Monsanto's gift to Haiti

[nairiporter.livejournal.com]

The January earthquake in Haiti brought pain and suffering for some, and lots of opportunities for others to make some profit. The infamous Monsanto corporation has offered the farmers of Haiti a very "generous" gift... 475 tons of genetically modified seeds, as well as huge quantities of dangerous fertilizers and pesticides (link here; sorry, it's in French -- Google translation here). These will be distributed through the "Winner" project which is supported by the US embassy in Haiti.

I hope the Haitians are aware that Monsanto is famous for having produced the deadly defoliant Agent Orange which killed numerous US soldiers in the Vietnam war and continues to affect the civilian population of that country. I hope someone could tell them that these seeds have been declared dangerous by a number of countries...

This is a serious question indeed. Where do we cross that invisible line between showing empathy for the poor and starving (there was a good recent post about this here), and abusing their dire situation for profit, regardless of the consequences? The answer may turn out to be tricky.

Furthermore, some analyses show that the collected aid for Haiti has been largely misappropriated. Before my second trip to Haiti, I wrote here saying that the aid should not stop, regardless of the initial mistakes in the way it was being used, but surely some huge amendments need to be made in the system of providing aid. I am still sticking to that position, but in fact what we see today is that only about 10% of all aid funds have actually been used for their purpose, that is only 10 cents of each dollar of aid have reached the Haitians. Unfortunately, the rest has gone and continues to go to mediator banks, charity organizers, etc. The human nature and the way the system is designed is such that it allows for such huge abuse to continue. And the only consequence for the largely indifferent public is that they'd read (or watch) about these abuses, then tsk-tsk with their tongue and then they'd throw the occasional snark remark of the sort of "Same old story, you cannot fix a problem by just throwing money at it, so meh. Next question." This might look to be a correct answer at a first sight, I'll give you that. And it all goes on like before. Same old story, right?

Comments

[enders-shadow.livejournal.com]

SSDD?

[prisoner--24601.livejournal.com]

So... what are you suggesting then? That only organic farmers should help by sending their heirloom seeds and preaching about how Haitians should only grow stuff without pesticides and eat local foods?

Let's face it, the odds of those evil seeds and pesticides actually getting to the people who can farm them are pretty slim considering how much corruption there is. Haiti was messed up before the earthquake, and that's not going to change unless there's a major change in their government. For Monsanto to actually profit from this, there'd have to be some kind of working economy or wealth to tap into.

You want to be angry at the big Ag Corps? Then be pissed at how the US government subsidizes certain crops (like rice) which make it artificially cheap, and then the farmers dump their product on the market so that between the artificially cheap price and foreign aid groups dumping tons of free rice into the market, it's not worth it to grow their own crops. That's a hell of a lot more harmful to Haitian farmers long term than evil Monsanto seeds.

[nairiporter.livejournal.com]

Actually that was in no way what I suggested.

The question is not simple, I agree. Perhaps putting some more supervision on the stuff that enters the so-called Third World countries in the form of "aid" would be a step into the right direction. Not an ultimate solution but still an improvement. In other words, more regulation. Right now I cannot come up with smarter ideas but you are welcome to suggest if you have any.

I agree with the third part of your comment. There was another good post (http://community.livejournal.com/talk_politics/172752.html) here some time ago which offered a possible recipe: allow fair trade and equal trade conditions to Third World countries and stop blocking their own production of generic foods and medicines for the sake of domestic protectionism, and that could be another step in the right direction. Again, not an ultimate solution, but still an improvement. Charity alone achieves nothing but silencing someone's conscience or scoring short-term political points, unless it is supported with deeper measures.

[futurebird.livejournal.com]

Then be pissed at how the US government subsidizes certain crops (like rice) which make it artificially cheap, and then the farmers dump their product on the market so that between the artificially cheap price and foreign aid groups dumping tons of free rice into the market, it's not worth it to grow their own crops.

This! And the goddamn sugar tariff needs to go to. What happened to "free markets" ? Haiti can grow sugar for less-- why are we protecting US sugar farmers artificially?

