Decreasing Food Value in the U.S.

The intention behind this post is to inform the reader on the largest seed company affecting the agricultural industry. I will be discussing Monsanto’s tainted history & its contributions to the decreasing food value in the U.S.

It’s no lie that food in the U.S. has only been decreasing in value with the passing of time. From genetically modified foods to dangerous and poisonous herbicides being integrated into farming culture to the chemicals allowed in our foods despite most of them being banned in other countries, The majority of the food we consume is tainted. Tainted food gives health a whole new meaning. If you live in the U.S., you’re not getting as much nutritional value from the foods you are consuming, even if you deem them “healthy.” Most produce is bathed in toxic herbicides. If you take a look at the nutrition label of a protein bar, you’ll be surprised to see all of the unnecessary ingredients that are added. As a matter of fact, these unnecessary and harmful chemicals are added to the majority of the foods you see stocking up on the shelves in grocery stores. A lot of our foods are composed of chemicals, herbicides, and other unnecessary ingredients that are banned in other countries but still allowed in the U.S.

The Atrocities of Monsanto

Have you heard about the biggest company affecting our food supply, Monsanto? The monstrously large sinister seed company, Monsanto, was founded in 1901 by John Francis Queeny. It was originally a chemical company, as Queeny had ties to the pharmaceutical industry prior to establishing Monsanto. The company started by Queeny had intentions of starting the production of saccharin, an artificial sweetener that’s 300 times sweeter than table sugar and has no nutritional value whatsoever. Monsanto started to gain popularity quickly, and one of the first affluent companies to purchase the product was actually Coca Cola. Monsanto’s business dealings with huge corporations, such as Coca-Cola, led to Monsanto becoming extremely lucrative.

Monsanto’s Dark History

Monsanto has a very dark history; aside from being responsible for tainting the majority of the food supply in the US through genetically modified foods, they also played a very big role in creating the atomic bomb. Let’s get into it. In 1943, a research and development project to produce polonium for World War II began, known as the Dayton Project. It was essentially a side quest to the Manhattan Project, whose purpose was for the development and research of nuclear weapons during WWII. How does this connect to Monsanto? Well, since you asked… Because Monsanto was a chemical company, General Groves, who was the director of the Manhattan project, contacted Charles Allen Thomas, the vice president and technical director of Monsanto at the time. Charles was initiated in the Dayton Project to coordinate the polonium production and purification process. During this time, polonium existed only in theory, and it was unclear if sufficiently pure polonium could be manufactured. The cost of the Dayton project up to its end in 1946 was about $3,867,000 U.S. tax dollars.

Monsanto’s contribution in the Dayton project was of incalculable value in the later development of the initiator (or ‘urchin’) for the implosion bomb and was perhaps essential to the success of that bomb. -The Official Manhattan District History

Aside from being responsible for tainting the majority of the food supply in the US through genetically modified foods, Monsanto was also a huge supplier of Agent Orange, which is a chemical herbicide and defoliant. It was used to destroy the Vietnamese food supply during the Vietnam War, but, not to our surprise, it ended up having a much more sinister impact. After spreading 19 million gallons of Agent Orange over Vietnam during the course of the war, Agent Orange ended up harming and affecting generations of Vietnamese people with cancer and horrifically high birth deformities. Veterans that had contact with Agent Orange during this period were also affected, as exposure to the toxic substance led to cancer and other medical issues. These herbicides were used to strip the thick jungle canopy that helped hide the opps, to destroy crops that opps depended on, and to clear tall grass and bushes from around the perimeters of U.S. base camps and outlying fire support bases.

