of AJWS, has been working with rural communities to create indigenous seed banks, building expertise in farming techniques and using environmentally-friendly methods to renew depleted Haitian soil.
Advocates for common sense food aid, including AJWS, are asking Congress to spend the $150 million dollars requested by the Obama Administration for Food Aid to Haiti on resources that will help Haiti feed itself for the long-term. You can make your voice heard by signing this petition: https://secure.ajws.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=481
Monsanto's donation – just like the US government's in-kind food aid donations – should empower rather than dis-empower the rural communities working to grow food for their country over the long term. More to the point, the communities most affected by these donations should decide whether they want this aid at all and if so, what they want and when they want it. It's unclear in this case if Monsanto or anyone else has asked them.
The page you linked to is dated May 18, 2010. It is titled "Five Questions Monsanto Needs to Answer about its Seed Donation to Haiti" http://ajws.org/hunger/news/five_questions_for_monsanto.html
On May 20th, a Monsanto representative, here, provided a link to a blog entry titled "Five Answers on Monsanto’s Haiti Seed Donation" that included the link above and provided more details.
http://www.monsantoblog.com/2010/05/20/five-answers-monsanto-haiti/
Hmmm....
watch out for the pro-monsanto commentators all over this blog today.........like weeds in a field they're wreaking havoc with disinformation and propaganda!!
(Ad hominems are used when there's no argument left)
My question is, why is Oxfam supporting GMOs?
An open letter to Oxfam America April 2010 by 41 groups protesting Oxfam's stance on GMOs is worth a look.
Oxfam, Bill Gates and Bill Clinton are working together in Haiti. They are the kinder gentler face of Monsanto.
"We the undersigned, as part of the global food justice and food sovereignty movement, are writing to you to express our grave concerns with the recent position publicized by Oxfam America in support of agricultural biotechnology as a viable solution for addressing poverty faced by resource poor and subsistence farmers in developing countries. We deemed necessary to write to you ....because Oxfam America appears to be positioning itself as a ‘good broker’ for independent research on Bt cotton in West Africa with support from the Gates Foundation....
....Although the [Oxfam sponsored] book alleges its neutral stance on biotechnology, it appears very biased in favor of transgenic crops. Its conclusion...CONTRADICTS several major assessments conducted by the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development and the United Nations Development Program ...As colleagues who share the principles of Oxfam’s mission to “influence the powerful to ensure that poor people can improve their lives and livelihoods,” we are deeply troubled. The publication betrays the vibrant global movement that is demanding a more ecologically sustainable and socially just agriculture, free from corporate control...."
http://www.oaklandinstitute.org/?q=node/view/552
I had ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA about Anniston, and that is shameful! I try to stay abreast of things, and I cannot believe that my DISGUST for Monsanto could get any deeper.... !!!! Thank you Charlotte!
"In 1966, Monsanto managers discovered that fish submerged in that creek turned belly-up within 10 seconds, spurting blood and shedding skin as if dunked into boiling water. They told no one. In 1969, they found fish in another creek with 7,500 times the legal PCB levels. They decided "there is little object in going to expensive extremes in limiting discharges.""
The chemicals used to treat the donated seeds are popular with farmers all around the world, including Haiti and the USA. There is no reason these seeds couldn't be sold and used here. These chemicals help young seedlings survive fungal infections long enough to get a decent start. The fungicide decomposes into harmless compounds long before the plants begin to bear fruit. Saying these seeds are "contaminated" or dangerous is kind of like saying that the fungal ointments used to treat athletes' feet are dangerous. Well, yeah - if you gargle with it. Used properly, fungicides are completely benign. Harvests would be much smaller without them.
Here's a link that describes this class of chemicals: extension.agron.iastate.edu/soybean/seedfungtmt.html
I don't know if Ms. Bell's scary choice of words is based on a basic ignorance of science or a deliberate effort to be misleading. Either way, the only folks who would be fooled by these scare tactics are people who didn't do well in chemistry and biology class.
Of course, that includes the vast majority of Americans - as seen in the loopy comments below.
Monsanto offer 475 tons of carefully selected hybrid seed. Apparently it is a one time offer.
The vegetable seeds have been used in Haiti before. The Maize hybrid seed has not. No GMO technology was used to produce it. Just hybrid see used everywhere .http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7651977.stm
"Monsanto notified the Ministry that the donated seeds would have fungicide treatments. The Ministry continued to be supportive, offering the following:“Let me also thank you for the information about the seed treatments for the Monsanto Hybrids. The products listed are used everyday in Haitian agriculture and should pose no problem.”
