Monsanto is the world's leading producer of the herbicide
“Roundup", as well as producing 90% of the world's genetically modified
(GMO) seeds.
Monsanto, best known today for its agricultural
biotechnology GMO products, has a long and dirty history of polluting this
country and others with some of the most toxic compounds known to humankind.
From PCBs to Agent Orange to Roundup, we have many reasons to question the
motives of this evil corporation that claims to be working to reduce environmental
destruction and feed the world with its genetically engineered GMO food crops.
Monsanto has been repeatedly fined and ruled against for, among many things:
mislabeling containers of Roundup, failing to report health data to EPA, plus
chemical spills and improper chemical deposition.
The name Monsanto has since, for many around the world, come
to symbolize the greed, arrogance, scandal and hardball business practices of
many multinational corporations. A couple of historical factoids not generally
known: Monsanto was heavily involved during WWII in the creation of the first
nuclear bomb for the Manhattan Project via its facilities in Dayton Ohio and
called the Dayton Project headed by Charlie Thomas, Director of Monsanto's
Central Research Department (and later Monsanto President) and it operated a
nuclear facility for the federal government in Miamisburg, also in Ohio, called
the Mound Project until the 80s.
Over Monsanto's 110-year history (1901-2011), Monsanto Co
(MON.N), the world's largest seed company, has evolved from primarily an
industrial chemical concern into a pure agricultural products company. MON
profited $2 billion dollars in 2009, but their record profits fell to only $1
billion in 2010 after activists exposed Monsanto for doing terribly evil acts
like suing good farmers and feeding uranium to pregnant women. Below is an
edited (by me) timeline of Monsanto's dark history. The full article can be
read below or here
Sweet 'N Low1901: Monsanto was founded in St. Louis,
Missouri by John Francis Queeny, a 30-year veteran of the pharmaceutical
industry. Queeny funded the start-up with capital from Coca-Cola (saccharin).
Founder John Francis Queeny named Monsanto Chemical Works after his wife, Olga
Mendez Monsanto. Queeny's father in law was Emmanuel Mendes de Monsanto,
wealthy financier of a sugar company active in Vieques, Puerto Rico and based
in St. Thomas in the Danish West Indies.
1902: Monsanto manufactures its first product, the
artificial sweetener Saccharin, which Monsanto sold to the Coca-Cola Company.
The U.S. government later files suit over the safety of Saccharin - but loses.
1957-1967: Monsanto was the creator of several attractions
in Disney's Tommorrowland. Often they revolved around the the virtues of
chemicals and plastics. Their "House of the Future" was constructed
entirely of plastic, but it was NOT biodegradable. "After attracting a
total of 20 million visitors from 1957 to 1967, Disney finally tore the house
down, but discovered it would not go down without a fight. According to
Monsanto Magazine, wrecking balls literally bounced off the glass-fiber,
reinforced polyester material. Torches, jackhammers, chain saws and shovels did
not work. Finally, choker cables were used to squeeze off parts of the house
bit by bit to be trucked away."
1959: Monsanto sets up Monsanto Electronics Co. in Palo
Alto, begins producing ultra-pure silicon for the high-tech industry, in an
area which would later become a Superfund site.
1960: Edgar Queeny turned over the chair of Monsanto to
Charles Thomas, one of the founders of the research and development laboratory
so important to Monsanto. Charlie Sommer, who had joined Monsanto in 1929,
became president. According to Monsanto historian Dan Forrestal, "Leadership
during the 1960s and early 1970s came principally from ... executives whose
Monsanto roots ran deep." Under their combined leadership Monsanto saw
several important developments, including the establishment of the Agricultural
Chemicals division with focus on herbicides, created to consolidate Monsanto's
diverse agrichemical product lines.
agent orange1961-1971: Agent Orange was a mixture of 2,4,5-T
and 2,4-D and had very high concentrations of dioxin. Agent Orange was by far
the most widely used of the so-called "Rainbow Herbicides" employed
in the Herbicidal Warfare program as a defoliant during the Vietnam War.
