This week's dose of organic headlines, updates, resources, goodies, and recipes courtesy of Doug Snodgrass...

If you visit the Monsanto website without knowing anything about the company, you'd think they were greener than a Fuzzy Zoeller outfit; wordage o'plenty about sustainable agriculture, conservation, yada yada yada. And then there's the kicker, a picture of a windmill, suggesting they have street cred with environmentalists.

But...

Monsanto partially funds the anti-organic Center for Global Food Issues, a project of the right-wing Hudson Institute. It is run by Dennis Avery and his son Alex Avery. Here find the latest on Hudson's anti-environmental and pro-biotech spinmeister Michael Fumento, and his secretly taking money (at least $60,000) from Monsanto.

In 1998 Dennis wrote an article that began "'According to recent data compiled by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), people who eat organic and natural foods are eight times as likely as the rest of the population to be attacked by a deadly new strain of E. coli bacteria (0157:H7)'.

However, according to Robert Tauxe, M.D., chief of the food borne and diarrheal diseases branch of the CDC, there is no such data on organic food production in existence at their centers and he says Avery's claims are 'absolutely not true.'"  Following in his father's steps Alex distorted a study from the Journal of Food Protection that showed that organic food does not contain more pathogens than conventionally grown, contrary to Avery's claims.

 (Wordle created with Monsanto's Reducing the Environmental Impact of Agriculture, click to enlarge).

This week, Monsanto made enough news to hijack this column, so it's all about them, modified, er, enhanced by Wordle.

Monsanto's feeling the pinch and shedding some workers. (Wordle created with Monsanto's Letter to Stakeholders, click to enlarge).

Monsanto to Restructure Herbicide Unit, as Profit Drops 14%

Monsanto Co. announced plans to restructure its crop-protection business, which has been hit hard by intensifying competition from generic rivals.

The agribusiness giant, posting a 14% drop in quarterly earnings, also announced plans to shed 900 jobs companywide, or about 4% of its work force.

Monsanto, the world's largest seed company by revenue, said it expects profit from the Roundup herbicide unit to drop by half in the fiscal year through August next year from its recent peak of $2 billion. The company maintained its long-term earnings' targets, however.

Monsanto has diversified over the past decade from herbicides like Roundup that once accounted for the bulk of its sales, introducing high-margin seeds for crops like corn and soybeans that boost yield for farmers.

Hugh Grant, Monsanto's chairman and chief executive, said there are no immediate plans to dispose of Roundup and associated businesses, which are being turned into a stand-alone herbicide-and-nutrients unit under a single boss, following a sharp drop in revenue. The operation currently is run by regional heads.

Hugh Grant works at Monsanto? Who knew?

Monsanto, part deux, on a mission to save us from vegetables that are "wilty", their term, not mine. (Wordle created with Monsanto's Who We Are, click to enlarge).

Monsanto, Dole to try to Build Better Veggies

Monsanto Co and Dole Fresh Vegetables Inc are formalizing a partnership to breed broccoli, spinach and other vegetables that would be more attractive to consumers.

The five-year collaboration, announced on Tuesday, will focus on creating variations of broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce and spinach, the companies said in a statement.

 The focus of their efforts is to breed more colorful, tastier vegetables that are less susceptible to bruising and have a longer shelf-life.

 "If I buy broccoli on Saturday or Sunday and try to cook it on Wednesday, it'll get wilty," Monsanto spokeswoman Riddhi Trivedi-St. Clair said of one of reasons for the program.

She also stressed that these new variants will not be genetically modified like the company's corn seed and soybean products, a much larger operation for Monsanto.

Going for the Monsanto trifecta here. (Wordle created with Monsanto's Who We Are, click to enlarge).

Monsanto's Pesticide Kills Human Cells - Debate Intensifies Over So-Called 'Inert' Ingredients

Used in yards, farms and parks throughout the world, Roundup has long been a top-selling weed killer. But now researchers have found that one of Roundup's inert ingredients can kill human cells, particularly embryonic, placental and umbilical cord cells.

The new findings intensify a debate about so-called "inerts" - the solvents, preservatives, surfactants and other substances that manufacturers add to pesticides. Nearly 4,000 inert ingredients are approved for use by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Glyphosate, Roundup's active ingredient, is the most widely used herbicide in the United States.  About 100 million pounds are applied to U.S. farms and lawns every year, according to the EPA.

Until now, most health studies have focused on the safety of glyphosate, rather than the mixture of ingredients found in Roundup. But in the new study, scientists found that Roundup's inert ingredients amplified the toxic effect on human cells-even at concentrations much more diluted than those used on farms and lawns.

One specific inert ingredient, polyethoxylated tallowamine, or POEA, was more deadly to human embryonic, placental and umbilical cord cells than the herbicide itself - a finding the researchers call "astonishing."

Related Reading:

GM Foods, or How to Forge a New World Order
Organic Food - The Benefits and Pitfalls

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