Educate Perpetuate Regulate

Clearly, Monsanto has had its fair share of dealings in conjunction with the United States’ past atrocities. Monsanto’s involvement in creating the atomic bomb and distributing agent orange over Vietnam are only a few of the heinous acts this company has committed. Given that it has since rebranded as a seed company, this affects the majority of the food supply within the United States. From its dark history to not permitting farmers to save seeds due to the company’s patent, Monsanto has adversely impacted the agricultural industry. The companies largely involved with the food industry will proceed to make healthier versions of foods for another country because they need to abide by their rules and regulations, which means not using ingredients that have been banned. Sometimes the ingredients are changed; for example, a bag of Lays potato chips will have different ingredients in the US than in Europe to meet regulations in food compliance. This happens despite these same companies producing the same foods within the U.S. but with toxic ingredients because they have not been banned here. The list of ingredients that are banned in other countries outside of the U.S. is ridiculously long. Some examples of these banned ingredients are: artificial colors like red dye No. 40; herbicides; and foods containing GMOs (like soy, sugar beets, corn, cotton, etc.). In case you are unaware, Monsanto controls 23% of the global seed market. In the US, Monsanto owns 90% of soy, 85% of corn, and 95% of sugar beets – all genetically modified, of course.

See the thing is, within the U.S., several bills have been passed that allow these mega corporations and food suppliers to keep tainting food with chemicals. They use these chemicals in our foods because it leads to a longer shelf life for the producer, which helps with profits. Huge corporations, like Monsanto/ Bayer, are putting toxic chemicals into our food because it’s more beneficial than developing sustainable farming practices and, of course, because it allows the company to continue earning high profits. It would be ideal for these huge corporate entities like Monsanto to shift to a more sustainable method of operating, but why would they do that? A huge corporate monster like Monsanto or other companies similar to it benefit from the way they are currently doing things. Sure, they can change farming culture by modifying modern-day practices, but why would they do that when bills are passed to protect companies like Monsanto? These huge corporate entities all play a role in a much more sinister problem. The tainted food provided by companies like Monsanto is making people sick, and that’s feeding into the multi-billion-dollar industry that is big pharma. Funny enough, Monsanto was recently acquired by the HUGE company that’s known as Bayer Pharmaceuticals back in 2018.

I encourage you to start reading food labels if you haven’t already. Know what is going into your food, and be aware of the unnecessary ingredients being added because you better believe they are damaging your health. Consume foods that are not processed, or at least try to limit your consumption of processed foods. Educate yourself on what you should be consuming more of, like fermented foods, pre-biotic foods, pro-biotic foods, etc. Spread the information so we can all, as a whole, stop contributing to these huge corporate entities. Regulate by choosing to consume foods that are good for you. Buy local foods. Grow your own food if you can. Companies like Monsanto/ Bayer are counting on your inadequacy and lack of knowledge to continue profiting off of making you, yes, you, the consumer, SICK.

references:

1. https://www.usip.org/publications/2022/01/addressing-harmful-legacy-agent-orange-vietnam
2. https://www.osti.gov/opennet/manhattan-project-history/Places/Other/dayton.html#:~:text=Charles%20Allen%20Thomas%2C%20Executive%20Vice,in%20the%20chemical%20work%20required.
3. https://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/2013/05/17/the-price-of-the-manhattan-project/
4. https://ahf.nuclearmuseum.org/ahf/profile/leslie-r-groves/
5. https://ahf.nuclearmuseum.org/ahf/profile/charles-thomas/
6. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dayton_Project
7. https://www.sciencephoto.com/media/615257/view/john-queeny-us-chemical-industrialist
8. https://www.hbs.edu/leadership/20th-century-leaders/details?profile=john_f_queeny
9. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1110783/000110465916156280/a16-20774_3ex99d2.htm
10. https://ourworld.unu.edu/en/can-we-feed-our-world-without-monsanto#:~:text=In%20the%20US%2C%20Monsanto%20owns,went%20onto%20my%20NO%20list.
11. https://missouriindependent.com/2022/04/19/foreign-investment-in-u-s-cropland-nearly-triples-in-past-decade-usda-data-shows/ 
12. https://www.iisd.org/articles/insight/bayer-tightens-control-over-worlds-food-supply#:~:text=Monsanto%20is%20the%20world’s%20largest,transforming%20the%20world’s%20food%20supply.