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Monsantos Harvest of Fear
Key Excerpts from Article on Website of Vanity Fair magazine
Posted: April 10th, 2008
http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2008/05/monsanto...
Gary Rinehart clearly remembers the summer day in 2002 when the stranger walked in and issued his threat. Rinehart was behind the counter of the Square Deal, his old-time country store, as he calls it, on the fading town square of Eagleville, Missouri, a tiny farm community 100 miles north of Kansas City. As Rinehart would recall, the man began verbally attacking him, saying he had proof that Rinehart had planted Monsantos genetically modified (G.M.) soybeans in violation of the companys patent. Better come clean and settle with Monsanto, Rinehart says the man told himor face the consequences. But Rinehart wasnt a farmer. He wasnt a seed dealer. He hadnt planted any seeds or sold any seeds. He owned a smalla really smallcountry store in a town of 350 people. On the way out the man kept making threats. Rinehart says he cant remember the exact words, but they were to the effect of: Monsanto is big. You cant win. We will get you. You will pay. Scenes like this are playing out in many parts of rural America these days as Monsanto goes after farmers, farmers co-ops, seed dealersanyone it suspects may have infringed its patents of genetically modified seeds. As interviews and reams of court documents reveal, Monsanto relies on a shadowy army of private investigators and agents in the American heartland to strike fear into farm country. They fan out into fields and farm towns, where they secretly videotape and photograph farmers, store owners, and co-ops; infiltrate community meetings; and gather information from informants about farming activities. Farmers say that some Monsanto agents pretend to be surveyors. Others confront farmers on their land and try to pressure them to sign papers giving Monsanto access to their private records.
Note: For a revealing summary on the health impacts of genetically modified food, click here.
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