What Do Agent Orange, Biopiracy, Recombinant BGH, DDT And Aspartame All Share? Why, Monsanto, Natch

[hatrack]

What do Agent Orange, DDT, aspartamine, bovine growth hormone, GMOs and now, biopiracy all share in common? Other than being the stuff of environmentalists’ nightmares, each one owes its provenance to a single source: the biotechnology giant Monsanto.

The Indian government recently took an unprecedented step in filing suit against the corporation’s joint venture in India (known as Mahyco-Monsanto Biotech Limited) for the 'unlawful' attempt to obtain and modify the indigenous crop brinjal. Known elsewhere as aubergine or eggplant, brinjal is cultivated and consumed by many Indians, with roughly 2,500 unique varieties.

This commercialisation of indigenous knowledge is an offence known as biopiracy. In 2002, the Indian governent enacted the Biological Diversity Act (BDA) to prevent the plunder of the nation’s rich agricultural biodiversity, which is among the highest in the world.

The BDA requires that any modification of a plant for commercial or research purposes must first be approved by India’s National Biosafety Authority (NBA), a step Mahyco-Monsanto is accused of bypassing in efforts to develop their own genetically modified (GM) variety called Bt brinjal. While some anti-GM activists in both India and the West may hail the Indian government’s decision to stand up to the corporate behemoth as activism, Suman Sahai, scientist and director of the Indian NGO Gene Project, says this is a straightforward case of a violation of due process of law.

EDIT

http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_analysis/1087730/how_india_squared_up_to_monsantos_biopiracy.html

[OhioBlue]

1. Aspartame is evil

I know this is off topic and I apologize.. I didn't realize until now it was a Monsanto product.

I've drank diet drinks pretty much every day of my life - mostly diet pepsi since I was 15 or 16.

I've also had severe and at times debilitating PMS for over 20 years. Fatigue, pain, nausea, headache, backache, etc... sometimes I couldn't pry myself out of bed. I've missed family events, reunions with friends, day trips, school, volunteer meetings and work b/c of it.

I went on a diet program earlier this year that had their own diet drink - no aspartame..

anyway.. I was freakin' amazed and dancing when my PMS was almost completely eliminated. I figured it was the exercise combined with additional vitamins... hell I even wondered what was in the stuff.. it must be some kind of drug to make me feel so good. It lasted for a few months until I ran out of their diet energy drinks and bought some from crystal light as a substitute.. bam my pms was back. So... I didn't drink the crystal light any longer... the PMS went away again... then I had a craving for diet pepsi and drank one... again my pms came back. (tho it still wasn't as bad as before)

My hypothesis is that the aspartame was mostly responsible for my severe PMS.. combined with underlying factors of endometriosis and a diet which I think did need additional vitamins. Aspartame might not affect everyone the same.. but I KNOW it was at the root of much of my pms problems in the last 20 yrs.