18.11.11

Controlling Our Food: Future of Food + The World According To Monsanto

Genetically Modified Organisms represent the worst danger for the environment, animals and humanity.


The Future of Food:

There is a food revolution happening in America today. People are seeking out farmers markets, organic produce and good restaurants. At the same time, our food supply is increasingly controlled by multi-national corporations. Over the past 10 years, with the advent of genetic engineering and the massive expansion of pesticide companies, like Monsanto, into the seed business, the very nature of our food system has radically changed with potentially disastrous effects on our food security. Patenting of life is now permitted, no labeling of genetically modified organisms (GMO's) in food is required, research is conducted on these issues by universities beholden to the "agri-corps" who fund them, and the major regulatory agencies are run by former execs from these very companies.

All the while, the average citizens remain blissfully unaware that they are eating GMO food and supporting the aggressive "corporatization' of their food sources. In fascinating and accessible terms, 'The Future of Food' illuminates the major issues ultimately affecting us all -- some surreal, some futuristic, many frightening. Yet, 'The Future of Food' is a hopeful film, featuring insightful and moving interviews with farmers, agriculture and business experts and policymakers. It sees a future in which an informed consumer can join the revolution by demanding natural, healthy food sources that insure environmental integrity.




The World According To Monsanto:

A great documentary exposing the criminal agricultural corporation called Monsanto and the story of Roundup and Roundup Ready Soybeans. This documentary makes an in-depth investigation into unlabeled, patented, genetically engineered foods that have quietly made their way onto grocery stores in the United States for the past decade. It voices the opinions of farmers in disagreement with the food industry and details the impacts on their lives and livelihoods from this new technology, and shines a light on the market and political forces that are changing what we eat.

The film decries the cost of a globalized food industry on human lives around the world and the environment, highlighting how international companies are gradually driving farmers off the land in many countries. Potential global dependence of the human race on a limited number of global food corporations is discussed, as is the increased risk of ecological disasters -- such as the Irish Potato Famine (1845--1849) -- resulting from the reduction of biological diversity due to the promotion of corporate sponsored monoculture farming.

The issue of incorporating a terminator gene into plant seeds is questioned, with concern being expressed about the potential for a widespread catastrophe affecting the food supply, should such a gene contaminate other plants in the wild. Legal stories reported by the film related how a number of farmers in North America have been sued by Monsanto; and the defendant of the Monsanto Canada Inc. v. Schmeiser case is interviewed.