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately this is the same USA with a pattern of knocking down governments it doesn't like to secure the profits of US businessmen. To be fair, everybody else who could do that also did it but it's not everybody else that's the contemporary hyperpower.

[mrflagg.livejournal.com]

srsly? vietnam?

you couldn't find an evil act a little more recent?

[nairiporter.livejournal.com]

That is what remains stuck in my head. I leave the more recent examples to smarter people than myself.

[badlydrawnjeff.livejournal.com]

I hope the Haitians are aware that Monsanto is famous for having produced the deadly defoliant Agent Orange which killed numerous US soldiers in the Vietnam war and continues to affect the civilian population of that country.

So because they were involved in something 40 years ago, they shouldn't be allowed to offer assistance? Boy, I hope IBM doesn't offer any computers!

I hope someone could tell them that these seeds have been declared dangerous by a number of countries...

Just because a lot of society is ignorantly afraid of genetically modified food does not mean we need to run with it. We should be praising Monsanto for the assistance they're willing to give as opposed to condemning them.

This is a serious question indeed. Where do we cross that invisible line between showing empathy for the poor and starving (there was a good recent post about this here), and abusing their dire situation for profit, regardless of the consequences? The answer may turn out to be tricky.

It's going to be hard to profit off of something they're giving away. Just sayin'. Besides, when your source refers to the gift as a "poisoned chalice," you might want to check the biases of the source before you take what's being said at face value.

[malasadas.livejournal.com]

It's going to be hard to profit off of something they're giving away.

I'm not overly concerned about GM food and find most stated concerns alarmist in the extreme. But Monsanto may not profit immediately from giving away seeds, but if they are ones with a "terminator" gene then they will. Farmers are used to getting a lot of seed for the next crop from the existing crop -- and Monsanto has lots of products genetically designed to make no viable seeds. So if those farmers like what they are growing, they'll have to go back and buy Monsanto next season.

So it's not exactly like Monsanto has no potential upside on this. Doesn't make them worthy of criticism on it, but they defnitely have a potential market to make here.

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately profiteering scumbags are old as the hills.

IMHO, the line should be drawn if it is clear that the masses of the society stand to gain nothing from it and the only beneficiaries will be corrupt corporations like Monsanto.

[torpidai.livejournal.com]

IMHO, the line should be drawn if it is clear that the masses of the society stand to gain nothing from it and the only beneficiaries will be corrupt corporations like Monsanto.

How would you calculate this? our Governments struggle to count the number of unemployed correctly and often can't decide how many 0's in a billion.

I actually think Monsanto is soon to be breeding fungus resistant opium poppies (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/8679203.stm), though to be fair didn't a years supply of harvest "Vanish" a short while back? I wonder if there's a link and also hope pain relief will still be available in hospitals if I'm needing it.

[allhatnocattle.livejournal.com]

"Business is a uniquely human response to a moral or cosmic crisis."

You really shouldn't be surprised by the entrepreneurial opportunities taken. Nor unaware of the exploitive nature of man.

Monsanto, one of the largest international grow-op's isn't about to sacrifice it's entire raison d'etre for some charity. That would be self-detrimental, end up helping nobody. The crack dealer's business model applies. First couple hits off the pipe are free. If they don't like, they can always quit. While Monsanto doesn't have a product line that sells itself quite nearly as well as crack, it has those possibilities.

And charities of course syphon the donations. It's not charity if nobody makes any money, is it? "But the way I look at it is this: the day we can actually feel and hear all the suffering of mankind, that's the day when "The Christ" will come back! So we got that going for us." -Brand Hauser

[dreadfulpenny81.livejournal.com]

I personally think this is just Monsanto's attempt to clean-up their image. They've been connected to chemical waste dumpings in the U.S. (over 50 EPA Superfund sites) and the U.K., false advertising in France, suing farmers in the U.S. for re-using the previous year's leftover seeds and attempts to prohibit dairies from labeling their milk as non-BGH produced. And that's just the problems they've had in two countries. It's disgusting and I don't buy this act of "charity" for one second as the corporation actually trying to do some good.

