Few places in the world are ‘PERFECT’
for farming
 Only 9% of the earth is cultivated – arable land
 As cities expand  into best soils for agriculture.
 Cities historically located near cultivated land
 50% of population lives in cities and urbanization
of periphery has just began

Few places in the world are ‘PERFECT’
for farming
 Once city starts to grow, valuable farmland is lost.
Burlington, Toronto, Niagara
Most of the time there is some “deficiency” in one
or more of the factors mentioned. Farmers must
work at overcoming them.
urbanization
MP4 video of southern
Ontario food system
http://www.cbc.ca/news/
canada/toronto/story/2012
/11/20/toronto-greenbeltexpansion.html
Political and Corporate Control
Economy – Controlling Prices
The developed world controls the economy and
trade and make it difficult for the developing world
to compete.
Tariffs: Tax placed on imported goods to allow the
domestic goods to compete (E.g.The Ivory Coast
and Cocoa).
Political and Corporate Control
Subsidize: Governments in developed countries
give money to their farmers to keep the prices of
certain products down. Outcome: more
competitive in the world market.
Aid: The developed countries will aid the
developing countries in food supplies, but the aid
is sometimes connected to some other kind of
favour (cheaper minerals, military base in
country).
 Absentee landlords: In many countries the rich own
the land and they either leave the land alone or they
rent it out to ‘peasant farmers’. Venezuela land
reform program
 Land Holdings: The U.S.S.R. had a system
(Collective farming) where the government owned
the land and the farmers worked there much like a
factory. This system was a disaster since the farmer
had no incentive to improve the land – huge quotas
so over use of land a must Aral Sea
 Infrastructure: Usually governments fund this
program. The developing world lacks
electricity, roads, trucks, railways, storage
facilities and distribution networks (difficult to
distribute).
 Communist Countries: set the price for food – there
is no incentive for the farmer to improve his/her
output.
 Capitalist Countries: Price is dependent on Supply
and Demand. Rich countries can manipulate this
and in turn control the price by storing the surplus
food, destroying the surplus or government paying
farmers NOT to grow more. Why not give extra
food as aid to starving people. milk
 Meat is a major part of the developed world’s diet. A
lot of grains are given to animals to beef them up.
The Animals Save the Planet - Gassy Cows
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIforUNXrUQ
America Revealed: Food Machine
http://video.pbs.org/video/2214315175/
DID YOU KNOW: Diversity Facts
Apples: There are more than 7,500
known varieties of apples. Different
varieties are bred for various tastes
and uses, including in cooking, fresh
eating and cider production. But just
100 of them are grown commercially
Beans: There are 40,000 varieties of
beans
Wheat: There are about 200,000
varieties of bread type wheats and yet
only a few genetic lines of wheat feed
the world.
DID YOU KNOW: Diversity Facts
Corn: There are thousands of strains of
corn, with more than 200 varieties of
sweet corn alone.
Potatoes: According to Washington State
Uniersity there are 575 different
varieties of potatoes.
Rice: 200,000-400,000 varieties of rice
Why Care about Diversity
 There is no such thing as a best type of variety.
Today’s best variety might be tomorrows lunch
for an insect, pest, or disease.
 Maybe the varieties that we do not appreciate
have resistance to disease, pests or even
climate change. Perhaps it has one unique
trait.
 Diversity gives us options. Options to feed a
growing population and options to help us
combat drought and famine.
Why Care about Diversity
 We are loosing diversity (possible extinction) to
political, economic and environmental factors.
Example: Seed banks are susceptible to natural
disasters, war, lack of funding.
Cary Fowler: One seed at a time, protecting the future of food
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/cary_fowler_one_seed_at_a_time_protecting_the_future_of_
food.html
Jonathan Drori: Why we're storing billions of seeds
http://www.ted.com/talks/jonathan_drori_why_we_re_storing_billions_of_seeds.html
Conventional Plant Breeding
to GMO
Conventional Plant Breeding
- Humans have been breeding plants for around
10,000 years.
- The basic goal of breeding was to improve certain
plant characteristics.
- For example wheat, a common cereal crop, has
been bred to produce more and larger seeds than
its wild ancestor, and to fight off infections.
