Dark Journalist - Dark Journalist: Decoding The Monsanto Protection Act HR 933
Aired: 2013-06-11
Duration: 02:35


=== Monsanto's Legal Shield (02:13) ===

[00:00:06]  Hi, this is Dark Journalist.
[00:00:08]  Recently, the Senate passed H.R. 933, better known as the Monsanto Protection Act.
[00:00:15]  Monsanto, the agricultural giant that brought you genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, and the so called Terminator seeds that forced thousands of farmers worldwide to purchase seeds from their corporation, are now running into a new problem.
[00:00:30]  Although the Monsanto Protection Act serves the purpose of inoculating Monsanto against any legal charges that their products are responsible for any threat to public health, Studies by several independent scientific groups found that GMOs were responsible for large growth tumors in rats and were shown to have negative impacts on farm animals that were exposed to them.
[00:00:51]  Also, Epicite, a gene that causes sterility in men and women, was acquired recently by Monsanto and DuPont for commercial use.
[00:00:59]  Several countries in Europe, including Hungary and France, have now banned Monsanto and their Roundup Ready herbicide.
[00:01:06]  There was also a worldwide march against Monsanto that galvanized thousands of concerned citizens via social media.
[00:01:13]  The solution many safe food advocates came up with was to introduce the idea of labeling the products containing genetically modified organisms with a simple GMO stamp.
[00:01:23]  Monsanto and their allies were able to crush the opposition by outspending them some $50 million to $8 million in key states like California.
[00:01:31]  Now keep in mind, these referendums were not about allowing Monsanto to grow their modified crops, but just about letting the public know which products contained the GMOs.
[00:01:42]  Monsanto says that you don't have the right to know if the food you're purchasing contains GMOs.
[00:01:48]  And they're enlisting some high level figures to help keep it that way, including President Obama, who signed the Monsanto Protection Act.
[00:01:56]  The same President Obama who, in 2007, as a senator, said this To let folks know whether their food has been genetically modified, because Americans should know what they're buying.
[00:02:07]  It seems Monsanto has friends in high places.
[00:02:10]  Monsanto posted a cool $10.5 billion profit last year alone, and they seem to have some politicians in their green thumb pockets.

=== Obama's Contradictory Stance (00:16) ===

[00:02:19]  But the tide is turning against their GMOs as consumer awareness grows on this important topic.
[00:02:25]  I'll be watching this issue closely for you on this program.
[00:02:28]  For more information, you can follow us on facebook.com forward slash dark journalist.
[00:02:34]  See you soon.