The Naive Farmer

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The first video here shows how the Monsanto Company is trying to create ways for farmers to be able to produce their crops more efficiently and abundantly that way the world can have a sustainable agriculture, which we need with our growing population. Monsanto is working with farmers so they can increase what they can grow on an acre of land. They are also working to reduce the amount of land, water, and energy it takes to grow the crops. While they are trying to do all those things, they are also trying to improve the lives of farmers and their families by promoting innovative technology to give farmers better tools so they can provide for their families, communities, and people around the world. Their philosophy is that if farmers prosper, then so many others will too, through healthier diets, greater educational opportunities, and brighter economic futures. Agriculture has always had a role in shaping humanity, and it will take more than just this company to shape the future of agriculture. They believe that we as a world are in this together and have to work with each other to have a brighter and more sustainable world for everyone. This is the world that Monsanto is hoping and working toward everyday.

This next video (couldn't find the embed code)shows us how committed the Monsanto Company is towards making the world a better place. They use their time, money, resources, and technology to travel around the country and show people what the conditions are like for farmers and what they have to go through. They show them that it is not as easy as it seems and that what they eat comes at a higher price than what consumers pay for in stores. It also shows an interview with a real farm family, to make it more personal to the viewer. The video shows all of the different techniques these farmers have used and continue to use through four generations of family farmers. The final points of interest in the video are about modern day farming, the tools that are needed to do it, the science behind it which incorporate the biological advances that help increase production and conserve resources. Monsanto's idea is that modern farming will be able to feed the world. The United Nations predict that by 2050 there will be nine billion people in the world, which is forty percent more than now. However, the Monsanto Company says the American farmers are up to the challenge. Agriculture plays a big part in today's world; one hundred billion dollars is exported from America's agriculture; twenty-four million jobs are created by it as well.

Although the Monsanto Company's claims sound good to the average American, the average American is unaware of the destruction that GMO's cause. The intent behind Monsanto's vision is one to be commended; however, its method is one of madness. GMO's not only will eventually destroy the family farmer and the land he loves, but forces him to produce crops that are nutritionally inadequate as well as heavily contaminated with herbicides and pesticides. For example, "Monsanto's Roundup Ready soybeans, designed to be resistant to herbicides, lead to the destruction of biodiversity and increased use of agrochemicals. They can also create highly invasive 'superweeds' by transferring the genes for herbicide resistance to weeds. Crops designed to be pesticide factories, genetically engineered to produce toxins and venom with genes from bacteria, scorpions, snakes, and wasps, can threaten non-pest species and can contribute to the emergence of resistance in pests and hence the creation of 'superpests.' In every application of genetic engineering, food is being stolen from other species for the maximization of corporate profits." (Shiva 16) Monsanto is a company that endorses the concept of the "Green Revolution." Briefly, the Green Revolution is defined as the introduction of high-yielding varieties of seeds and the increased use of fertilizers and irrigation on a reduced amount of acreage thereby preserving millions of hectares of biodiversity. However, for instance, in India, "instead of more land being released for conservation, industrial breeding actually increases pressure on the land, since each acre of a monoculture provides a single output, and the displaced outputs have to be grown on additional acres." (Shiva 13) If farmers are forced to continue to utilize this concept of farming, the land will very quickly be worthless because of the level of contamination. In my opinion, Monsanto is cutting off its nose to spite its face. One of their goals is to feed the world and eliminate starvation, when in reality they are contributing to the increase of starvation in the world. "In several of the biggest Green Revolution successes -- India, Mexico, and the Philippines -- grain production and in some cases, exports, have climbed, while hunger has persisted and the long-term productive capacity of the soil is degraded." (Poole-Kavana 2)

It is my hope that someday government and big corporations will consider the devastation that their greed is causing, from the annihilation of fertile soil to the extinction of a healthy humanity. My hope is to see an increase in small organic farms that produce nutrient rich crops and which provide a decent living for farming families. "Small farmers typically achieve at least four to five times greater output per acre, in part because they work their land more intensively and use integrated, and often more sustainable, production systems... A World Bank study of northeast Brazil estimates that redistributing farmland into smaller holdings would raise output an astonishing 80 percent. (Poole-Kavana 2-3) In summation, the words of Gandhi say it all, "The earth has enough for the needs of all, but not the greed of few." (Shiva xv)