Question #1: Monsanto

I’ve never contacted you before, but I just listened to this past weekends podcast and I wanted to contribute a bit to the Monsanto discussion. I just wanted to point out the two main, non-science related reasons people dislike Monsanto. First, they have actively fought, pretty heavily, any sort of labeling or consumer awareness initiatives. For example, there was recently a bill in California that would require the labeling of any foods with GM ingredients to make consumers aware of what they are eating. This bill was defeated primarily due to Monsanto’s campaigning against it. This just feeds the idea that they have something to hide about their products. Second, Monsanto has a history of aggressively suing farmers who’s crops get cross pollinated with their seeds. As a member of a family of farmers, this one is pretty disgusting. Since bees pollinate without regards to whose field is whose, if a farmer next to you uses Monsanto owned GM seed, you run a very high risk of some of the GM crops to show up in your field. Monsanto monitors this and does not hesitate to sue the other farmer for ”use” of their patented seed stock. They have been ordered by the courts to stop this practice, but it certainly doesn’t help the perception that they have any societal ”good” in mind. In my opinion, Monsanto’s business practices are significantly more heinous than many other consumer good’s manufacturers, which I loosely define them as. This is obviously a personal opinion, but I just wanted to contribute. Thanks for all your work, John Kansas City, KS