Monsanto, nanoparticles, and greenwashing

Posted on Apr 03, 2009 by Susie Collins in Blog, News

Canary’s Cry for Friday, April 3

canarys-cryMonsanto wants to play with us on the interwebs. The darling kids at Monsanto’s public relations department have started a cute little blog, where they write about their adorable co-workers and how they are all just like us. Oh, and also about how green Monsanto is.

Related: WebEcoist reports on the world’s 10 worst greenwashers. Oh look, there’s Monsanto:

Monsanto, the world’s largest seed and pesticide company, is working to convince us that they are supporters of sustainable agriculture – all while monopolizing and homogenizing the world’s food supply. Hardly sustainable. Monsanto, the maker of toxic pesticide RoundUp, has a long history of producing genetically modified seeds, including ‘terminator’ seeds that cannot reproduce on their own, forcing farmers to go back to Monsanto again and again for more seeds.  They’re also the creators of rGBH (recombinant bovine growth hormone), which is given to cows to increase production and often ends up in our water supply.

Environmental Working Group‘s Skin Deep Cosmetics Database reports on What Not To Buy when shopping for cosmetics:

Major gaps in public health laws allow cosmetics companies to use almost any ingredient they choose in everything from sunscreen and mascara to deodorant and baby shampoo, with no restrictions and no requirement for safety testing. To help you navigate your store’s aisles, Environmental Working Group researchers have scoured thousands of ingredient labels to bring you our top recommendations for what not to buy — products with worrisome or downright dangerous ingredients that don’t belong in your shopping cart or on your skin. Read more about why this matters.

Environmental Health News reports nanoparticles in sunscreens, cosmetics and other consumer products may pose risks to the environment by damaging beneficial microbes.

The Environmental Protection Agency reports on the latest information on toxic chemical releases. Releases are down overall, but mercury and PCBs are up.

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics reports on contaminants in children’s bath and personal care products.

Green Directory Montana reports on non-organic panic.

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2 Responses to “Monsanto, nanoparticles, and greenwashing”

  1. Leslie

    11. Apr, 2009

    Monsanto is aweful and everyone knows it – the only people who might buy into their bullshit out of desperation to hang on to this dieing way of farming are some farmers who are afraid to turn back to the old way now in fear of losing money. There is no way in which their system of GM seeds benefits anyone but themselves – the farmeres are screwed, we are screwed – only monsanto gets the gold in the end, and could be setting us up for one of the worst famine/ starvation disasters in history – it’s playing with the worst fire you could possibly start! Personally I am into saving my own seeds, and especially as things with the seed production being 98% in these big GM’ing companies hands now – I am going to save the hell out of my seeds. They can not possibly think they will get on our good side with their greenwashing BS, I am most certain this is to create a identity & false reputation to keep the farmers who are beginning to feel wary of what’s going on – a little nudge if you will.

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  2. linda

    11. Apr, 2009

    A couple of recent interesting articles about dear old Monsanto…

    Crop Scientists Say Biotechnology Seed Companies Are Thwarting Research

    http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/20/business/20crop.html?_r=1&sq=genetically%20modified&st=cse&scp=1&adxnnlx=1235152808-/fyg4CWoN20nMNI9G0DNGg&pagewanted=print

    and

    Who Owns Life, Not Monsanto?
    http://www.i-sis.org.uk/whoOwnsLifeNotMonsanto.php

    Reply to this comment

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