- Basically, plant breeders would interbreed related
plants (closely or distantly related) to create new
varieties with desirable qualities. Breed different
types of wheat in search of the best qualities.
Conventional Plant Breeding
- Example: A mildew resistant pea may be breed with
a high yielding pea plant (a plant that produces a
lot of peas) with the goal having a high yielding pea
plant that is mildew resistant.
- The new plant would then be breed again with the
high yieling parent to ensure that the progeny was
most like the high yieling parent (Backcrossing)
- Progeny: A descendant or the descendants of a
person, animal, or plant; offspring: "the progeny of
mixed marriages".
Introduction to Modern Day Biology
 In the mid-19th century Gregor Mendel showed using pea
plants that traits are inherited in a predictable way.
 A Century later (mid 1900’s) Watson, Crick, and Franklin
suggested a model for the structure of DNA, which proved to
be correct by Avery and colleagues in 1943.
 The inherited material, genes, was the DNA.
 From this discovery new techniques started springing up to
manipulate, duplicate and sequence DNA.
 Knowing the sequence of an organism’s genetic material leads
to an understanding of how the cells work.
 Using DNA sequencing technology, breeders can select the
plant that has a favorable gene and leave
unwanted DNA.
Generating a Transgenic Plant
 Towards the end of the 20th century scientists were
able to move pieces of DNA between organisms.
 Plant biologists inserted genes that could impart
resistance to common pests that plagued them.
 This has become very contoversial but this is how it
is done.
Step 1
 select a “gene of awesome” that you want your
plant to express.
Generating a Transgenic Plant
 For example: Monsanto’s Roundup Ready Corn contains a
“gene of awesome” that imparts resistance to the herbicide
glyphosphate (chemical used in Roundup).
 This allows farmers to use Roundup to control weeds in their
fields without killing the crop.
 The idea is that if a glyphosate-resistant enzyme from
bacteria could be transferred to plants it might make the
plants resistant to the herbicide.
 The C4 strain of Agrobacterium sp. is a species of bacteria
that was found growing at a factory that made glyphosate.
The EPSP synthase enzyme from this bacterium (C4 EPSP
synthase) was almost completely insensitive to glyphosate.
Generating a Transgenic Plant
Step 2
 Once you have your “gene of awesome” you need to
put it into a plasmid.
 This circle of DNA will contain at least one other
gene (a genetic marker), used to make sure it
works.
 The gene called GUS is mainly used because when it
is incontact with a chemical it turns a plant blue
Generating a Transgenic Plant
Step 4
 After growing the cells into seedlings, the GUS
marker can then be used to select the seedlings
that contain the “gene of awesome”.
 The new transgenic plants are then grown
GMO Products
Possible Problems With GMO
 Diversity Loss
 Potentially become invasive
 Using just one species it might become
susceptible to disease (potato famine).
 Companies may select the best of the progeny
which will give them the highest yield, the most
money, and aesthetically the nicest looking.
Possible Problems With GMO
 Nutrients could be compromised for higher
yield. Genetic alteration to increase the yield
might be at the expense of a product which is
less nutritious.
 Potential of a gene to produce a protein that
someone is allergic to.
 Gene can impact other genes in the seed. I.E.
Could change the seed into something invasive.
Synthetic DNA
The strange new craft of making life from scratch
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17436365
Craig Venter & Synthetic Life Debate - BBC Newsnight & BBC America
Reports
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6yV7NHxA0o
Multinational Organization: A corporation that has
its facilities and other assets in at least one
country other than its home country.
2010 Financials
Agriculture Definitions
Fertilizers: any substance such as manure or a mixture of nitrates
used to make soil more fertile.
Chemical Fertilizers: are chemical products designed to help
restore or add nutrients to the soil.
Positive aspects are the increase in yield and it’s assistance in
providing nutrients to soil that may not be available. Negative
aspect are chemical accessing water table, accessing the plant
and diminishing soil fertility.
Pesticides and Herbicides: any substance intended to prevent,
destroy or control pests in the production process
(mice/rats/weeds). Issue: most insecticides harm non-target
species, air, water and soil.
Fertilizer use can lead to ‘diminishing returns’. You have to add
the right amount of fertilizer for optimal yields.