[lucazzo.livejournal.com]

Wouldn't be surprised if in 10 years they start international lawsuits against Haitians using their seeds without permission.

[sgiffy.livejournal.com]

Do you have any evidence that these particular seeds and chemicals are in anyway dangerous under normal use?

Or is it just Oh noes, GMOs!

GMOs are about the only way we have to both reduce our use of fossil fuel based fertilizers and pesticides while not starving a good chunk of the world. Resistance to them is just as misguided as when the green revolution was stopped as it was reaching Africa costing millions of lives and helping to create more dependency on the West.

[nairiporter.livejournal.com]

I hope this helps.

http://www.aaemonline.org/gmopressrelease.html

http://info-wars.org/2010/03/11/scientists-reveal-negative-impact-of-roundup-ready-gm-crops/
http://info-wars.org/2009/08/03/doctors-warn-avoid-genetically-modified-food/
http://info-wars.org/2010/02/19/india-warned-to-beware-of-gmo-crops-and-monsanto-take-over/

http://www.counterpunch.org/goodman02242010.html
http://www.councilforresponsiblegenetics.org/GeneWatch/GeneWatchPage.aspx?pageId=46

[sealwhiskers.livejournal.com]

I liked Mahmut's article last year, and wish I'd commented and said so back then.
What do you think of locally monitored Growth Funds? (from private, government, organizational foreign sources) alongside with more fair trade?

[badlydrawnjeff.livejournal.com]

Fair trade = anything but fair.

[futurebird.livejournal.com]

Round up ready seeds are awesome. You don't need to till the soil just spray "round up" and only the crop you need will grow. In Haiti the farmers will do quite well using these products.

BUT, round up seeps off in to the water table-- in Haiti most people don't drink process water, it just comes from a stream or well. There will be pesticides in the drinking supply. End of story. Monsanto says "it totally biodegrades guys!" --but, I'd like to see the CEO and his family drinking water laced with the stuff daily for a few years before I trust them.

In the US lots of farms use round up, and most of us are not getting contaminated water... so for now it is OK. I don't know how well this will work in Haiti.

Also I'm scared they will try experimental products there since there is a reduced risk for lawsuit in a poor nation.

[mikeyxw.livejournal.com]

Not to be too picky, but Roundup is an herbicide, not a pesticide. Drinking water with traces of herbicide bothers me much less than drinking water with traces of pesticide.

[readherring.livejournal.com]

I can't say that Monsanto's actions are good or bad. So far, they look good. Haiti's lands have been farmed out and need serious restoration to get them producing again. It's possible that Monsanto is being altruistic, with a side order of setting up business for themselves in the future.

Large corporations aren't inherently evil,*(1) they are profiteering, flawed, and completely self-interested, but that doesn't make them evil. It just drives them quite often to do bad things. However, they do good things as well. I'll keep an eye on the Monsanto story to see how it develops. Thanks for bringing it up.


*(1)With the exception of Halliburton.

[mikeyxw.livejournal.com]

Monsanto produces GM seeds that work with their herbicides to increase yields. This is their business. I don't see something sinister in a company whose business it is to produce such items providing them as aid.

You might not like GM seeds or herbicides, that's fine. For the first, you can buy non-GMO foods, for the second, I think you'd have to grow your own food. However, if Monsanto is going to provide their products as aid, you can't expect them to buy some other company's product and provide them.

[htpcl.livejournal.com]

The bigger issue than the non/dangerousness of these seeds is Monsanto's aiming to get teh monopoly over most agricultural industry: http://www.takepart.com/news/2009/12/01/monsanto-comes-under-doj-scrutiny

The most controversial aspect of it being the scheme with the terminated crops which they've explicitly devised which more or less enslaves all farmers who've decided to buy their seeds: http://ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=27046

It's a new form of fraud which I agree should be subject to anti-monopoly international legislation.

[mikeyxw.livejournal.com]

So the danger is that Monsanto's product is so profitable for farmers that they will stop buying other types of seeds, leaving Monsanto with a monopoly?

