Monsanto shareholders are thrilled with Bayer’s takeover. The company was purchased for $67 billion dollars and shareholders will earn $128 per share. Two of the world’s biggest agrochemical companies are combining, which means Bayer and two other companies will now control 80% of U.S. corn seed sales and 70% of the global pesticide market—does anyone else see the red flags?
Here’s some background on Monsanto: there is an entire campaign dedicated to opposing the company, its practices, and its products named The Millions Against Monsanto. The group stemmed from the Organic Consumers Association and was founded in the 90’s. The association’s website states that Monsanto is “responsible for creating Agent Orange, PCB’s, Roundup, and other toxins that threaten human health and the environment.” Moreover, the site states that Trump’s administration has rebranded the company’s “pesticide-and-chemical-intensive degenerative agriculture as American agriculture.” American agriculture, huh?
Last time I checked, American agriculture did not consist of deadly chemicals and poisonous pesticides. I will be damned if a big, ugly corporation gets away with this distortion. That’s not even the worst part. In an article written by Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele for Vanity Fair, an ugly truth is revealed: not only does the company sue any small, independent farmer who supposedly ‘violates’ Monsanto’s seed patent, but “Monsanto relies on a shadowy army of private investigators and agents in the American heartland to strike fear into farm country.” I will be double damned if this corporate monster gets away with building its industry on the back of hardworking American farmers—the real definition of American Agriculture.
What is it with these power-hungry corporate giants? Of course leaders of both companies have made multiple statements affirming the potential benefits of the merger. Apparently, the merger will benefit the environment, improve efforts to cope with global warming, and help farmers. However, Rebecca Riley, senior attorney for the NRDC, says the merger would “escalate the use of dangerous toxic pesticides and create a bad deal for farmers, bees, consumers, and the planet.”
How convenient that the leaders of these companies are able to spin the absorption of Monsanto into something beneficial for the people. What a crock.
If you’d like to become one of the Millions Against Monsanto, click this link and enter your name, email, and zip code.
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