Pests and Fertilizer use
Fertilizer
(kg)
1
2
3
4
5
6
Total Yield
(bushels)
Increase
(bushels)
10
21
32
42
51
59
10
11
11
10
9
8
In this case the point of diminishing returns is at 4 pounds of
fertilizer.
History
1901
- John F. Queeny founds original Monsanto.
- The first product the company produced was
called saccharine.
- Saccharin is a non-nutritive sweetener used
around the world.
- It has not been allowed in Canada as a food
additive since the 1970s.
- In the 1970s, studies raised concerns that
saccharin could be carcinogenic in laboratory
rats.
Sources: http://www.monsanto.com/whoweare/pages/monsanto-history.aspx
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/securit/addit/sweeten-edulcor/saccharin-eng.php
- More recent studies have revealed that the
carcinogenic effect of saccharin in rats is not
relevant to humans.
- In 2006, a letter was sent to stakeholders
informing them of the results of Health Canada's
evaluation and the intention to propose
regulatory changes to allow saccharin to be
used as a food additive.
- If saccharin is relisted as an approved food
additive, commercial products will have to
include saccharin in their ingredient list.
Sources: http://www.monsanto.com/whoweare/pages/monsanto-history.aspx
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/securit/addit/sweeten-edulcor/saccharin-eng.php
History
1945
- The original Monsanto produces and markets
agricultural chemicals, including 2,4D.
- 2,4D is a synthetic auxin widely used as a weedkiller
- 2,4-D is a component of Agent Orange (2,4-D and
2,4,5-T TCDD). 2,4,5-T TCDD is a dioxin that has
been shown to cause cancer.
- 2,4,5-T is no longer on the market.
- Agent Orange was manufactured for the U.S. Department of
Defense primarily by Monsanto Corporation and Dow
Chemical. The Goal was to defoliate forest and force
migration of peasant farmers to major cities.
- Estimated 20,000,000 US gallons (75,700,000 l) of chemical
herbicides was dumped in parts of Vietnam, Laos and
Cambodia
- The U.S. military sprayed tons of Agent Orange on Vietnam
and was also allowed to test it at CFB Gagetown in the
summers of 1966 and '67. (U.S government)
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2011/12/16/bcagentorange.html
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/cps-spc/pest/part/protect-proteger/use-utiliser/_24d/24d-faqeng.php
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/2,4-d
http://envirocancer.cornell.edu/factsheet/pesticide/fs14.2_4-d.cfm
2,4D
-Health Canada Pest Management Regulatory
Agency (PMRA) has determined that 2,4-D
meets Canada's strict health and safety
standards.
-2,4-D can be used safely as a herbicide when
used according to label directions.
-Some Physician groups say 2,4-D can cause
cancer in children. Health Canada says that
no other international regulatory body
considers 2,4-D to be a human carcinogen.
2,4D
-The annual use of 2,4-D in New York State
was estimated to be 141,665 pounds, making
it the seventh most used herbicide in this
state. 2,4-D's primary use in agriculture is to
control weeds in wheat and corn fields. In
addition, it is used in home lawns and
gardens, to control broad-leaf weeds like
dandelions. The EPA has estimated that 12 to
28 million pounds of 2,4-D is used each year
in non-agricultural settings.
History
1964
- Ramrod herbicide is introduced
- For control of annual grasses and certain broadleaf
weeds in sorghum and selected vegetable crops.
History
1964
- Ramrod may be used for short-term pre-emergence
control in maize, sorghum and selected vegetable
crops such as beetroot, sweetcorn, direct seeded
onions, transplanted broccoli, brussels sprouts,
cabbages, cauliflower, and Chinese cabbage.
- Rated Toxicity category III: Slightly toxic and Slightly
irritating,
History
1968
- Lasso herbicide introduced to begin the trend toward
reduced-tillage farming.
- Lasso (alachlor) are used to control annual grasses and
certain broadleaf weeds such as redroot pigweed,
common lambsquarters and common ragweed.
- A Special Review of all pesticide products containing
the active ingredient alachlor was initiated on January
9, 1985. The EPA determined that alachlor produces
tumors in laboratory rats and mice and that humans
can be exposed to alachlor through consumption of
treated crops, consumption of water, or contact during
handling.
