Bill Gates and Monsanto

By Dr Joseph Mercola

Excerpts:

Many have long suspected that U.S. policy on genetically modified (GM) organisms was being influenced by the multinational corporations that profit from genetic engineering and the export-oriented agribusiness. However, recently released Wikileaks cables document just how close that relationship has become.

The U.S. Department of State has virtually become an agency for promoting the private interests of the Monsanto Corporation.

As European social movements pressure their governments for an ongoing moratorium on GM seeds and foods, Monsanto and other biotech corporations have been pushing to find new market footholds, using hybrids even in impoverished Haiti following the January 12, 2010 earthquake. They have been pursuing such goals in collaboration with USAID, the U.S. State Department and the Gates Foundation Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA).

According to Netline:

"The collusion of the Gates Foundation with Monsanto corporation is no accident, as high level officials leading AGRA are former Monsanto executives. The recent purchase by AGRA of $500,000 worth in Monsanto stocks was vivid proof of that close relationship. Despite many words by Gates officials since the inception of the AGRA agenda denying that GMO seeds would be used as part of AGRA, their close relationship with Monsanto has now been revealed to be a key element in their agronomic 'new green revolution' strategy."

 The Close Alliance Between Gates Foundation and Monsanto

As revealed by previous Wikileaks documents, the Bush administration conspired to find ways to retaliate against Europe for refusing to use genetically modified (GM) seeds, mainly by engaging in aggressive trade wars against reluctant nations.

The Guardian recently reported that the "cables show US diplomats working directly for GM companies such as Monsanto." The cables also revealed that the US has worked closely with Spain to persuade the EU to not strengthen their biotechnology laws. In one cable, the embassy in Madrid wrote: "If Spain falls, the rest of Europe will follow."

But it doesn't end there.

As reported by Netline, Monsanto and other biotech companies have collaborated with the Gates Foundation via the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) to inject genetically modified crops into Africa. The Gates Foundation has donated hundreds of millions of dollars to AGRA, and in 2006 Robert Horsch was hired for the AGRA project. Horsch was a Monsanto executive for 25 years.

In a previous Huffington Post article, Eric Holt Gimenez sums it up nicely:

"Under the guise of "sustainability" the [Gates] Foundation has been spearheading a multi-billion dollar effort to transform African into a GMO-friendly continent. The public relations flagship for this effort is the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), a massive Green Revolution project."

It would be naive at this point to think that these collaborations are designed to solve any other problem than how to help Monsanto monopolize the world's food supply with expensive GM seeds that have to be purchased each year and require expensive chemical treatment.

After all, if you own the rights to all the food grown everywhere, you literally rule the world...

Gates tried to keep his ties to genetically modified seeds on the down-low, but the issue got major attention last year when Monsanto tried to inject its hybrid seeds into Haiti after a massive earthquake devastated the island. Fortunately, the Haitian farmers were too smart to fall for this devious scheme. Farmer groups criticized the Gates Foundation's involvement, committed to burning the GM seed, and called for a march to protest Monsanto's presence in Haiti.

Social movements around the world are pressuring their governments for a moratorium on unproven GM seeds and foods, yet the US is giving Monsanto free reign, aiding and abetting their agenda, and the Gates Foundation is starting to look more and more like just another arm to further Monsanto's reach.

 Gates' Financial Conflicts of Interest Sheds Additional Light on his Foundation's Agenda

In the second quarter of 2010, the Gates Foundation purchased 500,000 shares of Monsanto stock with an estimated worth of $23.1 million.

In August of last year, AGRA-Watch wrote:

"The Foundation's direct investment in Monsanto is problematic on two primary levels," said Dr. Phil Bereano, University of Washington Professor Emeritus and recognized expert on genetic engineering.

"First, Monsanto has a history of blatant disregard for the interests and well-being of small farmers around the world, as well as an appalling environmental track record. The strong connections to Monsanto cast serious doubt on the Foundation's heavy funding of agricultural development in Africa and purported goal of alleviating poverty and hunger among small-scale farmers. Second, this investment represents an enormous conflict of interests."

It seems clear that despite the denials that GM seeds would be used as part of AGRA's strategy, the close ties between the Gates Foundation, AGRA, and Monsanto, and the financial conflicts of interest between the Gates Foundation and Monsanto appear to be "a key element of AGRA's "new green revolution" strategy," Netline writes.

"The interlocking and corrupting nature of that agenda as documented further by Wikileaks release of US State Department cables should be of concern to all people of good will concerned about the future biodiversity of crop seeds in the world.

It is an undisputed fact, no matter what one might think of the merits of GMO seeds, that transnational concentration in market share and power inevitably means a diminishing of crop biodiversity, in many cases for all time, as seed varieties are lost in the shuffle. That is the bottom line.

And that is why small-scale farming, based in and loyal to the communities they nourish, must prevail as the model for the future of agriculture! Seeds have always been shared freely among farmers, guaranteeing a biodiverse basis for farming everywhere. Without that basis, there can be no food sovereignty and therefore fewer and fewer practitioners (family farmers) on the ground capable of slowing global warming and feeding the hungry of the world through sustainable land usage and reforestation.

It is our duty, even as community gardeners, to learn how to save seed and to do so. We thus represent the front line primary defense against crop variety loss, famine and pestilence for future generations!"

I agree.

Genetically modified crops represent one of the most significant threats to life on this planet and must be stopped. Unfortunately, there's no shortage of smart men misusing their intelligence. Bill Gates is just one of the most prominent in this group.

 How You Can Avoid GM Foods, and Help Others Do the Same

I urge you to print out and use the Non-GMO Shopping Guide, created by the Institute for Responsible Technology. Share it with your friends and family, and post it to your social networks. You can also download a free iPhone application, available in the iTunes store. You can find it by searching for ShopNoGMO in the applications.

If you're feeling really ambitious you can order the Non-GMO Shopping Tips brochure in bulk and distribute them to the grocery stores in your area. Talk to the owner or manager and get permission to post them in their store.

For more information, I highly recommend reading the following two books, authored by Jeffrey Smith, the executive director of theInstitute for Responsible Technology:

1. Seeds of Deception: Exposing Industry and Government Lies about the Safety of the Genetically Engineered Foods You're Eating
2. Genetic Roulette: The Documented Health Risks of Genetically Engineered Foods.

There are also a number of great films and lectures available, including:

• Hidden Dangers in Kid's Meals
• Your Milk on Drugs - Just Say No!
• Everything You Have to Know About Dangerous Genetically Modified Foods

For timely updates, join the Non-GMO Project on Facebook, or follow them on Twitter.

Please, do your homework. Together, we as consumers have the power to stop the biotech industry from destroying our food supply, the future of our children, and the earth as a whole. All we need is about five percent of consumers to simply stop buying GM foods, and the food industry would have to reconsider their source of ingredients.

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