Ap: Argentines Worry Agrochemicals Are Killing Them

[EdRooney]

Article reprinted in today's Paper of Record:

http://www.nytimes.c...ry.html?hp&_r=0

Money line:

The Monsanto Co., one of several agricultural companies that sell pesticides in Argentina, says it is working with government officials and farmers to promote better pesticide practices.
But an Associated Press investigation found that Argentine farmers now use more than twice as much pesticide per acre as U.S. farmers do, making Argentina a laboratory for what can go wrong with biotech farming.

Last year Monsanto was rated as having the worst public image of any major corporation, but none of the politicians that win in a couple of weeks here (eg: Ks, Massa, PRO, UNEN) will do anything to restrict their activities.

Discuss.

 

[Matiasba]

The first problem is how the masses get information about Monsanto. Thats a big problem, since (almost all) the political power in this country is friend of Monsanto and they control the media. So it must be a discussion of how the population get informed about the problem more than the problem itself of what Monsanto does (I think nobody would agree with Monsanto, the disapproval would be unanimous)

 

[EricLovesBA]

It's a bit hypocritical isn't it, that there are all these protectionist policies and yet in through the back door comes Monsanto, laying the groundwork to cash in on Argentina's biggest exports. I wonder what percentage of the export profits go right back out into their pockets and who else is cashing in to keep this door open. Would be interesting to see a flow chart of that paper trail.

As for unanimous approval - no, just watch - unless they are just too bored to condescend to explain it to us, there will be those on this forum who will tell us how Monsanto is solving the problem of world hunger and GMO's are perfectly safe.

 

[AHansen]

Oh, sorry I didn't see there was already a post on this topic. But glad people are discussing!

 

[arielm]

oops! i just posted the same. will remove. it's really really important. i think we should bring it up to all argentines who feel like the least their gov't is doing in the protectionism is protecting them from this type of stuff, when this proves it's the opposite. profit.

 

[ARbound]

Like others have posted before, it saddens me that I can't find organic fresh produce anywhere it seems, and that there is such a low
demand for it. I really wish California's Prop on GMO labeling went through, but sadly it didn't. It also looks like thanks to SCOTUS,
that seeds that are cross contaminated (contaminated being the key word since this isn't natural) by Monsanto's line of GMO products
like Round Up Ready, and their second generation seeds are all subject to copyright/trade protection/anti-piracy legislation of sorts.
It prevents farmers who have either had a) their crops contaminated with Monsanto's experiments, and/or B) have seeds produced from
the original stock they purchased, from replanting/selling crops/reselling seeds because of these court rulings.

I guess in all fairness to Argies, there are a lot more pressing issues going on, even if this should be debated/addressed.

 

[Jaredberryman]

I'm sorry to say it, but in a country like Argentina, organic food is a luxury that most cannot afford. Producing organic food is far more expensive than otherwise. The reason there is not high demand for organic food is because there are not enough people who cannot afford it. On the other hand, what Monsanto does is beyond belief.

 

[ghost]

Do you mean to say that I have been eating inorganic food?

 

[PhilipDT]

The first problem is how the masses get information about Monsanto.

Via the internet, always in negative contexts and accompanied by slander from zealots with more rage than facts?



Yes I could see how that might be a problem.

 

[EdRooney]

I think there's alot of misunderstanding here. This is not about getting Argies to eat organic food, as great as that would be. It's about a huge corporation poisoning people and the environment with its unethical and anti-competitive practises, all whilst in bed with the Argentine government (and many other govts to boot).

It's not as if our only options are Monsanto or converting the whole country to biodynamic hippy farming.