Hybrid Seed
-----
If you have open pollination seed, when you harvest your crop, you keep some and use it to grow the next crop. The seed you use for the next crop will be the same as used for the previous crop.
With hybrid seed, you get one good harvest because of hybrid vigor. I don't understand it. Maybe you can do better. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heterosis But the seed from that harvest isn't the same as the hybrid seed. It won't give the same results if you use it for the next crop. Farmers understand this. Monsanto understands this. The NGOs Monsanto is working with know this. So Monsanto is working with NGOs in Haiti to ensure that it makes sense to use the seeds. Here is who they brought on board.
http://winner.ht/ This group is connected with the US government. But it doesn't sound like your typical foreign aid project. It sounds awfully lefty to me.
An initiative connected with New York's Columbia university. Home of the GMO lovers ---- yeah, right.
http://www.earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/1791
For more details, please actually read what Monsanto has to say.
http://www.monsantoblog.com/2010/05/20/five-answers-monsanto-haiti/
Monsanto may be very, very evil and nasty 99 44/100th of the time. But here they took their time and probably thought that they had planned their offer so carefully that they could not be criticized. Boy, were they wrong. I doubt if they will make the same mistake again--- so people will probably die next time.
Researching this comment took about 30 minutes. Writing the nonsense it responds to must have taken a lot longer.
tt seems to me that only Monsanto and the Haitian Agricultural officials know what Monsanto offered. And the only evidence is what Monsanto is saying , which is : "Monsanto contacted the Haitian Ministry of Agriculture and offered specific non-GMO seed varieties and quantities suited for Haiti’s growing conditions. The Ministry reviewed the offer and asked some questions, including whether we intended to include GMO seed because Haiti does not have the legal framework in place to approve or use biotech seeds today.
We clarified that Monsanto’s offer was only for conventionally bred hybrids. The Ministry let us know what crop seeds would be acceptable to their farmers. In a letter to Monsanto, the Ministry said:
“Thank you for Monsanto’s generous offer to donate Vegetable seeds and Hybrid maize seeds to benefit the Haitian farmers. The vegetable seeds have been tested in Haiti previously and are well accepted by the farmers. They will definitely contribute to an increase in vegetable production in Haiti.”
http://www.monsantoblog.com/2010/05/20/five-answers-monsanto-haiti/
Monsanto may be lying, but there is no evidence that they are.
I guess that their hybrid seeds should be burned as well. Here is what this NGO says.
"Improved seed production.
Currently the majority of farmers are planting food grains bought in the market and crop yields are at subsistence levels. Improved seeds, selected for local conditions, offer farmers a better chance to harvest lucrative crops. The program is working with both newly developed hybrid and open-pollinated varieties of corn, selected black bean varieties, sorghum and pigeon peas. ORE has set up a seed processing facility in Camp Perrin where we produce approximately three hundred tons of commercial seeds a year, using material from our ongoing seed research and improvement program. The benefits are increased yields, higher income and improved nutrition."
See http://www.oreworld.org/seed.htm
If the options are non-GMO hybrid seed from Monsanto and no seed to grow crops, burning the Monsanto seed doesn't make a lot of sense.
Monsanto worked very carefully to try to provide a stopgap so some farmers would have seed to grow crops. Even so, they \are getting hammered. Unfortunately, I think they'll learn the lesson and not offer anything like this in the future.
I can barely describe how horrified I am to read such ignorant Western arrogance from my fellow Americans. It is shocking to read this kind of stupidity at a time when so many people - especially children - are facing such stark conditions.
Haitians have better choices than an "gift" from Monsanto.
Of all the screwy complaints I've seen about modern agriculture, the complaint about hybridization has got to be the absolute dumbest. Hybrid seeds yield as much as twice as much as non-hybrid. Hybrids have been used for at least a century, they have prevented global famines, and they are desperately needed by impoverished farmers anywhere.
This objection goes w-a-a-y beyond ignorance and lands firmly in the realm of the bizarre.
If I was an impoverished Haitian farmer, I would be infuriated at the actions of these privileged pinheads who are preventing poor Haitians from getting help they desperately need.
It’s disappointing to see people encouraging Haitian farmers to “burn Monsanto seeds,” especially when the ones hurt by that action will be Haitian farmers and the Haitian people—not those of us watching on the sidelines.
