The chairman and CEO of Monsanto Co. condemned opponents of his major biotech corporation by accusing them of ‘reverse elitism’ being spread through social media.<\/p>\n
Just days before a major international demonstration to protest
\nMonsanto is scheduled to occur around the globe, CEO Hugh Grant
\ntold Bloomberg this week that critics of his company are fueling
\nanti-GMO sentiment by capitalizing on an increased public interest
\nin how their food is produced and pushing that agenda through
\nsocial media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter.<\/p>\n
Anti-Monsanto advocates \u2013 like the ones planning to protest in
\n36 countries later this month \u2013 say they are opposed to, among
\nother items, the company\u2019s habit of heralding genetically altered
\ncrops as a solution to third-world poverty by putting profits above
\npossible health risks. Lab-made crops that are resistant to certain
\nchemicals and conditions are the bread and butter of Monsanto, but
\ncritics are worried that the company isn\u2019t weighing the full impact
\nof what spreading GMO crops could do to the environment and
\nagriculture sector. Additionally, Monsanto\u2019s legal habits of
\ndriving small-time farmers bankrupt over alleged patent
\ninfringement has not made them many friends within America\u2019s
\ntraditional agriculture sector.<\/p>\n
Just last week, the US Department of Agriculture set up a
\nserious roadblock in Monsanto\u2019s way by ordering further assessments
\non a number of GMO crops they want to market that can sustain high
\nconcentrations of chemicals used as herbicides that can be toxic in
\nlarge doses. Speaking to Bloomberg this week, Grant said the USDA\u2019s
\ndecision won\u2019t be much of a setback, in his opinion, and added that
\ncampaigns to belittle his company are often unfounded or the result
\nof misunderstood disinformation.<\/p>\n
Charles Benbrook, a research professor at Washington State
\nUniversity\u2019s Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural
\nResources, told Bloomberg, \u201cMost of the people that become
\nmotivated to engage the political issues have become convinced that
\ngoing down the road of genetically engineered foods is not the way
\nto meet the needs of a food insecure population.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
According to Grant, those critics aren\u2019t giving his company\u2019s
\ntake on the situation the light of day.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d feel a whole lot better if it was marinated a little on
\nwhere is that extra chicken going to come from or who is going to
\ngrow the new bushel<\/i>,\u201d Grant said. Instead, he said Monsanto
\nopponents are ruining the opportunity to feed the world using
\ntechnological advances.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is this strange kind of reverse elitism: If I\u2019m going
\nto do this, then everything else shouldn\u2019t exist<\/i>,\u201d Grant told
\nBloomberg at Monsanto\u2019s St. Louis headquarters this week. \u201cThere
\nis space in the supermarket shelf for all of us<\/i>.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd the sad piece of this is, it ends up either or<\/i>,\u201d
\nGrant said. \u201cSo you get conventional agriculture or broad scale
\nor however you define it, and organic. I think we\u2019re going to look
\nback on this period and say, \u2018How on earth did that ever become the
\nfight that it became<\/i>.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Monsanto protests on six contents are scheduled to take place on
\nMay 25 as part of an international day of demonstration. Meanwhile,
\nMonsanto has ended up embroiled in yet another controversy, this
\ntime after State Department cables released by WikiLeaks showed
\nthat the government lobbied foreign nations on behalf of the GMO
\nkings. Monsanto\u2019s influence over the US government has been
\nquestioned previously after ties were publicly disclosed between
\nthe company and a number of Washington institutions, including the
\nWhite House and the Supreme Court of the United States.<\/p>\n