Myths and Facts

Farmers: What GMOs are Doing to Help Farmers

MYTH: Traditional varieties of corn can survive drought just as well as Monsanto’s GM strains of corn.

FACT: Although it is true that some native varieties of corn can survive drought, they cannot survive the great advances in modern farming techniques that protect crops from pests. Traditionalists talk of preserving "ancient" varieties of corn, but Monsanto believes that it is equally or more important to preserve technological progress.

MYTH:   Fear exists around what’s popularly known “terminator” seeds, which are developed and commercialized to only be used once a year.  Farmers will not be able to harvest these seeds for future growing seasons and will have to buy them from Monsanto every year.

FACT:  Although it is true that we are developing these seeds, Monsanto needs to protect our products.  As the trailblazers in the development of GMO seeds, Monsanto maintains a legal right to protect and charge for our biotechnology.

MYTH : The creation of pesticide-resistant crops opens the door for new “super” pests that might be resistant to pesticides.

FACT : Monsanto spends over 2 million dollars a day in research in order to maintain itself as leader in the technology in pesticide production. We are devoted to staying a step ahead of nature and providing our consumers with the best quality products for all of their growing needs.

Health: What GMOs Mean for Your Body

 

MYTH:  GMO products are already banned in parts of Europe, pointing to the need to stop the production, distribution and consumption of GMOs in North America.

FACT: Europe maintains notoriously strict health and diet policies, which should not affect perceptions of GMO distribution in the Americas.

MYTH: Monsanto deliberately avoids labeling their GM foods because they are unsafe for human consumption.

FACT: Monsanto does not label their GM foods because federal law does not require to the company to do so. Because genetically modified foods have only experienced minor changes in their genetic makeup, such as the introduction of chemical pesticides and drought resistant chemicals, there is no reason to assume that the long term-ingestion of our products would be anything but beneficial for human consumption.  

MYTH:  Some studies claim that the consumption of GMO products may cause health problems such as infertility.

FACT: Although some studies show sterility among pigs and cows fed GMO corn and in rats fed Roundup Ready soy in North America, the health risks are extremely low for humans. Our GMO products are safe to eat during and after pregnancy.

Hunger/Injustice: What GMOs can Do to Fight Hunger

MYTH:  GM crops are unnecessary, since local food production levels are already high enough to feed everyone in the world.  The real problem is the unjust distribution of food and financial resources.

FACT:  While it is true that global food production levels are already high enough to feed everyone in the world, the level of demand for chemicals has never been high enough to fit the production needs of the past fifty years. Pesticide-resistant GM crops address the problem of high levels of production by increasing the demand for pesticides that the public would never otherwise agree to introduce into the most fragile parts of our ecosystems.  

MYTH:   Farmers in India have been committing suicide because of Monsanto’s  Bollgard cotton.

FACT : Monsanto regrets the recent news of farmer suicides in India. However, these unfortunate events cannot be traced to Monsanto’s products per se but are more accurately related to the enormous debt these farmers acquire from buying farming products at high interest.

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