GMO Debate Part 2

~~Up to now, we in the holistic/natural/alternative field have been unable to put forth legislation that would stop the onslaught of genetically modified foods. This is in large part, if not completely, due to the fact that the large industrial chemical companies led by Monsanto have poured billions of dollars into the assault. That assault has been launched multiple times in numerous states, and nationally against any bill that would compromise the humungous revenues these companies make. The revenues are generated by glyphosate based chemicals, such as their big selling anchor of the herbicide market, and the chemical that will be familiar to most of you, Roundup®. There are many other chemicals that are making their way into our food chain that are also part of the GMO system. 
 
You see these companies not only make their money on the Roundup they sell. They also make perhaps even more on the seeds they can market that are "resistant" to Roundup. That's right, the plants that are propagated from Roundup Ready® seeds will not be killed by the Roundup when it is indiscriminately sprayed on the crops to kill the surrounding weeds. Oh, and by the way these genetically modified corn, soybean, or alfalfa seeds will produce seeds or a grain product that is not able to germinate. That's right, unlike the good old days when a farmer would hold back a portion of his crop to use as seed for next year's planting, that can no longer be done. The reason is because the GMO seeds that must be purchased from the manufacturer (you guessed it, Monsanto), cannot propagate. So, what does that mean to our farmer? That means that he must go back to Monsanto each year to buy more seeds. Do you get it? Monsanto not only makes their money on the front end by selling this "poison" to the farmers, they also make their money on the back end with the annual residual income they make by selling "Roundup Ready" seeds to the farmers, so that the cycle can be perpetuated annually.
 
So why are so many of us so passionate about this problem? Why are so many billions of dollars being pumped into this battle by the chemical companies? You guessed it $$$$$! That's right there are hundreds of billions of dollars at stake here for the big chemical machine.
 
Since there is so much hype about the subject of GMO's I decided to dedicate perhaps a few articles to this often confusing topic. In my next installment of this series of articles we will take a look at what the research is actually teaching us about the realities of GM foods.