History
1968
- As a result of the Special Review and the reregistration
process, the following label changes have been made. Lasso
will no longer be approved for use with potato crops or in
aerial applications.
- Lasso has been banned in France since 2007. It was also
withdrawn from sale earlier in Belgium, Canada, the UK and
some other countries.
- US firm Monsanto 'guilty' in France poisoning case http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe17024494
History
1976
- Roundup herbicide is commercialized in
the U.S.. Glyphosate is the active
ingredient in Roundup
- GMO crops have resistance to
glyphosate so that weeds can be
controlled
- The toxicity of glyphosate itself is very
low.
- Roundup® is a very popular herbicide
due to the low toxicity to non-target
organisms Without a surfactant,
however, glyphosate’s effectiveness as
a herbicide is drastically decreased.
History
While glyphosate alone has low toxicity, the
formulation of glyphosate with the surfactant
polyoxyethylene amine (POEA), which is widely
used, is significantly more toxic.
- Some concern has been expressed over the
possibility that glyphosate could react with nitrite
in the diet to form N-nitrosophosphonomethyl
glycine (NPMG), a putative (commonly put forth or
accepted as true) carcinogen. Source:
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ewh-
semt/pubs/water-eau/glyphosate/index-eng.php
History
- Glyphosate effective tool in weed control programmes and
is relatively less harmful than many of the products.
- evidence of toxic effects on the environmental, indirect
environmental damage and resistance in some target weed
species.
- Fish and aquatic invertebrates are more sensitive to
glyphosate and its formulations.
- The toxicity of glyphosate to mammals and birds is generally
relatively low.
- The Forestry Commission believes that glyphosate and other
herbicides commonly affect hedgerow trees causing dieback.
polyethoxylated tallowamine surfactant (POEA)
Inert: A substance that does not react chemically; unable to move or
act. Many of these ingredients aid in the penetration of herbicide into
the plant cell.
History
1982
- Scientists working for the original Monsanto are the first to
genetically modify a plant cell.
1987
- The original Monsanto conducts the first U.S. field trials of plants
with biotechnology traits. The first genetically modified crops of
tobacco and tomatoes were tested in the United States
- In 1992, the FDA ruled that GMO’s are not dangerous and do not
require special regulation.
- One estimate stated that by 2001 more than 50 million acres of
American farmland had been planted to genetically modified
crops, most of it corn, soybeans, cotton and potatoes engineered
to withstand herbicides.
History
1994
- The first biotechnology product to win regulatory
approval, Posilac, bovine somatotropin (Bst) for
dairy cows, goes on sale in the U.S.
- Prior to 1980, Bovine Growth Hormone (BGH) could
only be obtained from cows. However, through
genetic engineering scientists were able to get
bacteria to produce BGH.
- When injecting a hormone into an animal or a
human, it affects other hormones and it can have
multiple effects which no one really knows.
History
1994
- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in
1993 ruled that it was not harmful and could be
injected into cows to improve their milk
production.
- According to a new study, if U.S. farmers injected
their dairy cows with bovine growth hormone, it
would take just 843,000 cows to produce the
same amount of milk as one million untreated
animals.
- Pros: Savings on animal food, reducing global
warming impact (methane) and an increase in milk
production.
- Cons: Some studies have linked
it with a risk of mastitis
(udder infection) in cows.
- BGH is also known to stimulate
the production of insulin like
growth factor 1 (IGF1) by the
liver; some studies have shown
that high levels of IGF1 in the
bloodstream may heighten the
risk of prostate and breast
cancers as well as a woman's
chance of conceiving twins. BGH
- As a result of consumer concerns, farmers in
Australia, Canada, the EU and New Zealand do
not inject their cows with bovine growth
hormone.
Many U.S. dairy farmers have pledged not to use
the growth hormone. Kraft Foods and Wal-Mart
have announced plans to shift to dairy products
that do not contain artificial hormones.
- Monsanto sold its POSILAC® bovine
somatotropin brand and related business
to Eli Lilly and Company (Oct. 2nd, 2008).