Farmers are business people themselves, if Monsanto abuses their monopoly on a certain type of seed, I expect farmers will switch to another seed or crop or to pirated versions of those seeds. You can count on Monsanto trying to grab as much of the increased profit that their seeds and herbicides provide as possible, but their product will always need to be more profitable for farmers or they won't use it. Also, as more companies enter this market you should expect Monsanto's share of the extra profits to decline over time. This has always been the trend in technological advances. Light-bulbs are no longer insanely profitable for example.

[htpcl.livejournal.com]

Also you might find this useful for the discussion: http://community.livejournal.com/talk_politics/402606.html

[the-rukh.livejournal.com]

Hey I was just going to do that very same thing!

[the-rukh.livejournal.com]

Glad to see you back. This is troubling news to me, this company has show it's self to to be rather evil in the past, there's no way they're in this just for the good of Haiti, and I'm certain we're going to see some very sinister results in the near future.

[mahnmut.livejournal.com]

What's really painful is that you can see plenty of armchair warriors who probably heard about Haiti for the first time in their lifetime after the earthquake struck, and who are now throwing absolute judgments from high ivory towers, while those (like the OP) who've actually spent time there on the ground, are being dismissed as 'conspiracy theorists' and deluded presumed liberals. RL is a bitch.

[abomvubuso.livejournal.com]

From what i'm reading so far, i see two sides:

Side one: Monsanto, GMO, Haiti, corporation, poison; OMGZNOES!

Side two: No proof, not bad, not illegal, help/aid, good; you stupid.

Not surprisingly, the former mainly consists of liberal-leaning people (generally speaking), while the latter mainly consists of conservative-leaning people (generally speaking) - with possible exceptions of course.

But the fact of the matter is, neither side possesses the insight and expertise to advance any of their points any further than their already preliminarily established premises, and neither to i, btw. So all we get is a couple of groups throwing various talking points at each other with little result other than dozens and dozens of comments, which aint bad in itself, but has little to do with offering solutions to the presented issue.

Sorry to say it, but the only new thing i learned was that Monsanto has brought some seeds and chemicals to Haiti. And thats about it.

[torpidai.livejournal.com]

Sorry to say it, but the only new thing i learned was that Monsanto has brought some seeds and chemicals to Haiti. And thats about it.

My Mommie always told me not to play with my food, it went without saying that I shouldn't play with other peoples food either.

[mahnmut.livejournal.com]

Some traders think it is in their interest to get rid of some of their GMOs because demand in Europe is very limited because of the imposed bans. Dumping it in the form of aid is a convenient way to hit two rabbits with one shot.

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

Said bans in no small part to help Europe's already over-subsidized farmers.

[nairiporter.livejournal.com]

There is no way that I advocated or even implied a socialist system of distribution. What I advocated is more regulation of the system of aid, and when the country has been restored to a certain level, allowing for it to mend itself without imposing unfair and protectionist trading restrictions to its agriculture. I mentioned this in several comments already.

[telemann.livejournal.com]

I was wondering about some of the charities highlighted on Celebrity Apprentice, and I coudn't find any information on the HollyRod Foundation (that's Holly Robinson-Peete's charity for children with autism).

[futurebird.livejournal.com]

I was looking in to the source for this story. The source is Fr. Jean-Yves Urfie. I found a video of him showing work he has been doing in Haiti:



He is very concerned with the long term future of the island. I contacted him through facebook to ask how we could help.

[nairiporter.livejournal.com]

You did a good thing. I hope he responds.

[torpidai.livejournal.com]

lol, I wonder how many of the "No to gene mods (Because it's unatural) crowd buy out of season fruits and veggies, flown directly to the supermarket in perfectly natural planes.

Monsanto, the pusher

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

Monsanto is using the old pusher technique of giving the stuff away for free until people get addicted to it.

BTW, they aren't responsible for the dioxin content in agent orange. They offered to clean up the stuff, but the Pentagon was too cheap to pay for a cleaner product.