Monsanto became one of 10-36 producers of Agent Orange for US Military
operations in Vietnam. Dow Chemical and Monsanto were the two largest producers
of Agent Orange for the U.S. military. The Agent Orange produced by Monsanto
had dioxin levels many times higher than that produced by Dow Chemicals, the
other major supplier of Agent Orange to Vietnam. This made Monsanto the key
defendant in the lawsuit brought by Vietnam War veterans in the United States,
who faced an array of debilitating symptoms attributable to Agent Orange
exposure. Agent Orange is later linked to various health problems, including
cancer. U.S. Vietnam War veterans have suffered from a host of debilitating
symptoms attributable to Agent Orange exposure. Agent Orange contaminated more
than 3,000,000 civilians and servicemen. According to Vietnamese Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, 4.8 million Vietnamese people were exposed to Agent Orange,
resulting in 400,000 deaths and disabilities, plus 500,000 children born with
birth defects, leading to calls for Monsanto to be prosecuted for war crimes.
Internal Monsanto memos show that Monsanto knew of the problems of dioxin
contamination of Agent Orange when it sold it to the U.S. government for use in
Vietnam.
1962: Public concern over the environment began to escalate.
Ralph Nader's activities and Rachel Carson's book Silent Spring had been
influential in increasing the U.S. public's awareness of activities within the
chemical industry in the 1960s, and Monsanto responded in several ways to the
pressure.
1964: Monsanto introduced "biodegradable"
detergents.
1965: While working on an ulcer drug in December, James M.
Schlatter, a chemist at G.D. Searle & Company, accidentally discovers
aspartame, a substance that is 180x sweeter than sugar yet has no calories.
1965: AstroTurf (fake grass) was co-invented by Donald L.
Elbert, James M. Faria, and Robert T. Wright, employees of Monsanto Company. It
was patented in 1967 and originally sold under the name "Chemgrass".
It was renamed AstroTurf by Monsanto employee John A. Wortmann after its first
well-publicized use at the Houston Astrodome stadium in 1966.
1965: The evidence of widespread contamination from PCBs and
related chemicals has been accumulating and internal Monsanto papers show that
Monsanto knew about the PCB dangers from early on.
1967: Monsanto entered into a joint venture with IG Farben =
the German chemical firm that was the financial core of the Hitler regime, and
was the main supplier of Zyklon-B gas to the German government during the
extermination phase of the Holocaust; IG Farben was not dissolved until 2003.
1967: Searle began the safety tests on aspartame that were
necessary for applying for FDA approval of food additives. Dr. Harold Waisman,
a biochemist at the University of Wisconsin, conducts aspartame safety tests on
infant monkeys on behalf of the Searle Company. Of the 7 monkeys that were
being fed aspartame mixed with milk, 1 monkey DIED and 5 other monkeys had
grand mal seizures.
1968: With experts at Monsanto in no doubt that Monsanto's
PCBs were responsible for contamination, Monsanto set up a committee to assess
its options. In a paper distributed to only 12 people but which surfaced at the
trial in 2002, Monsanto admitted "that the evidence proving the
persistence of these compounds and their universal presence as residues in the
environment is beyond question ... the public and legal pressures to eliminate
them to prevent global contamination are inevitable". Monsanto papers seen
by The Guardian newspaper reveal near panic. "The subject is snowballing.
Where do we go from here? The alternatives: go out of business; sell the hell
out of them as long as we can and do nothing else; try to stay in business;
have alternative products", wrote the recipient of one paper.
1968: Monsanto became the first organization to mass-produce
visible LEDs, using gallium arsenide phosphide to produce red LEDs suitable for
indicators. Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) ushered in the era of solid-state
lights. From 1968 to 1970, sales doubled every few months. Their products
(discrete LEDs and seven-segment numeric displays) became the standards of
industry. The primary markets then were electronic calculators, digital
watches, and digital clocks.
1969: Monsanto wrote a confidential Pollution Abatement Plan
which admitted that "the problem involves the entire United States, Canada
and sections of Europe, especially the UK and Sweden".
1969: Monsanto produces Lasso herbicide, better known as
Agent Orange, which was used as defoliant by the U.S. Government during the
Vietnam War. "[Lasso's] success turns around the struggling Agriculture
Division," Monsanto's web page reads.
1970: Cyclamate (the reigning low-calorie artificial
sweetener) is pulled off the market in November after some scientists associate
it with cancer. Questions are also raised about safety of saccharin, the only
other artificial sweetener on the market, leaving the field wide open for aspartame.
