Sunday, April 28, 2013

There's a stranger out to find you....

There is a certain amount of honesty expected from the people who cultivate our food. We expect them to give us what they say they are giving. No one expects their pork chops to taste like lamb, or their pork rinds to have comparable nutrition to green beans. This same courtesy is presumably extended through to other members of the food production community.

There are a few exceptions to this, namely when Monsanto is called into play. This company seems hell bent on the destruction of all competition. They seem to want nothing more than complete control of the market. Unfortunately for them they seem to be blissfully unaware of the laws of economics. A monopoly will do them no good, they can never maximize profits and they will never be able top legally set one up.

All the legalities and poor economic practices aside, big GMO companies will need to recognize that there is a potential genetic catastrophe looming on the horizon. Even if this catastrophe is only perceived in the minds of the consumers, it will wreak havoc on their pocket books.

In recent years the demand for 'Organic' food stuffs has gone up, people are becoming more mindful of what they put in their bodies. It follows that eventually the demand for 'pure' foods will increase to the level that big businesses will find the added expenses of organic farming to be worth the opportunity cost.

Side bar: The trouble with the generic GMO label is that it doesn't discern how modified the food is. Should I be worried about the corn, beans, spinach, arugula, peas, hops, cucumbers, zucchini  tomatoes and squash that I planted from seeds this year (well, the hops are from a rhizome, but that is a different story)? Most of the seed sachets were labeled 'Organic', but to what degree? Will my tomatoes excrete pesticides, and will they leech these chemicals into my soil so that I need to worry about any future gardens? How exactly were my cherry tomatoes created? Were they truly hybridized, or were their genes spliced with mild mannered Dexter Douglas, nerd computer ace? These are things that should not worry me as I plan out my yearly harvest. I shouldn't have to worry something that is otherwise nutritious harming my family. If, on the other hand, the crops were modified to be more hardy, more compact, less draining on the soil (I'm looking at you corn...) then I believe the GMO debate would be less of an issue, ASSuming the modifications did not present a threat to my genome.

Monsanto's bullying of farmers and corporations who want to provide truly wholesome food to their customers is telling of the quality of the company. I will try my hardest to boycott them on that principle alone. Might does not make right, no matter who you are. If you are going to push around the little guy just so you can swim through your money bin then prepare to feel my disquietude.

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