Seeds
of Damage
Environmental
Studies – PHS 100A
Warner
Pacific College
October
24, 2011
As you walk through the produce aisle and see
varieties of fruits and vegetables you may marvel at amazing selection that we
have in foods today. Although we
do have the availability of many different varieties of food the actual variety
of species continues to decline.
Biodiversity in agriculture makes excellent sense ecologically; however it
might not translate into the economy of farming. Seed companies work to genetically engineer the strongest
and highest yielding crops possible.
This often comes at the cost of species variety. It seems that it isn’t easy for these
companies to see past the bottom line.
In spite of the power of the American consumer, there is obviously
little input that can be made as to what varieties of food are available. The only way we can protect our ecological
and agricultural interests is to introduce subsidy or regulation to grow
biodiversity in American farms.
Economic diversity cannot be the primary
motivation the government should consider in the regulation of seed
monopolies. Seed monopolies create
a tremendous ecological threat as well as a risk to our food sources. This can be exemplified by the single
variety of potato that was grown in Ireland in 1840. Due to the lack of genetic diversity a fungus was able to
wipe out the entire crop, finally resulting in the Irish potato famine. More recently, a 1970 corn disease
wiped out $1 billion in American corn crops. (http://www.sustainabletable.org/issues/biodiversity, 2011) Today, we are losing biodiversity by
developing genetically engineered seeds that are able to withstand strong
herbicides that would otherwise kill them. (http://www.ucsusa.org/food_and_agriculture/science_and_impacts/impacts_genetic_engineering/roundup-ready-soybeans.html,
2010) This continues to escalate
the amount of homogenization of available seeds in American farms.
A strong case in which a possible seed monopoly
may be forming would be the Monsanto Company. Monsanto distributes both seed and pesticide to the
agricultural industry. They
boasted that their Roundup Ready Corn 2 accounted for 40% of the corn acreage
for the 2006 U.S. crop. (http://www.monsanto.com/whoweare/Pages/monsanto-history.aspx,
2011) As far as their Roundup
Ready soybean seed is concerned, when it was developed in 1993 it only took
five years for it to account for 38% of the total U.S. soybean acreage. (Carpenter Gianessi, 1999). In addition to this, Monsanto claims
that there is an environmental advantage to these seed varieties because they
are able to survive with less pesticide than other varieties of seed. The problem is that Monsanto not only
distributes the seed, they also distribute the glyophosate herbicide that is
used to protect these plants. (http://www.ucsusa.org/food_and_agriculture/science_and_impacts/impacts_genetic_engineering/roundup-ready-soybeans.html,
2010)
It is clear that Monsanto has very shrewdly
begun to develop both a horizontal and vertical monopoly in the agricultural
industry. It is horizontal because
of the vast percentage of acreage that is being planted is Monsanto’s, proprietary,
genetically modified seed. It is
vertical because farmers are limited by what kind of seed and herbicide they
can use. Because glyophosate Round
Up creates less damage than other herbicides such as atrazine, farmers are now
left with very little choice as far as what is available to protect their
crops. 40% of Monsanto’s revenue
comes from the sale of Round Up, making it clear that distributing seeds that
work well with the herbicide is essential to the health of their company. (http://www.ucsusa.org/food_and_agriculture/science_and_impacts/impacts_genetic_engineering/roundup-ready-soybeans.html,
2010)
The solution for the pervasive growth of
Monsanto isn’t clear to me. Unlike
the antitrust lawsuit levied against Microsoft, the government will not solve
the problem by attempting to break up the company. The creation of several mini Monsanto type companies won’t
create more seed diversity and as much as the problem may be seen as economic
the real problem is a lack of biodiversity. It is also clear that a green tax would end up damaging
farmers as seed companies like Monsanto would pass the tax on to them. What would be most appealing to me
would be a subsidization of farmers that avoided using herbicides altogether. By embracing newer tillage
methods, multi-year crop rotations, and allowing their fields to have a few
more weeds than Round Up sprayed fields farmers will protect both the
environment as well as their businesses. (http://www.ucsusa.org/food_and_agriculture/science_and_impacts/impacts_genetic_engineering/roundup-ready-soybeans.html,
2010) If the government even created
further subsidization for heritage and heirloom varieties of crops it is
possible that it would be regulation by incentive that will create healthier
biodiversity.
In the end, we need to do something to embrace
biodiversity. 96% of vegetable
varieties that were available one hundred years ago are now extinct. (http://www.sustainabletable.org/issues/biodiversity,
2011) Additionally, as we continue
to genetically engineer seeds to become tolerant of herbicides, nature is also
adapting. Today weeds and
pests are also becoming more and more tolerant. (http://www.ucsusa.org/food_and_agriculture/science_and_impacts/impacts_genetic_engineering/roundup-ready-soybeans.html,
2010) It seems that we have
embraced genetic engineering and homogenizing seeds and the result could have
tremendous ecological consequences.
Without the implementation of some regulation we may continue to
compromise our food sources and damage our environment.
Reference
Carpenter, J Gianessi, L (1999) Herbicide Tolerant Soybeans: Why Growers are
Adopting Round Up Ready Varieties retrieved from http://www.agbioforum.org/v2n2/v2n2a02-carpenter.htm, October 23, 2011
(2011)
The Issues Biodiversity retrieved
from http://www.sustainabletable.org/issues/biodiversity, October 22, 2011
(2010) Round
Up Ready Soybeans retrieved from http://www.ucsusa.org/food_and_agriculture/science_and_impacts/impacts_genetic_engineering/roundup-ready-soybeans.html, October 22, 2011
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