farmers all around the world. That's how Monsanto describes itself on its own website which

is full of positive words like empowerment, sharing, and conservation and yet in 2011

they were voted the most evil corporation in the world by readers of natural news. Now

that might not sound surprising after all Monsanto produce genetically modified crops,

herbicides, and more so they're a natural target for the readers of natural news but

they got 51% of the vote, second was the Federal Reserve with 20 and BP only managed to get

9% even in the year after the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster. So why do people think Monsanto

is quite so evil?

Let's start with a little history. Monsanto was founded as a chemical company in 1901,

it's first ever product was saccharine, a sugar substitute that was used by Coca-Cola.

In the 1920s it began to expand producing synthetic goods and chemicals including pesticides

and herbicides.

"Each one carries a thousand gallons of defoliant which is very like ordinary weed killer in

common domestic use in America. It comes in three main types; Agent Orange, Agent Blue

and Agent White."

By the 1960s Monsanto were one of nine contractors producing Agent Orange which was used by the

US military during the Vietnam War. It was meant to defoliate the thick jungle to reveal

Vietnam opposition and it did but it also killed or maimed 400,000 people and more than

half a million children have been and still are being born with birth defects.

"American officials say it doesn't hurt humans or animals or have any lasting effects on

soil and vegetation."

Monsanto stresses that they were only responsible for producing it not where or how it was used.

In the 1930s they began manufacturing Polychlorine Biphenyls which were used for coolants and

lubricants in electrical equipment. PCBs were produced until the 1970s when they were banned

because they are carcinogenic and caused problems with the liver, immune systems, reproductive

systems, skin, eyes, brains and endocrine systems. In fact they're so toxic that they

still pollute the environment today. At least 4 Monsanto factories and one former Monsanto

site are now listed as superfun sites in the US. That means that the environmental protection

agency ranks them as among the worst spots in the country and as a national priority.

Hazards at the site include PCBs, arsenic, Cadmium, Radium and dioxines which are found

in the components used in the historic manufacture of Agent Orange.

Then there's also the controversy of Times Beach, Missouri which was effectively wiped

off the map after chemical waste mismanagement. The whole town had to be relocated by the

Environmental Protection Agency. The Times Beach action group reportedly found evidence

of Monsanto's PCBs in the soil around the town but the company denies that its products

had anything to do with the disaster. But all that stuff's in the past right? Even the

director of public affairs, Brad Mitchell told Organic Lifestyle magazine that what

Monsanto did was wrong but that the company wasn't as environmentally sophisticated then

as it is now. The company are very keen to point out that that was old Monsanto. They

relaunched in 2001 focusing just on agriculture so why is it that people still think that

they're evil?

Well first up there's the argument over genetically modified crops. Monsanto were the first company

to modify a plant cell in the 1980s and have since produced many GMCs. There was a public

outcry against GM foods in the 1990s stirred by the press who created a fear of Frankenfoods

that have horrific consequences for the entire food chain.

There's been an ongoing battle ever since between the two sides despite much of the

scientific community saying that there's little evidence to suggest that GM crops are indeed

damaging to human health. Then again the European Union has been so against GM crops that Monsanto

and others like BSAF have decided to drop plans for GM cultivation there. Either way

a lot of people resent the fact that they're not given the choice.

In the UK and much of the EU, GM foods do have to be labelled but in the US they don't

and if people are really worried about what they're ingesting then perhaps they should

have the right to choose. Next up there's the herbicides and pesticides. In 2012 a French

farmer won his case against Monsanto after a court ruled that he had been poisoned by

their pesticide, Laso, which is now banned in France following an EU directive but many

activists also question the safety of herbicides like Monsanto's round-up but Monsanto says

that it is safe and it's not just about human health, what about the bees?

Recent research found that pesticides including some produced by Monsanto containing neo-nicotinoids

were increasing something called Nosama Virus in bee colonies and that was contributing

to an increase in what's called colony collapse disorder. Basically they were killing bees

en masse.

Earlier this year the European Union voted to ban the use of pesticides containing neo-nicotinoids

in an attempt to end the dramatic fall in bee populations. Monsanto has defended its

record on bees saying we are committed to supporting honey bee health and researching

solutions for these complex issues. Next up is the proprietary control of seeds and crops.

Monsanto designs GMCs to be resistant to roundup and roundup alone meaning that it has to be

used on their products. In the 1970s the then US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger said

"control oil and you control nations. control food and you control the people."

And Monsanto alongside other multinationals have been repeatedly accused of trying to

control global food supply.

Now the company themselves argue that as the world's population grows exponentially, industrial

farming has to be developed to cope with the strain on natural resources like water. That

their products are simply there to help with the demand for more food, more cotton, more

of pretty much everything.

"By the year 2050 there will be 9 billion people on earth. 9 billion people who must

be clothed, fueled, fed and the world is consuming more than it's producing so we must grow more

food in the next 50 years than has been grown in the last 10,000."

But a report by the Center for Food Safety, a campaign group, revealed that 3 companies

Monsanto, Dupont and Syngenta control 53% of the world's commercial seed market. And

on top of all that Monsanto have been accused of aggressively targeting farmers to protect

their ownership. By February this year the company had won more than $23 million from

the 142 patent infringement law suits it filed against 410 farmers and 56 small businesses

in the US.

Monsanto says it never targets farmers to have only trace amounts of their patented

crops in their field. Having said that in 2004 they did sue a Canadian farmer called

Percy Schmeiser who claimed his fields had been accidentally or naturally seeded with

Monsanto GMCs. The Canadian Supreme Court ruled against the farmer. The company argued

that they have to protect their intellectual property in order to innovate with new products

and to pump money into research and in fact they say they invest $2.6 million dollars

every single day into their research.

But looming behind in the background is the Trans Pacific Partnership. Many fear that

these multinationals will be able to gain an even stronger grip on intellectual property

rights. Now if you don't know what the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement is, there's

a full explanation over there, but it's basically a trade agreement which is unprecedented in

its size and scope.

The chapter on intellectual property was leaked recently by Wikileaks and it showed that intellectual

property rights are set to be strengthened way beyond anything else that exists at the

moment giving more and more power to corporations. The Chief Agricultural negotiator for the

US at the TPP is a former Monsanto lobbyist called Islam Sadiq. And lobbying is yet another

point that Monsanto get pulled up on. In the US at least they spend a vast amount of money

on lobbying and employ an army of lobbyists. The most infamous example is law HR933 more

commonly referred to as the Monsanto Protection Act. Critics point to section 735 saying it

was written in collosion with Monsanto and that it effectively stops Federal Courts from

being able to prevent the sale of GM crops even if there are health issues arising. Now

both of those claims are refuted strongly by the company.

But whatever you think about Monsanto, what about this argument from the author Jenna

Wogarich. She argues that all of this could be a cultural problem. Westerners expect cheap

food, readily available at all times of the year. Vast modern cultures and genetically

modified crops are inherently unnatural but they do satisfy our insatiable desire to consume.

She argues that we need to start supporting local produce, organic farms, and return to

a seasonal more traditional farming. And if you can do that maybe you can cut Monsanto

and all the other multi nationals out of the equation.