"The US is already the world leader in 'biotechnologoy', and we want to keep it that way. In 1991 alone, it was a 4 billion dollar industry; it should reach at least 50 billion dollars by the year 2000, as long as we resist the spread of unnecessary regulation." -- Dan Quayle
The World according to Monsanto is directed by independent filmmaker Marie-Monique Robin, and paints a grim picture of a company with a long track record of environmental crimes and health scandals. The story starts in the White House, where Monsanto often got its way by exerting disproportionate influence over policymakers via the “revolving door”.
One example is Michael Taylor, who worked for Monsanto as an attorney before being appointed as deputy commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1991. While at the FDA, the authority that deals with all US food approvals, Taylor made crucial decisions that led to the approval of Genetically-Modified (GM) foods and crops. Then he returned to Monsanto, becoming the company’s vice president for public policy. In July 2009, Taylor was re-appointed to the FDA by the Obama Administration. and he exemplifies the revolving door between the food industry and the government agencies that regulate it.
Thanks to these intimate links between Monsanto and government agencies, the US adopted GM foods and crops without proper testing, without consumer labeling and in spite of serious questions hanging over their safety. Not coincidentally, Monsanto supplies 90 percent of the GM seeds used by the US market. Monsanto’s long arm stretched so far that, in the early nineties, the US Food and Drugs Agency even ignored warnings of their own scientists, who were cautioning that GM crops could cause negative health effects. Other tactics the company uses to stifle concerns about their products include misleading advertising, bribery and concealing scientific evidence.
Videos courtesy of National Film Board of Canada
>>>> Official The World according to Monsanto Movie Website >>>>
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