December 18, 1970: Searle Company executives lay out a
"Food and Drug Sweetener Strategy" that they feel will put the FDA
into a positive frame of mind about aspartame. An internal policy memo
describes psychological tactics Monsanto should use to bring the FDA into a
subconscious spirit of participation" with them on aspartame and get FDA
regulators into the "habit of saying Yes."
1971: Neuroscientist Dr. John Olney (whose pioneering work
with monosodium glutamate MSG was responsible for having it removed from baby
foods) informs Searle that his studies show that aspartic acid (one of the
ingredients of aspartame) caused holes in the brains of infant mice. One of
Searle's own researchers confirmed Dr. Olney's findings in a similar study.
Monsanto ROundup Herbicide KILLS ALL ORGANICS!1972: The use
of DDT was banned by U.S. Congress, due in large part to efforts by
environmentalists, who persisted in the challenge put forth by Rachel Carson's
book Silent Spring in 1962, which sought to inform the public of the side
effects associated with the insecticide, which had been much-welcomed in the
fight against malaria-transmitting mosquitoes.
1973: Monsanto developed and patented the glyphosate
molecule in the 1970s. Monsanto began manufacturing the herbicide Roundup,
which has been marketed as a "safe", general-purpose herbicide for
widespread commercial and consumer use, even though its key ingredient,
glyphosate, is a highly toxic poison for animals and humans.
1973: After spending tens of millions of dollars conducting
safety tests, the G.D. Searle Company applies for FDA approval and submits over
100 studies they claim support aspartame's safety. One of the first FDA
scientists to review the aspartame safety data states that "the
information provided (by Searle) is inadequate to permit an evaluation of the
potential toxicity of aspartame". She says in her report that in order to
be certain that aspartame is safe, further clinical tests are needed.
1974: Attorney Jim Turner (consumer advocate who was instrumental
in getting cyclamate taken off the market) meets with Searle representatives in
May to discuss Dr. Olney's 1971 study which showed that aspartic acid caused
holes in the brains of infant mice.
1976: The success of the herbicide Lasso had turned around
Monsanto's struggling Agriculture Division, and by the time Agent Orange was
banned in the U.S. and Lasso was facing increasing criticism, Monsanto had
developed the weedkiller "Roundup" (active ingredient: glyphosate) as
a replacement. Launched in 1976, Roundup helped make Monsanto the world's
largest producer of herbicides. RoundUp was commercialized, and became the
world's top-selling herbicide. Within a few years of its 1976 launch, Roundup
was being marketed in 115 countries.
1976: Monsanto produces Cycle-Safe, the world's first
plastic soft-drink bottle. The bottle, suspected of posing a cancer risk, is
banned the following year by the Food and Drug Administration.
1976: Turner & Olney's petition on March 24 triggers an
FDA investigation of the laboratory practices of aspartame's manufacturer, G.D.
Searle. The investigation finds Searle's testing procedures shoddy, full of
inaccuracies and "manipulated" test data. The investigators report
they "had never seen anything as bad as Searle's testing."
January 10, 1977: The FDA formally requests the U.S.
Attorney's office to begin grand jury proceedings to investigate whether
indictments should be filed against Searle for knowingly misrepresenting
findings and "concealing material facts and making false statements"
in aspartame safety tests. This is the first time in the FDA's history that
they request a criminal investigation of a manufacturer.
Donald Rumsfeld, Ford, Bush, and Monsanto EmployeeMarch 8,
1977: G. D. Searle hires prominent Washington insider Donald Rumsfeld as the
new CEO to try to turn the beleaguered company around. A former Member of
Congress and Secretary of Defense in the Ford Administration, Rumsfeld brings
in several of his Washington cronies as top management. Donald Rumsfeld followed
Searle as CEO, and then as President of Searle from 1977-1985.
August 1, 1977: The Bressler Report, compiled by FDA
investigators and headed by Jerome Bressler, is released. The report finds that
98 of the 196 animals died during one of Searle's studies and weren't autopsied
until later dates, in some cases over one year after death. Many other errors
and inconsistencies are noted. For example, a rat was reported alive, then
dead, then alive, then dead again; a mass, a uterine polyp, and ovarian neoplasms
were found in animals but not reported or diagnosed in Searle's reports.