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 here: http://www.monsantoblog.com/2010/05/20/five-answers-monsanto-haiti/
Thank you,
Kathleen Manning
Monsanto Company
1. What do Monsanto crops do to native plant species once planted? (Hint: it ain't good)
2. Are farmers required to use Monsanto chemicals to maintain Monsanto crops? (Hint: yup)
3. Would the hybrids Monsanto creates in a lab EVER occur in nature? (Hint: not likely)
Monsanto has one motivation in donating these seeds: control over Haiti's agricultural future, aka greed. Unless Haiti burns those seeds, it will be beholden to Monsanto forever and ever... just the way Monsanto wants it. Any further spin and misinformation, Ms. Manning...?
I am baffled by why people think a gift of seeds, which we receive no revenue for and which farmers aren’t buying from Monsanto, will create any kind of control over Haiti.
1. I am not sure what you mean by what our crops do to native plant species. Seeds like this are grown all over the world, and by home gardeners. They exist next to native plant species. They have no power by themselves to do anything to native plant species.
2. No, they don’t. Farmers are not required to use any chemicals on our crops or any other crops. Chemicals are not needed to grow these seeds.
3. Yes. Hybrids do sometimes occur in nature. I think you may be confusing GMOs with hybrids. Yes, GMOs are created in the labs. We did not send GMO seed to Haiti.
I sincerely hope you read the blog post and see the benefit that this donation has for a struggling country like Haiti.
Best,
Kathleen Manning
Anyone thinking these seeds are a good thing should read this article.
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/5/17/867193/-Haitian-Farmers-Commit-to-Burning-Monsanto-Hybrid-Seeds
Did you read the comments about the cheerleading done by the opinionated loudmouths at the so-called "Center For Food Safety"?
BTW, the fact that these fat, pampered pinheads picked a deliberately misleading name should be a tip-off to any thinking person. The "Center for Food Safety" has no connection - none - to the federal Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. This group does no research, helps no starving people, runs no farms, and grows nothing but press releases and lawsuits.
This insufferable group of overfed, overeducated trustfunders is hard to take when they address issues in the best-fed nation in the world. Hearing them bloviate on conditions in Haiti is truly disgusting.
Clearly, you do not know what you are talking about. Successful farmers all around the world use hybrid seeds, which are sold by many people, not just Monsanto.
Prophete, I am truly sorry that you and your people can't get the help you need because of so many overfed Americans who care more about politics than you. This is a horrible development that should make all Americans ashamed.
Also stay tuned for Monday's blog, which will explore alternatives to industrial agriculture already underway in Haiti.
I will withhold judgement until I read your blog next week. In the meantime, I must confess that I find such concerns to be misplaced in Haiti. The problem there is starvation. Any method that feeds the starving children is OK with me.
Monsanto's all over these blogs now trying to hoodwink ppl into believing their nonsense....and when you dont buy it they try insulting you.......
These are who I call 'Progressive-Minded Folks,' truly. I'm so impressed with their movement and taking a stand like this. It's now time to start creating honest business dealing (credits) with these honorable people and sell (credits) to them with organic/heirloom seeds -- they are so good for it.
So happy for them and for our earth.
Now, if only Africa can repeat this with the 'Gates Seeds' coming their way.
Celebrating the triumph of ignorance is shameful. This is disgusting.
Second, the only reason Monsanto wants farmers to use Monsanto GMOs is because, once sown and grown, the farmer is required to use ONLY Monsanto's proprietary fertilizers and pest controls to maintain those crops. Thus, the farmer is locked into being forced to use Monsanto products for the duration of the time he or she grows Monsanto's GMO crop. Thus, the Monsanto's goal isn't to "build a better mouse trap," but to trap farmers into never-ending agricultural servitude to Monsanto.
Greed drives Monsanto... nothing else.
Monsanto has no problem recreating the devastation of what they put the Indian farmers through, and what they have to endure -- it's criminal.
"Greed drives Monsanto... nothing else." Truer words have never been spoken.
True food security lies in maximum biodiversity, in humans having a large range of food species to choose from for agriculture. We have already lost thousands of food plant species to extinction due to mass-agricultural engineering, and for an island nation like Haiti it is critical that they retain native and locally-adapted food plant species. And not just for Haiti, this is a global issue.
Bravo to the Haitians for standing up to Monsanto. Power to the people!
Monsanto is just another corporate example where lack of proper regulations has created another monster in the name of unrestrained capitolism. If you want to know more about this check PBS 'Frontline' investiagtions Archives--it was another sad eye opener.
Haitian farmers need help (and seed) yesterday. How many children will starve while pampered Americans who don't know how to use a hoe debate what would be best for impoverished third world farmers.
The idea that Americans are celebrating plans to burn donated seed makes me want to puke.