Frankenfoods: Why Is the Gates Foundation Helping Monsanto Push Genetically Modified Food?

[marmar]

Indypendent / By Paige Aarhus

Frankenfoods: Why Is the Gates Foundation Helping Monsanto Push Genetically Modified Food?
Monsanto and the Gates Foundation claim genetically modified crops will revolutionize agriculture in Kenya, but critics warn the technology is ill-suited to the needs of farmers.

May 10, 2012 |


NAIROBI, Kenya—In the sprawling hills of the Kangundo district in Kenya’s Eastern Province, just a few hours outside of capital city Nairobi, Fred Kiambaa has been farming the same small, steep plot of land for more than 20 years.

Born and raised just outside Kathiini Village in Kangundo, Kiambaa knows the ups and downs of agriculture in this semi-arid region. He walks up a set of switchbacks to Kangundo’s plateaus to tend his fields each morning and seldom travels further than a few miles from his plot.

Right now, all that remains of his maize crop are rows of dry husks. Harvest season finished just two weeks ago, and the haul was meager this time around.

“Water is the big problem, it’s always water. We have many boreholes, but when there is no rain, it’s still difficult,” he said. ..................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/world/155376/frankenfoods%3A_why_is_the_gates_foundation_helping_monsanto_push_genetically_modified_food/

[fasttense]

1. GM seeds are designed to keep farmers spending on pesticides and weed killers.

GM seeds can NOT survive without round-up like weed killers and poisonous bug sprays. So instead of using waste products such as paper, shredded wood mulch and compost to keep weeds down, a farmer has to buy expensive chemicals. Instead of spraying soaps and oils to kill aphids and caterpillars, or using chickens and ducks to keep bug populations within reason, a farmer gets to buy expensive toxic poisons.

And Monsanto gets all the profit.