Good News on Monsanto

I've written before that I don't want to give a dime to Monsanto and their genetically-modified Franken-foods.

Well, it seems I'm not alone.

The NY Times reported on October 4th that it's not just earth-friendly people like me who don't like Monsanto. Some of their seeds are not living up to the hype, and farmers and investors are losing patience.

One of the problems is that weeds have grown resistant to Round-Up, Monsanto's widely-used herbicide. Monsanto genetically modifies their seeds to be resistant to Round-Up, so farmers can spray the chemical on their fields to kill weeds without damaging their crops.

(Let's ignore the fact that Round-Up, brand name for glyphosate, is among the top reported pesticides causing poisoning in many countries. The range of acute symptoms includes recurrent eczema, respiratory problems, elevated blood pressure and allergic reactions, according to Friends of the Earth.)

Now that the weeds are resistant to Round-Up, the farmers have to spend money on other weed-killers. And worry that the chemicals will damage their crops.

(I recommend they find non-chemical ways to weed - machinery, hoes - but then I'm an organic girl at heart.)

Another problem is that Monsanto's genetically-modified (gmo) seeds aren't producing as much as the company thought they would. Monsanto makes deals with farmers that because their seeds will produce more than regular seed, the farmers will give 1/3 of their extra profit back to Monsanto. With their newest most genetically-modified seeds, Monsanto is wanting a 50-50 split with farmers. But the seeds are not producing, so farmers are requesting the less-gmo seeds and are giving less money back to Monsanto.

Now Monsanto stock prices are dropping. Last week, t.v. stock promoter Jim Cramer said that Monsanto might be the worst stock of 2010.

I would be rejoicing, but the bad news is that Dupont's gmo company, Pioneer Hi-Bred, is gaining market share as Monsanto loses theirs.

It seems that there is still too much emphasis on chemicals and genetic modification in the farming community.

I have hopes this will change.

By the way, corn and soy are the two major genetically-modified crops. Don't buy either (any product with soy protein isolate or other soy derivatives, or corn in any form including high-fructose corn syrup) unless it says organic right next to the ingredient. Otherwise put the product back on the shelf.

And keep the faith -- nature will always win out.