In a newswire sent yesterday evening Monsanto announced its pledge of $100,000 to help St. Louis relief, as the food giant presents its ongoing message as the benefactor of farmers, even as there are lawsuits against the company in Missouri.
This week a massive tornado swept through the St. Louis area, disrupting flights and damaging buildings.
"St. Louis is our home and we're doing our part to help our friends and neighbors begin the clean-up and rebuilding efforts," said Jan Holloway, Senior Vice President of Community Relations for Monsanto in a press release yesterday. "We're so thankful there were minimal injuries and we believe this pledge to the Red Cross can provide the agency with an initial boost to help more quickly advance their relief efforts."
The local American Red Cross representatives immediately responded with praise for this outreach. "This early gift from Monsanto is just one example of the incredible community spirit and resiliency that is a hallmark of the Greater St. Louis Community," said Cindy Erickson, Regional Chief Executive Officer of the American Red Cross St. Louis Bi-State Chapter. "As we are assessing the needs and determining how best to help, we'd ask other companies and individuals to consider helping in early relief efforts as well."
In the meantime in Missouri forums the debate has sizzled over whether or not Monsanto really has the best in mind for farmers, in or out of the State of Missouri. A recent forum brought a great discussion surrounding the case of the State of Missouri vs Monsanto. Monsanto, located in Missouri, has its critics in its home for its business practices and its focus on genetically engineered seeds. One poster said this in response to Monsanto’s practice of suing farmers whom they believe are compromising Monsanto’s patents in any way, including those where there are questions about seed engineering techniques. “Tell your grandkids they are free but they aren’t allowed to do anything with their crops that feed their families because they will be sued for patent infringement and their lands taken from them because someone somewhere planted a patented seed that happened to cross pollinate with theirs.”
Monsanto is plagued with a checkered history, according to documentation by its critics. The company was started around the turn of the 20th century as a chemical company, dabbling over the years in what critics enumerate as toxic substances found in the soil near the company’s production of plastic, synthetic goods and various farm products. The finding of PCBS contaminating soil around Monsanto plants is underlined as a serious problem in some places in Missouri. Complaints about Monsanto’s business practices and lawsuits against farmers, as well as toxic substances associated with its company, have continued over many years. The worry from farmers now is over the food giant’s monopoly patents, allowing them to manipulate seeds and seed growth in their own way for the foreseeable future.
East St. Louis’ high levels of chemical exposure are in part centered on Monsanto and others in what has been called the Times Beach incident. In this case, two girls played in contaminated areas near Monsanto and were later hospitalized for serious medical problems, including kidney damage. A high number of birth defects have also been found in the area. Monsanto denies connections or fault with any of the claims made against them involving toxic substances.
Critics point to cover-ups of the Monsanto dealings, beginning with the Reagan administration, and continuing to the present day, including the stifling of information about what happened in the Times Beach incident.
In the meantime Monsanto presents its philanthropic arm called the Monsanto fund to address the problems caused by the storm in St. Louis recently and to help individuals and the overall community in recovery efforts.
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