Monsanto Terminator Technology -- Worldwide Famine & Starvation

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!

www.ethicalinvesting.com...

Now that is weird ! ... I was talking with KayEm a gew hours ago about just this subject. And now you post the very same thing. I had heard of this about a year ago (from David Icke, I think) and was appalled at the possible consequences. Monsanto, alongside many other corporations think only of one thing - profits.

I wonder how many people remember the Bhopal incident, where 3800 people were killed by a gas leak from the Union Carbide factory. Or the numerous oil spills and economic disasters caused by penny pinching and greed for profit. Monsanto are just following along in their footsteps.

Hopefully more people will wake up to what is going on and then the # will hit the fan for those greedy corporations.

[Edited on 28-1-2004 by Pisky]

This topic has been public in Europe, Africa, Australia etc for a while yet as it relates to the Genetic Engineering debate.

Although America rolled over and died without a struggle the exact senareo portrayed here is what the rest of the world is scared of.

It is dangerous, real, and deadly to humanity.

Companies That Sell Open-Pollinated (Non-Hybrid) Seeds
Here is a list of seed companies that sell non-hybrid seeds. These seeds produce plants whose seeds can be planted successfully.

Burpee Heirloom Seed Catalog, W. Atlee Burpee Co., 300 Park Ave. Warminister, PA 18991-0008.
Chiltern Seeds, Bortree Stile, Ulverston, Cumbria, LA12 7PB England.
Comstock Ferre, 263 Main St., Wethersfield, CT 06109
Heirloom Seeds, PO Box 245, West Elizabeth, PA 15332, or www.heirloomseeds.com...
Land's Valley Museum Heirloom Seed Project, 2451 Kissel Hill Road, Lancaster, PA 17601-4899.
Old Sturbridge Village Museum and Select Seeds, 180 Stickney Road, Union, CT 06076.
Thomas Jefferson Center for Historic Plants, Monticello, PO Box 318, Charlottesville, VA 22902.
Gift Shop, 1 Old Sturbridge Village Road, Sturbridge, MA 01566
White Flower Farm, Shepard's Garden Seeds, 30 Irene St., Torrington,CT 06790.



www.thecampaign.org...
After four years of lightning fast growth, the food biotechnology revolution may be about to crest on American farms. Caught between questions about the quality of the new seeds and the public's skittish reaction to them, farmers are expected to cut back on their planting of genetically modified crops this year.
The Worldwatch Institute, a think tank critical of the new seeds, predicts farmers will plant 25 percent fewer genetically altered seeds this spring.

The board of Monsanto need to be taken away and shot. They are truly evil, heartless, money-obsessed bastards and I have no use for them. I wouldn't even bother feeding them to the dog, since they would probably give him the #s.



[Edited on 28-1-2004 by Pisky]

Biopiracy!

Replacing virtually all the self-replenishing normal food crops,

with sterile GMO Monsanto crop that produce non-viable seeds.



Depop and fascist maximized monopoly profit at the same time!

unitedstatesfascism.blogspot.com...