For related articles and more information, please visit OCA’s Genetic Engineering page and our Millions Against Monsanto page.

When Genetically Modified (GM) crops were first planted commercially in 1996 they were just another technological innovation that fit well into the trend of larger farms and fewer farmers. Since weed control was a time consuming task, chemicals that killed the weeds without harming the crop struck farmers as a good idea.

Often when a technology is introduced one never considers why it was introduced or what future events and connections may be put in motion. Clearly the trend to global crop production and marketing has changed the face of agriculture. Now we are left to decide if it was a good thing, this world changing shift in crop production brought about by GM crops.

While GM has been very widely adopted and praised by some, particularly in the U.S., Canada and South America, results have been mixed, at best, in India and Africa. American farmers have used the technology to convert vast swaths of land from prairies, tropical rain forests and former mixed livestock/crop farms into a vast corn/soy mono-culture.

After nearly 20 years of GM crops, genetic modifications for herbicide resistance and pest resistance are still the only two commercially viable traits of any significance. There are no yield genes that will revolutionize farming, and weeds and insects are quickly developing resistance to the GM technologies.

When Monsanto and other corporations involved in seed research and development brought GM seed to the market, what was their reason? Obviously they saw an opportunity for profit, that is what corporations do.