The fact that biotech giant Monsanto has a goal to genetically modify everything on the planet is no big secret. Most ordinary people are not happy about this, and that’s why a warm glow of respect and admiration is now flooding towards mainland Europe; la belle France to be precise.
The reason for this is that Monsanto may have gone one step too far … and they’ve been ‘nicked’. In a major victory for public health advocates, a French court has declared Monsanto is guilty in the chemical poisoning of a French farmer.
Paul Francois, a grain grower, suffered neurological problems that included memory loss, stammering and headaches after having inhaled Monsanto’s Lasso weed killer in 2004. Francois brought his case after he and other farmers banded together to create an association of individuals who assert that they, too, began suffering illness following exposure to Monsanto’s professed ‘crop protection’ chemicals. He accused Monsanto of not providing sufficient warnings on the product. A court in Lyon agreed, ordering a specialist to establish the extent of Francois’s losses and injuries to help ascertain a fitting amount for damages.
The ruling marks the first time anyone has been able to determine an unambiguous link between one of Monsanto’s products and illnesses caused by exposure to them. “I am alive today, but part of the farming population is going to be sacrificed and is going to die because of this,” Francois told Reuters in an interview.
Meanwhile, in the United States the USDA is changing the rules so that “genetically modified” seed companies like Monsanto will get ‘speedier regulatory. Why? Because Monsanto is losing sales with longer approval terms. The changes took full effect in March when they were published in the Federal Register. I used to travel to the US a lot; I love the people, but I won’t go anymore – the government is acting in an increasingly disturbing manner and I want no part of it.
rod millington
chief editor