From The Harvard Jounal
Ganmaa Davaasambuu, a Mongolia-trained medical
doctor, a Japan-trained Ph.D. in environmental health,
and a current fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for
Advanced Study: 'The milk we drink today may not be
nature's perfect food.' (Staff photo Stephanie
Mitchell/Harvard News Office)
Hormones in milk can be dangerous
History
1994 - Present Day
GMO Product Line
Alfalfa: Genuity® Roundup Ready® Fewer weeds means it
provides high-quality forage and hay.
Canola: Genuity offers the Roundup Ready® This trait is a
tool for farmers to help manage weeds and increase yield
potential
Corn: Monsanto’s corn traits help farmers get the most yield
out of every acre of corn, while using as few inputs as
possible.
Cotton: Cotton growers are benefiting from secondgeneration and stacked trait technologies, which provide
more levels of protection.
Sorghum: Sorghum is an efficient crop in the conversion of
solar energy and more drought-tolerant than other crops
such as corn and soybeans.
History
1994 - Present Day
GMO Product Line
Soybeans: Whether it’s a higher yielding soybean
with weed control (Roundup Ready®) or a soybean
plant that helps reduce trans-fatty acids, Monsanto
has a lot to offer soybean farmers.
Sugarbeets: Fewer herbicide applications,
increased yields and more sugar content all make
Genuity Roundup Ready® sugarbeets attractive to
many farmers.
Wheat: Since acquiring the WestBred brand in 2009,
Monsanto has initiated an intensive effort to
incorporate breakthrough breeding technologies
History
1994 - Present Day
Acquisition:
 1996:Agracetus and purchases an interest in Calgene (bio
research firms)
 1997: Holden's Foundation Seeds L.L.C. and Corn States Hybrid
Service L.L.C., a supplier of high quality seed
 1998: DeKalb Genetics Corp. Was the U.S. leader in hybrid corn
seed
 2000: The original Monsanto merges and changes its name to
Pharmacia (Pharmacia eventually becomes a subsidiary of Pfizer).
A new Monsanto Company, based on the agricultural division of
Pharmacia is created.
 2004: Monsanto's ASI subsidiary acquires Channel Bio Corp. 3rd
largest seed supplier in the U.S.
History
1994 - Present Day
Acquisition:
 2005: Monsanto's ASI subsidiary acquires NC+ Hybrids, Inc. Conventional and
biotech lines of seeds.
 2005: Monsanto acquires the Stoneville cotton business, including its NexGen
cotton seed brand.
 2005: Monsanto acquires Seminis Inc. a global leader in the vegetable and fruit
seed industry. It supplies more than 3,500 seed varieties to commercial fruit
and vegetable growers and in more than 150 countries worldwide.
 2006: Monsanto and Dow AgroSciences LLC sign a global agreement crosslicensing intellectual property, product licenses in corn and soybeans, cotton
technologies, and enabling technologies. These companies will offer a seed that
combines eight different herbicide tolerance and insect-protection genes into
top-performing hybrids.
History
1994 - Present Day
Acquisition:
 2006: Monsanto’s ASI subsidiary acquires Diener Seeds, Sieben
Hybrids, Kruger Seed Company, Trisler Seed Farms, Gold
Country Seed, Inc., Heritage Seeds and Campbell Seed.
 2007: Monsanto and BASF announce a long-term joint research
and development in plant biotechnology. They will focus on the
development of high-yielding crops that are more tolerant to
conditions like drought.
 2007: Monsanto acquires Delta&Pine Land Company and got rid of
Stoneville&NexGen cotton. Cotton Seed Producers
History
1994 - Present Day
Acquisition:
 2007: Monsanto and Bayer CropScience AG announce a series of
long-term business and licensing agreements related to key
agricultural technologies such as; herbicide, insecticide,
fungicide, seed treatment or canola seed,
 2008: Monsanto acquires De Ruiter Seeds Group, De Ruiter
Seeds is one of the world’s top breeding companies.
 2008: Monsanto acquires Semillas Cristiani Burkard, a privatelyheld seed company in Guatemala City
 2008: Monsanto acquires Aly Participacoes Ltda., operates
sugarcane and breeding technology in Brazil.
