Have you heard this ridiculous rumor? Monsanto knows the truth about the dangers of GMO food, so they won’t serve it in their own cafeteria.
Look, if you want the real truth, anti-GMO advocates are going to tell you whatever lie they think is necessary to scare you off from eating GMO foods. Reality doesn’t matter one bit. We see that all the time in food marketing: scare consumers into purchasing your products.
But lies are still lies.
I discovered that Greenpeace is actually the original source of this claim, and obviously uses it to further their own agenda. I’m not sure how blatant lies are ethical, but in the “green” movement I guess anything goes. (Go do a google search on this and you’ll see how many times the lie has been repeated. No wonder people will buy it.)
How about we go right to the source and ask them? I know, asking Monsanto something would make the same sense as, I don’t know, asking a farmer about farming. (By the way, if you don’t think Greenpeace is a biased source, you need to have your head examined.)
Here is what Monsanto has to say about serving GMO foods in their cafeteria:
All foods can be found in Monsanto cafeterias – conventional and organic. None of it is singled out as conventional or organic. It’s just food served in our cafeterias, the same food that everyone else eats.
In fact, the only time any food was removed from Monsanto cafeterias was a few years back, when a produce company announced a voluntary recall of spinach because of possible E. coli contamination. We remember it because spinach leaves suddenly disappeared from our salad bars.
Last year, there was a more limited recall of spinach because of concerns over possible Listeria contamination, but that didn’t affect our cafeterias, or most of them.
And, for the record, the spinach in question in both cases was – organic.
By the way, I love that the company admits it also serve an organic selection (even if it did lead to food borne illnesses) – something I’m sure many people would find unbelievable!
I know, anti-GMO extremists won’t accept this answer because Monsanto said it. Demonizing the company is some sort of obsession that some people have, which I find to be incredibly odd. When all else fails, the answer is just to blame Monsanto. Unfortunately, this particular lie is so prevalent that it keeps popping up and getting repeated.
Time to put this one to bed.
I'm not a fan of Monsanto or Dow Chemical, but I do try to do my own research instead of just passing on "facts". I felt like I was the only person that noticed the "article" about their cafeteria was from 2000 and listed no sources.
thanks kira!
I wouldn't be surprised if GreenPeace and a lot of extreme alternative news sources cherry pick their information to suit their agendas, but on the other end, asking Monsanto such a loaded question about if they serve GMO foods in their cafeteria and accepting their answer as fact is like asking a politician if there's any corruption going on within their committee. When they say, Not at all!, we then turn around and report it as fact. As if that's the official word.
You wouldn't be surprised if Green Peace – a radical group intent on making money by spreading lies and promoting eco-terrorism — didn't "cherry pick" from their sources? See? That's the funny thing: a fringe group completely made up the story and you would rather trust them than trust a legitimate United States company.
I prefer not to feed my family corn and soybeans that have been liberally sprayed with round up. You eat what you like though. Asking Monsanto about gm food is like asking a burglar if they were responsible for a robbery. There are plenty of comprehensive and independent studies. Since you can't take your own advice and do a Google search, here you go…http://www.responsibletechnology.org/article-gmo-soy-linked-to-sterility
Actually, Chris, the study you linked to has been summarily debunked by scientists (I did an article on it here: https://www.thefarmersdaughterusa.com/2013/11/russ…. In future, I suggest not going to an radical activists group to get information about biotech studies. You should probably try heading to a reputable scientific journal or institute. So, the point still stands — there has never been a single scientific study showing that GMOs are bad for the environment or human beings. Also, I'd like to point out that we do not "liberally" spray our crops with Round-Up. We like to be quite conservative with it since it's expensive. And by the time your family gets the corn and soybeans they are completely safe. We have safety guidelines that must be followed, we don't just do this willy nilly.
Even though there are no human clinical trials inferring that GMOs are conclusively dangerous, there are also 0 clinical trials ensuring their safety… Agent Orange corn is next to deal with superweeds… are you sure you are promoting the right message?
There are lots of trial ensuring their safety, which all had to be reviewed by the UDSA, FDA, and EPA before the biotech product was given "deregulated" status and available for commercial use, so that's a lie. And I literally LOL'd when I read the comment on "Agent Orange corn." Wow. Yes, I'm absolutely positive I'm on the right side.
How much are they paying you to spread their lies, Amanda? And how do you sleep at night?
I sleep very well, thank you for asking!You'll be happy to know that I'm not paid by any seed company, including Monsanto. However, if I had a dime for every time I was accused of it, I'd be a rich little farm girl. Lucky for you, I explained this very issue here: https://www.thefarmersdaughterusa.com/2014/02/no-i…
In response to "there has never been a single scientific study showing that GMOs are bad for the environment or human beings". Monsanto.com >>> "When farmers purchase a patented seed variety, they sign an agreement that they will not save and replant seeds produced from the seed they buy from us." Do you suppose that shipping seeds across the nation and re-seeding entire crops year after year (with heavy equipment I assume) is sustainable for the environment and better than crops that repopulate with their own seed? I do not think that a study even need to be taken to prove this simple fact.
Hi Hugh. Thanks for the comment. Unfortunately, I think you have a few things confused. First of all, prior to the introduction of GMOs, farmers had all but ceased saving their crop as seeds. The seeds coming right from the company are better anyway and are usually treated. It just makes sense for us to purchase new seed each year. So, that's one issue. But I think you're confused about how corn and soybeans grow, which has nothing to do with biotechnology. Do you realize that most crops have to be replanted each year? Everything from our corn and soybeans to tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers. Only tree/bush type fruit doesn't have to be replanted every year. I sincerely hope you don't think we're going to feed the world with just apples, peaches and blueberries? The seeds are going to be replanted with our big tractors and planters because they HAVE to be replanted every year. Perhaps you should catch up on some of my Farming Fridays! posts (linked above) about harvest. That might help clear up some of your confusion.
Hugh. Try to apply whole of system analysis to environmental impacts rather than cherry picking. Seeds are not re-used because self-seeding will generally lead to lower yield. Hybrid corn was introduced 60+ years ago to increase yields. If you use a lower yield alternative, then your output per area will be lower. To produce the same amount of food you need a larger area under production.Life cycle analysis of environmental impacts of conventional and organic agriculture generally shows this to be the case. Its the organic penalty.
Hi,
I find it surprising that the lot of you are comfortable having a Corporation control the worlds food supply. Aside from that there are many good reasons why most of the world does not allow the use of GMOs. Every one should be able to choose if they want to consume GMOs or not.
Debbie
Hi Debbie.
Not sure what you mean by having a corporation control the world’s food supply? Monsanto is only one of *several* biotech firms researching and implementing this technology. And, they hardly have control over the world’s food supply in any case.
Also, I’m not sure why you think most of the world does not allow GMO technology. Quite the contrary, many countries allow both importation and cultivation of GMO crops. However, even in countries that have not allowed cultivation, most still allow imports, including most of the EU.
Finally, if you want to avoid eating GMOs, you have that option. I suggest you either purchase organic items or food products with the “non-GMO verified” logo on it. The USDA is also creating a non-GMO logo that you would probably find helpful in that regard.