Friday, December 3, 2010

Forbes Magazine Still Doesn't Get It: Monsanto Is Still Evil

At the beginning of 2010, Forbes Magazine named Monsanto "Company of the Year", and wrote a long paean to them. I responded here.

It's worth reading the comments posted to the Forbes website in response to their article, here. I looked through the first page of them: no one supported Monsanto; everyone expressed dismay at Monsanto's business. Among other useful links that came out of the comments: How to Avoid GMO/Monsanto (aimed at folks buying seeds, necessary because Monsanto is buying up as many independent seed companies as they can); Non-GMO Shopping Guide (including a short Tips for Avoiding GMOs and an extensive Guide, also available for iPhone).

I recently learned that Forbes published a "retraction", of sorts. The author who wrote the original article has written a new piece entitled "Forbes Was Wrong On Monsanto. Really Wrong." I saw the title and was filled with hope. Had Forbes come to understand that their endorsement of Monsanto was short-sighted?

No. They're saying that they were wrong because they had predicted great things for Monsanto's stock price, and it had not performed as hoped. They are still defending Monsanto's fundamental strategy.

To me, this is a vivid illustration of the growing divide between those who favor corporate interests, and those who favor the human interests. This divide is MUCH more important than Democrat-versus-Republican or liberal-versus-conservative. I would urge everyone to evaluate life choices, small and large, using this frame of reference, rather than the "political" frames.

Oh, and please cancel your subscription to Forbes.

5 comments:

LadyinLavender said...

It's funny to read this. I am in college and I just completed a formal debate on the necessity of labeling GMOs. Most of my class had never even HEARD of Monsanto. I couldn't believe it. Well done on speaking out against the atrocities that Monsanto performs!

Alex Lewin said...

Thanks, Lady! I'm glad you enjoyed. I'm imagining that you found these folks: http://www.responsibletechnology.org/

Let me know if you post your argument on the web somewhere--maybe I can link to it or blog about it!

Also, have you read a book called _Manifestos on the Future of Food and Seed_?

For that matter, you might like the "sustainable food reading list" from my book club:

http://feedmelikeyoumeanit.blogspot.com/2010/04/sustainable-food-book-club-archive.html

emma said...

I find it so frustratingly difficult to get straight information on this stuff. Nothing is labeled! We try to have organic, and big conglomerates push for official definitions of the term so their products qualify. It's a full time job keeping up with who owns whom!

Raine Saunders said...

Hi Alex - yes, and Forbes recently put out an article stating that the tax cuts for the rich is just a "con". It frightens me to contemplate just how many people read this media source and find its information to be not only true but useful. Monsanto has all the major media sources in it clutches and rides on the guiles of "feeding the world". And people believe it. We just need to keep hammering down the door and educating people that what Monsanto produces is not food - it's bio-engineered madness wearing food's clothing. I'm glad you submitted a comment to Forbes - I would have done the same if I had been paying better attention. :)

Alex Lewin said...

"Bio-engineered madness wearing food's clothing." That's a great way of putting it!

We just need to keep chipping away at Monsanto. I think their time is going to come.