Chemicals Produced
NOVA/Frontline Harvest of Fear 1/12
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NsI0ba9dNg&feature=r
elmfu
WHY THERE AND WHO/WHAT PUT IT THERE?
Monsanto identified a problem: Farmers Saving Seed & Worked to Make it illegal To Save
Seed That They Produce. They helped created the patenting of life treaty that was then
taken back to the U.S. government where it was then imposed on the world.
U.S.A.
Refer to History of Seed Patents in the U.S.A. (Next Slide)
WTO
(Some refer to the WTO as a Parliament, Court and Government all in one)
Member states are required to uphold the following patent protection.
Article 27.3(b) deals with patentability or non-patentability of plant and
animal inventions, and the protection of plant varieties. Broadly speaking,
it allows governments to exclude some kinds of inventions from
patenting, ie, plants, animals and “essentially” biological processes.
However, plant varieties have to be eligible for protection either through
patent protection or a system created specifically for a unique purpose,
or a combination of the two.
http://www.google.com/patents/US141
072
http://www.google.com/patents/US3861079?dq=us+patent++3861079&ei=bJyqT5XoLTr0gGY3MCDBQ
http://www.jltp.uiuc.edu/recdevs/baird.pdf
Members of the WTO
154 Members as of April 12,2012
WTO
30 Observing Governments as of April 12,2012
WHY CARE?
- Loss of Seed Diversity to farmer planting GMO seeds
- Do we truly know the long term impact of GMO’s. The pace at
which we have create, marketed and sold these products is only
within the last 20 – 30 years. Long term testing has not been
done.
- Trust is key if you are going to allow organizations to alter seed
and put pesticides on plants: Monsanto guilty in 'false ad' row
and 1996 false advertising
- Patents, like copyrights, are a form of intellectual property
protection . When farmers purchase Monsanto seed, they agree
not to save and replant seeds produced from the crops they grow
from Monsanto.
- Climate change is forcing food diversity (i.e. global warming).
Loss of seed diversity
- Monsanto seed could lead to the loss of seed diversity on a
massive scale.
- The GMO process combines the traits of other species to create a
benefitial plant. Diversity allows for this process.
- Are there health related impacts with consuming GMO’s or the
WHY CARE?
- Herbicides are not known to directly cause genetic
mutations in weeds that lead to resistance.
However, herbicide resistant biotypes may already
exist in native weed populations. When a herbicide
is applied over and over again, some of these
biotypes survive, mature and produce seed. (Source:
Monsanto Website)
- Control of a corporation over the very thing that
allows us to survive (Ethics/Morals)
- Corporations responsibility to increase profitability.
More money can be made in seed than in chemicals
(biotechnology)
WHY CARE?
- Farmers required to buy seed each year instead of
saving seed like they have been doing for thousands
of years
- Ultimately if they have control over the food supply
they have control over price.
- Address the famines and starvation that take place
in drought stricken countries
- Increasing population needs to be fed
- With future water challenges this technology might
be able to address water shortages by creating seeds
that need little water or soil nutrients.
NZ food bill to make growing food a
government privilege rather than a human
right
The God-given human right to freely cultivate food is under
attack in New Zealand (NZ) as special interest groups and
others are currently attempting to push a "food security" bill
through the nation's parliament that will strip individuals of
their right to grow food, save seeds, and even share the
fruits of their labor with friends and family members.
http://www.naturalnews.com/034337_New_Zealand_food_freedom_human_rights.html#ixzz1sblHKo
Ys
WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?
?
TEDxFruitvale - Gerardo Reyes-Chavez - Making Corporations Pay
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6fly-p3hu0
Janine Benyus: Biomimicry in action
http://www.ted.com/talks/janine_benyus_biomimicry_in_action.ht
ml
In Japan, when a train enters a tunnel it would create a sonic boom,
disturbing the surrounding area. In nature, when a Kingfisher dives
quickly into the water, there is no disturbance. By elongating the
nose of the train to emulate the shape of the Kingfisher's beak, the
sonic boom was eliminated.
Mark Bittman on what's wrong with what we eat
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/mark_bittman_on_what_s_wrong_with_what_we_eat.ht
ml