WASHINGTON LAUNCHES THE
GMO REVOLUTION
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In January 2004, after FDA inspectors broke their silence by declaring having found unacceptable levels of contamination in rBGH, Monsanto finally announced it would reduce the supply of Posilac by 50%. Many thought Monsanto would quietly discontinue production of the dangerous hormone. Not easily deterred by anything, least of all evidence of danger to human health, Monsanto announced a year later that they planned to increase the supply of Posilac again, initially to 70% of its peak level. They had come under enormous pressure not only from citizens concerned about health consequences, but also from farmers who realized that the 30% rise in national milk output from dairy herds had only served to create an even larger glut of unsold milk in a nation already in surplus. It had also triggered collapsing milk prices. By then, Monsanto had moved on to corner the global market in seeds for the most important staples in the human and animal diets. Monsanto's Cozy Government Relations The relation between the US Government and giant GMO seed producers such as Monsanto, DuPont or Dow AgriSciences was not accidental. The Government encouraged development of unregulated GMO crops as a strategic priority, as noted, since the early years of the Reagan Presidency, long before it was at all clear whether such engineering of nature was at all desirable. It was one thing for a government to support long-term laboratory research through science grants. It was quite another thing to open the market's floodgates to untested, risky new procedures which had the potential to affect the basic food supply of the country and of the entire planet. Washington was becoming infamous for what some called "revolving door government." The latter referred to the common practice of major corporations to hire senior government officials directly from government service into top corporate posts where their government influence and connections would benefit the company. Similarly, the practice worked in reverse,where top corporate persons got picked for prime government jobs where they could promote the corporation's private agenda inside the government.
