In this week’s Field Report: A push to improve federal food purchasing heats up, the first food-focused COP kicks off, dust storms accelerate, and new evidence suggests that fair-trade certifications are failing to protect farmworkers.
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April 1, 2010
In an astounding move, Monsanto announced this morning that it would be discontinuing production in 2011 of the genetically modified corn seed, MON 810, currently planted on millions of acres in the US, as evidence in a recent study indicated that the digestive organs of rats who ate the grain were disintegrating.
“We just felt we needed to do the right thing,” said Monsanto CEO Hugh Grant in a statement. “If our products are doing more harm than good, we thought perhaps we should change our tact for feeding the world.”
Grant continued, “We’ve been hearing a lot about local solutions. The role of diverse planting for preventing pests, paving roads so farmers can get to market, organizations working with subsistence farmers to build soil that can withstand drought locally, that kind of thing. Farmers need to focus on soil health, and we want to be a part of that solution.”
As a result of Monsanto’s new-found commitment, they are donating all the projected $5.1 billion in profits on seeds and traits for 2010 to these local, farmer solution-based efforts.
November 29, 2023
In this week’s Field Report: A push to improve federal food purchasing heats up, the first food-focused COP kicks off, dust storms accelerate, and new evidence suggests that fair-trade certifications are failing to protect farmworkers.
November 28, 2023
November 28, 2023
November 21, 2023
Warmly,
Amy