1980: September 30, FDA Board of Inquiry comprised of 3
independent scientists, confirmed that aspartame "might induce brain
tumors". The Public Board of Inquiry concludes NutraSweet should not be
approved pending further investigations of brain tumors in animals. The board
states it "has NOT been presented with proof of reasonable certainty that
aspartame is safe for use as a food additive." The FDA had actually banned
aspartame based on this finding, only to have Searle Chairman Donald Rumsfeld
(Ford's Secretary of Defense 1975-1977, Bush's Secretary of Defense 2001-2006)
vow to "call in his markers," to get it approved in 1981.
January 1981: Donald Rumsfeld, CEO of Searle, states in a
sales meeting that he is going to make a big push to get aspartame approved
within the year. Rumsfeld says he will use his political pull in Washington,
rather than scientific means, to make sure it gets approved.
July 15, 1981: 1982: Monsanto GMO scientists genetically
modify a plant cell for the first time!
1982: Some 2,000 people are relocated from Times Beach,
Missouri, which was found to be so thoroughly contaminated with dioxin, a
by-product of PCB manufacturing, that the government ordered it evacuated.
Dioxins are endocrine and immune system disruptors, cause congenital birth
defects, reproductive and developmental problems, and increase the incidence of
cancer, heart disease and diabetes in laboratory animals. Critics say a St.
Louis-area Monsanto chemical plant was a source but Monsanto denies any
connection.
October 15, 1982: The FDA announces that GD Searle has filed
a petition that aspartame be approved as a sweetener in carbonated beverages
and other liquids.
July 1, 1983: The National Soft Drink Association (NSDA)
urges the FDA to delay approval of aspartame for carbonated beverages pending
further testing because aspartame is very unstable in liquid form. When liquid
aspartame is stored in temperatures above 85°F degrees Fahrenheit, aspartame
breaks down into known toxins Diketopiperazines (DKP), methyl (wood) alcohol,
and formaldehyde.
July 8, 1983: The National Soft Drink Association drafts an
objection to the final ruling which permits the use of aspartame in carbonated
beverages and syrup bases and requests a hearing on the objections. The
association says that Searle has not provided responsible certainty that
aspartame and its' degradation products are safe for use in soft drinks.
August 8, 1983: Consumer Attorney, Jim Turner of the Community
Nutrition Institute and Dr. Woodrow Monte, Arizona State University's Director
of Food Science and Nutritional Laboratories, file suit with the FDA objecting
to aspartame approval based on unresolved safety issues.
September, 1983: FDA Commissioner Hayes resigns under a
cloud of controversy about his taking unauthorized rides aboard a General Foods
jet. (General foods is a major customer of NutraSweet) Burson-Marsteller,
Searle's public relation firm (which also represented several of NutraSweet's major
users), immediately hires Hayes as senior scientific consultant.
Fall 1983: The first carbonated beverages containing
aspartame are sold for public consumption.
1983: Diet Coke was sweetened with aspartame after the
sweetener became available in the United States.
1985: Monsanto purchased G.D. Searle, the chemical company
that held the patent to aspartame, the active ingredient in NutraSweet.
Monsanto was apparently untroubled by aspartame's clouded past, including a
1980 FDA Board of Inquiry, comprised of three independent scientists, which
confirmed that it "might induce brain tumors". The aspartame business
became a separate Monsanto subsidiary, the NutraSweet Company.
1986: Monsanto found guilty of negligently exposing a worker
to benzene at its Chocolate Bayou Plant in Texas. It is forced to pay $100
million to the family of Wilbur Jack Skeen, a worker who died of leukemia after
repeated exposures.
1986: At a congressional hearing, medical specialists
denounce a National Cancer Institute study disputing that formaldehyde causes
cancer. Monsanto and DuPont scientists helped with the study, whose author
provided results to the Formaldehyde Institute industry representatives nearly
six months before releasing the study to the EPA, labor unions, and the public.
1986: Monsanto spends $50,000 against California's
anti-toxics initiative, Proposition 65. The initiative prohibits the discharge
of chemicals known to cause cancer or birth defects into drinking water
supplies.
1987: Monsanto conducted the first field tests of
genetically engineered (GMO) crops.
