A small bit of independent thinking about facts in plain sight could do the job of altering the consciousness of our “civilized” world (an occupation often infamously labeled conspiracy theory). For that, we need education, not schools, we need to tell our kids how to think, not what. We need to tell them that, in a world where lies have become truth, resistance is a duty. One of the most obvious playgrounds where things go terribly wrong and the extent of the damage is beyond imagination is the food industry and, therein, the famous company called Monsanto.
To be able to wrap my mind around it, I made a short summary of facts about this company, many deem the spearhead of corporatocracy, institutionalized evil, to see what is in there. Gathered from the – most probably Monsanto-edited – Wikipedia page you can find here for reference.
Monsanto was founded in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1901, by John Francis Queeny, a 30‑year veteran of the pharmaceutical industry.
The company’s first product was the artificial sweetener saccharin, which was sold to the Coca-Cola Company.
In 1926 the company founded and incorporated a town called Monsanto in Illinois (now known as Sauget). It was formed to provide a liberal regulatory environment and low taxes for the Monsanto chemical plants at a time when local jurisdictions had most of the responsibility for environmental rules.
In the late 1960s, the Monsanto plant in Sauget, IL. was the nation’s largest producer of PCBs, which remain in the water along Dead Creek in Sauget.
In 1943 … Monsanto’s Central Research Department began to conduct research for the Manhattan Project under contract from the US government. …and assisted in the development of the first nuclear weapons.
Monsanto began manufacturing DDT in 1944.
In the 1960s and 1970s, Monsanto was also one of the most important producers of Agent Orange for United States Armed Forces operations in Vietnam.
In 1968, it became the first company to start mass production of (visible) light emitting diodes (LEDs), using gallium arsenide phosphide.
Monsanto was a pioneer of optoelectronics in the 1970s.
Monsanto scientists became the first to genetically modify a plant cell in 1982. Five years later, Monsanto conducted the first field tests of genetically engineered crops.
1985: Monsanto purchased G. D. Searle & Company for $2.7 billion in cash.
In this merger, Searle’s aspartame business became a separate Monsanto subsidiary, the NutraSweet Company.
In 1994, Monsanto introduced a recombinant version of bovine somatotropin, brand-named Posilac. Monsanto later sold this business off to Eli Lilly and Company. (genetically engineered bovine growth hormone, not allowed into the market in the EU).
In 1996, Monsanto purchased Agracetus, the biotechnology company that had generated the first transgenic varieties of cotton, soybeans, peanuts, and other crops.
Monsanto first entered the maize seed business when it purchased 40% of DEKALB in 1996; it purchased the remainder of the corporation in 1998.
In 1998 Monsanto purchased Cargill‘s seed business, which gave it access to sales and distribution facilities in 51 countries.
In 2005, it finalized the purchase of Seminis Inc, a leading global vegetable and fruit seed company, for $1.4 billion. This made it the world’s largest conventional seed company at the time.
2010, Forbes magazine named Monsanto company of the year for 2009.
As of 2009, the overall Roundup line of products including the GM seeds represented about 50% of Monsanto’s business.
About 150 companies have licensed the technology, including Syngenta and Dupont/Pioneer.
United States Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas
worked as an attorney for Monsanto in the 1970s. Thomas wrote the majority opinion in the 2001 Supreme Court decision J. E. M. Ag Supply, Inc. v. Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc. which found that “newly developed plant breeds are patentable under the general utility patent laws of the United States.”
Mr. Earle H. Harbison, Jr. > served with the Central Intelligence Agency CIA for 18 years, after which he had a career at Monsanto, rising to the roles of President, Chief Operating Officer, and Director of Monsanto, which he held from 1986 to 1993.
Michael A. Friedman, MD, > was Senior Vice President of Research and Development, Medical and Public Policy for Pharmacia, and later served as an FDA deputy commissioner.
Linda J. Fisher > was an assistant administrator at the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) before she was a vice president at Monsanto from 1995 to 2000. In 2001, Fisher became the deputy administrator of the EPA.
Michael R. Taylor > was an assistant to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner. He later served as deputy commissioner for policy to the FDA on food safety between 1991 and 1994 during which time the FDA approved rBST. Taylor returned to Monsanto as Vice President for Public Policy. On July 7, 2009, Taylor entered government as Senior Advisor to the Commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration for the Obama administration.
Mickey Kantor > served on Monsanto’s board after serving in government as a trade representative.
William D. Ruckelshaus > served as the first head of the Environmental Protection Agency(EPA) in 1970, was subsequently acting Director of the FBI, and then Deputy Attorney General of the United States. From 1983 to 1985, he returned as EPA administrator. After leaving government he joined the Board of Directors of Monsanto; he is currently retired from that board.
Between serving for Gerald Ford and George W. Bush, Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was chairman and CEO of G. D. Searle & Company, a pharmaceutical company which produced aspartame. Monsanto bought the company in 1985, and re-branded aspartame as NutraSweet.
MICHAEL STOR 