Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
seriously, and that is exactly what this chapter has attempted
to accomplish.
Will GMOs Lead to Excess Market Power for a Few Corporations?
It can be difficult at times to see what GM opponents dis-
like more:  genetic modification itself or the large corpora-
tions that perform it. When people protest biotechnology,
sometimes, they are really protesting the market power of
corporations. Creators of new GM crop varieties are given a
patent, which is a temporary monopoly on that crop. Patents
are no modern creation, but an ancient and reliable system
for rewarding creativity. In ancient Greek colonies, cooks
were allowed a patent for one year on all new food inven-
tions; seed companies can today acquire a patent for GM
seed that lasts twenty years.
No, my problem with biotechnology is that the science
has been hijacked by corporate interests, and that the
subsequent wholesale rush to patent plant genes as the
intellectual property of a handful of multinational cor-
porations is placing the control of global food production
directly into their hands.
—Andrew Gunther, “GE Crop Thriller Leaves Bond and
Bourne for Dust,” Huffington Post , May 15, 2013.
The claims made for GM agriculture are a transparent
fraud. The real purpose of GM foods is to give giant cor-
porations legally-enforceable monopoly powers over the
entire global food chain.
—Colin Tudge, “The Real Point of GM Food Is Corporate
Control of Farming,” Ecologist , November 1, 2013
This does not mean that big corporations have a monopoly
over all crop seeds, though. There are plenty of non-GM variet-
ies of corn and soybeans, but most farmers simply do not want
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