1987: Monsanto is one of the companies named in an $180
million settlement for Vietnam War veterans exposed to Agent Orange.
1987: Monsanto consolidated its AstroTurf management,
marketing, and technical activities in Dalton, Georgia, as AstroTurf
Industries, Inc.
1988: A federal jury finds Monsanto Co.'s subsidiary, G.D.
Searle & Co., negligent in testing and marketing of its Copper 7
intrauterine birth control device (IUD). The verdict followed the unsealing of
internal documents regarding safety concerns about the IUD, which was used by
nearly 10 million women between 1974 and 1986.
1990: Monsanto spends more than $405,000 to defeat
California's pesticide regulation Proposition 128, known as the "Big
Green" initiative. The initiative is aimed at phasing out the use of
pesticides, including Monsanto's product alachlor, linked to cancer and global
warming.
1990: With the help of Roundup, the agriculture division of
Monsanto was significantly outperforming Monsanto's chemicals division in terms
of operating income, and the gap was increasing. But as Glover notes, while
"such a blockbuster product uncorks a fountain of revenue", it
"also creates an uncomfortable dependency on the commercial fortunes of a
single brand. Monsanto's management knew that the last of the patents
protecting Roundup in the United States, its biggest market, would expire in
the year 2000, opening the field to potential competitors. The company urgently
needed a strategy to negotiate this hurdle and prolong the useful life of its
'cash cow'."
1991: Monsanto is fined $1.2 million for trying to conceal
discharge of contaminated waste water into the Mystic River in Connecticut.
1993: By April, the Department of Veterans Affairs had only compensated
486 victims, although it had received disability **CLAIMS** from 39,419 veteran
soldiers who had been exposed to monsanto's Agent Orange while serving in
Vietnam. No compensation has been paid to Vietnamese civilians and though some
compensation was paid to U.S. veterans, according to William Sanjour, who led
the Toxic Waste Division of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),
"thousands of veterans were disallowed benefits" because
"Monsanto studies showed that dioxin [as found in Agent Orange] was not a
human carcinogen." An EPA colleague discovered that Monsanto had
apparently falsified the data in their studies. Sanjour says, "If [the
studies] were done correctly, they would have reached just the opposite
result."
Monsanto Pus Milk1994: the first of Monsanto's biotech
products to make it to market was not a GMO crop but Monsanto's controversial
GMO cattle drug, bovine growth hormone - called rBGH or rBST, Monsanto granted
regulatory approval for its first biotech product, a dairy cow hormone.
Monsanto developed a recombinant version of BST, brand-named Posilac bovine
somatropin (rBST/rBGH), which is produced through a genetically engineered GMO
E. coli bacteria. Synthetic Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH), approved by the FDA
for commercial sale in 1994, despite strong concerns about its safety. Since
then, Monsanto has sued small dairy companies that advertised their products as
free of the artificial hormone, including Ben & Jerry's ice cream and most
recently bringing a lawsuit against Oakhurst Dairy in Maine.
Roundup Ready Canola1995: Genetically engineered canola
(rapeseed) which is tolerant to Monsanto's Roundup herbicide was first
introduced to Canada. Today 80% of the acres sown are genetically modified
canola.
1995: Monsanto is sued after allegedly supplying radioactive
material for a controversial study which involved feeding radioactive iron to
829 pregnant women.
1995: Monsanto ranked 5th among U.S. corporations in EPA's
Toxic Release Inventory, having discharged 37 million pounds of toxic chemicals
into the air, land, water and underground. Monsanto was ordered to pay $41.1
million to a waste management company in Texas due to concerns over hazardous
waste dumping.
Roundup Ready Soybeans1995: The Safe Shoppers Bible says
that Monsanto's Ortho Weed-B-Gon Lawn Weed Killer contains a known carcinogen,
2,4 D. Monsanto officials argue that 'numerous studies have found no link to
cancer'.
1996: Monsanto introduces its first biotech crop, Roundup
Ready soybeans, which tolerate spraying of Roundup herbicide, and biotech BT
cotton engineered to resist insect damage.
As Monsanto had moved into biotechnology, its executives had
the opportunity to create a new narrative for Monsanto. They begun to portray
genetic engineering as a ground-breaking technology that could contribute to
feeding a hungry world. Monsanto executive Robb Fraley, who was head of the
plant molecular biology research team, is also said to have hyped the potential
of GMO crops within the company, as a once-in-a-generation opportunity for
Monsanto to dominate a whole new industry, invoking the monopoly success of
Microsoft as a powerful analogy. But, according to Glover, the more
down-to-earth pitch to fellow executives was that "genetic engineering
offered the best prospect of preserving the commercial life of Monsanto's most
important product, Roundup in the face of the challenges Monsanto would face
once the patent expired."
Monsanto eventually achieved this by introducing into crop
plants genes that give resistance to glyphosate (the active ingredient in
Roundup). This meant farmers could spray Roundup onto their fields as a
weedkiller even during the growing season without harming the crop. This
allowed Monsanto to "significantly expand the market for Roundup and, more
importantly, help Monsanto to negotiate the expiry of its glyphosate patents,
on which such a large slice of Monsanto's income depended." With
glyphosate-tolerant GMO crops, Monsanto was able ìto preserve its dominant
share of the glyphosate market through a marketing strategy that would couple
proprietary "Roundup Ready" seeds with continued sales of Roundup.
1996-1999: Monsanto sold off its plastics business to Bayer
in 1996, and its phenylalanine facilities to Great Lakes Chemical Corporation
(GLC) in 1999. Much of the rest of its chemicals division was spun off in late
1997 as Solutia. This helped Monsanto distance itself to some extent not only
from direct financial liability for the historical core of its business but
also from its controversial production and contamination legacy.
Roundup Ready CanolaRoundup Ready CanolaRoundup Ready
Canola1997: Monsanto introduces new GMO canola (rapeseed), GMO cotton and GMO
corn (maize), and buys foundation seed companies.
1997: Monsanto spins off its industrial chemical and fibers
business into Solutia Inc. amid complaints and legal claims about pollution
from its plants. Solutia was spun off from Monsanto as a way for Monsanto to
divest itself of billions of dollars in environmental cleanup costs and other
liabilities for its past actions - liabilities that eventually forced Solutia
to seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy. According to a spokesman for Solutia,
"(Monsanto) sort of cherry-picked what they wanted and threw in all kinds
of cats and dogs as part of a going-away present," including $1 billion in
debt and environmental and litigation costs. Some pre-bankruptcy Solutia equity
holders allege Solutia was set up fraudulently as it was always doomed to fail
under the financial weight of Monsanto's liabilities.
1997: The New York State Attorney General took Monsanto to
court and Monsanto was subsequently forced to stop claiming that Roundup is
“biodegradable” and “environmentally friendly”.
1997: The Seattle Times reports that Monsanto sold 6,000
tons of contaminated waste to Idaho fertilizer companies, which contained the
carcinogenic heavy metal cadmium, believed to cause cancer, kidney disease,
neurological dysfunction and birth defects.
1997: Through a process of mergers and spin-offs between
1997 and 2002, Monsanto made a transition from chemical giant to biotech giant.
Monsanto's corporate strategy led them for the first time to acquire seed
companies. During the 1990s Monsanto spent $10 billion globally buying up seed
companies - a push that continues to this day. It has purchased, for example,
Holden's Foundations Seeds, Seminis - the largest seed company not producing
corn or soybeans in the world, the Dutch seed company De Ruiter Seeds, and the
big cotton seed firm Delta & Pine. As a result, Monsanto is now the world's
largest seed company, accounting for almost a quarter of the global proprietary
seed market.
Terminator Seeds1998: Monsanto introduces Roundup Ready corn
(maize).
1998: In the UK, Monsanto purchased the seed company Plant
Breeding International (PBI) Cambridge, a major UK based cereals and potato
breeder, which Monsanto then merged with its existing UK agri-chemicals and GMO
research businesses to form Monsanto UK Ltd. Monsanto UK has carried out field
trials of glyphosate-tolerant sugar / fodder beet, glyphosate-tolerant oilseed
rape, and glyphosate-tolerant and male sterility / fertility restorer oilseed
rape.
1998: "Survey of aspartame studies: correlation of
outcome and funding sources," unpublished: Ralph G. Walton found 166
separate published studies in the peer reviewed medical literature, which had
relevance for questions of human safety. The 74 studies funded by industry all
(100%) attested to aspartame's safety, whereas of the 92 non-industry funded
studies, 84 (91%) identified a problem. 6 of the 7 non-industry funded studies
that were favorable to aspartame safety were from the FDA, which has a public
record that shows a strong pro-industry bias.
1999: After international criticism, Monsanto agrees not to
[PUBLICLY] commercialize "Terminator" seeds.
2000: 5 pesticide companies, including Monsanto, controlled
over 70% of all patents on agricultural biotechnology. Monsanto had the largest
share of the global GMO crops market.
2000: Since the inception of Plan Colombia, the US has spent
hundreds of millions of dollars in funding aerial sprayings of Monsanto's
Roundup herbicides in Colombia. The Roundup is often applied in concentrations
26x higher than what is recommended for agricultural use. Additionally, it
contains at least one surfactant, Cosmo-Flux 411f, whose ingredients are a
trade secret, has never been approved for use in the US, and which quadruples
the biological action of the herbicide. Not surprisingly, numerous human health
impacts have been recorded in the areas affected by the sprayings, including
respiratory, gastrointestinal and skin problems, and even death, especially in
children. Additionally, fish and animals will show up dead in the hours and
days subsequent to the herbicide sprayings.
2000-2002: Monsanto merges with Pharmacia & Upjohn, and
changes its name to Pharmacia Corporation. Monsanto Company restructures in
deal with Pharmacia & Upjohn Inc; separates agricultural and chemicals
businesses and becomes stand-alone agricultural company. By 2000 the current
Monsanto had emerged from various transactions, including a merger for a time
with Pharmacia, as a legally different corporation from the Monsanto that had
existed from 1901-2000. This was despite the fact that both Monsantos shared
not just the same name, but the same corporate headquarters near St. Louis,
Missouri, and many of the same executives and other employees, not to mention
much of the responsibility for liabilities arising out of its former
activities.
2001: Monsanto GMO crops accounted for 91% of the total area
of GMO crops planted worldwide.
2002: Monsanto entered into an important agreement with
DuPont. As a result of this "agreement" both companies agreed to drop
a raft of outstanding patent lawsuits against one another and to share their
patented GMO crops technologies. Some commentators see this ‘agreement' as
constituting a pseudo-merger by stealth of the two companies' GMO crops
monopolies which are too large to be permitted to merge.
August 13, 2002: Monsanto had sales of $4,673,000,000. Based
on 2001 figures Monsanto was the second biggest seed company in the world, and
the third biggest agrochemical company. The infamous agrochemical and
biotechnology division, still known as Monsanto, was spun off as a nominally
separate company with Pharmacia originally retaining an 85% share. Monsanto
Company became completely separate and independent from Pharmacia on August 13,
2002, when Pharmacia distributed its remaining Monsanto shares to Pharmacia's
stockholders.
2002: Events in Argentina also affected the company in other
ways: Monsanto's Argentine unit lost $154 million in the 2002 fiscal year, due
to the collapse of the Argentine economy and a deepening recession which forced
the government to default on most of its public debt, and devalue the peso in
January 2002. The government also converted what was a dollar economy into a
peso economy and, as a result, Monsanto received devalued pesos for products it
had sold in dollars, slashing its sales income.
2002: The Washington Post ran an article entitled,
"Monsanto Hid Decades Of Pollution, PCBs Drenched Alabama Town, But No One
Was Ever Told" about PCBs. Monsanto share price plummeted in the second
half of 2002 following its sell off by former parent company Pharmacia and this
was compounded by the departure of Monsanto's CEO at the end of 2002.
2003: Jury fines Monsanto and its former chemical
subsidiary, Solutia, Inc. (now owned by Pharmacia Corp.), agreed to pay $600
million in August to settle claims brought by more than 20,000+ residents of
Anniston, Alabama - over the severe contamination of ground and water by tons
of PCBs dumped in the area from the 1930s until the 1970s. Court documents
revealed that Monsanto was aware of the contamination decades earlier.
2004: Monsanto forms American Seeds Inc holding company for corn
and soybean seed deals and begins brand acquisitions.
2004-2005: Monsanto filed lawsuits against many farmers in
Canada and the U.S. on the grounds of patent infringement, specifically the
farmers' sale of seed containing Monsanto's patented genes. In some cases,
farmers claimed the seed was unknowingly sown by wind carrying the seeds from
neighboring crops, a claim rejected in Monsanto Canada Inc. v. Schmeiser. These
instances began in the mid to late 1990s, with one of the most significant
cases being decided in Monsanto's favor by the Canadian Supreme Court. By a 5-4
vote in late May 2004, that court ruled that "by cultivating a plant
containing the patented gene and composed of the patented cells without
license, the appellants (canola farmer Percy Schmeiser) deprived the
respondents of the full enjoyment of the patent." With this ruling, the
Canadian courts followed the U.S. Supreme Court in its decision on patent
issues involving plants and genes.
2005: Monsanto has patent claims on breeding techniques for
pigs which would grant them ownership of any pigs born of such techniques and
their related herds. Greenpeace claims Monsanto is trying to claim ownership on
ordinary breeding techniques. Monsanto claims that the patent is a defensive
measure to track animals from its system. They furthermore claim their patented
method uses a specialized insemination device that requires less sperm than is
typically needed.
2005: Environmental, consumer groups question safety of
Roundup Ready crops, say they create "super weeds," among other
problems.
2006: In January, the South Korean Appeals Court ordered Dow
Chemical and Monsanto to pay $62 million in compensation to about 6,800 people.
2006: Organic farmers, concerned about the impact of GMO
alfalfa on their crops, sued Monsanto (Monsanto Company vs. Geertson Seed
Farms). In response, in May 2007, the California Northern District Court issued
an injunction order prohibiting farmers from planting Roundup Ready alfalfa
until the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) completed a study on the
genetically engineered crop's likely environmental impact. As a result, the
USDA put a hold on any further planting of Roundup Ready alfalfa.
2006: the Public Patent Foundation filed requests with the
United States Patent and Trademark Office to revoke 4 patents that Monsanto has
used in patent lawsuits against farmers. In the first round of reexamination,
claims in all 4 patents were rejected by the Patent Office in 4 separate
rulings dating from February through July 2007. Monsanto has since filed
responses in the reexaminations.
2006-2007: Monsanto buys several regional seed companies and
cotton seed leader Delta and Pine Land Co. - Competitors allege Monsanto
gaining seed industry monopoly.
2007: Monsanto's biotech seeds and traits (including those
licensed to other companies) accounted for almost 90% of the total world area
devoted toGMOseeds.
2007: California Northern District Court issued an
injunction order prohibiting farmers from planting Roundup Ready alfalfa until
the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) completed a study on the genetically
engineered crop's likely environmental impact. As a result, the USDA put a hold
on any further planting of Roundup Ready alfalfa.
2008: Monsanto sells Posilac business to Eli Lilly (polio
vaccine manufacturer) amid consumer and food industry concerns about the dairy
cow hormone supplement.
2008: Acquires sugarcane breeding companies, and a Dutch
hybrid seed company.
2008-2009: U.S. Department of Justice says it is looking
into monopolistic power in the U.S. seed industry.
Genuity2009: Monsanto announces a project to improve the
living conditions of 10,000 small cotton and corn farmers in 1,100 villages in
India (keep in mind that 100,000 small cotton farmers in India commit suicide
by drinking Roundup AFTER massive GMO crop failures bankrupted their families);
donates cotton technology to academic researchers.
2010: Farmers in South Africa report 80% of the GMO corn was
SEEDLESS at harvest time!
2010: Demand for milk without using synthetic hormones has
increased 500% in the US since Monsanto introduced their rBST product. Monsanto
has responded to this trend by lobbying state governments to ban the practice
of distinguishing between milk from farms pledged not to use rBST and those
that do.
2011: Monsanto posts net income of $1 billion for fiscal
2010. OUCH! a 50% loss from 2009.
Today, over 80% of the worldwide area devoted to GMO crops
carries at least one genetic trait for (Monsanto's Roundup) herbicide
tolerance. Herbicides account for about one-third of the global pesticide
market. Monsanto's glyphosate-resistant (Roundup Ready) seeds have reigned
supreme on the biotech scene for over a decade - creating a near-monopoly for
Monsanto's Roundup herbicide - which is now off patent. Roundup is the world's
biggest selling pesticide and it has helped make Monsanto the world's 5th
largest agrochemical company.
The full timeline and more can be read here
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