The Gates' Foundation's direct investment in Monsanto is problematic on two primary levels. First, Monsanto has a history of blatant disregard for the interests and well-being of small farmers around the world, as well as an appalling environmental record. The strong connections to Monsanto cast serious doubt on the Foundation's heavy funding of agricultural development in Africa and purported goal of alleviating poverty.

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Gates' latest plan is to try to end world hunger by growing more genetically modified (GM) crops.   He's already invested $27 million into Monsanto Company:  

"Gates' philanthropic methods came under scrutiny back in August 2010, when it was discovered that The Gates Foundation had purchased 500,000 shares of Monsanto stock, thereby dramatically increasing its previous holdings, and hence its financial conflicts of interest, in the biotech firm.   AGRA-Watch commented on the ties, stating:  

"The Foundation's direct investment in Monsanto is problematic on two primary levels," said Dr.   Phil Bereano, University of Washington Professor Emeritus and recognized expert on genetic engineering.   

"First, Monsanto has a history of blatant disregard for the interests and well-being of small farmers around the world, as well as an appalling environmental track record.   The strong connections to Monsanto cast serious doubt on the Foundation's heavy funding of agricultural development in Africa and purported goal of alleviating poverty and hunger among small-scale farmers.   Second, this investment represents an enormous conflict of interests."  

It would be naive to think that all these philanthropic collaborations are designed to solve any problem besides how to help Monsanto monopolize the world's food supply with expensive patented GM seeds, and the herbicides to go with them.     

Gates claims the seeds would be donated to the impoverished areas in question.   But seriously, how long would the seeds remain free? There's rarely such a thing as a free lunch anymore, and it appears highly unlikely that Monsanto is poised to "feed Africa" indefinitely...   And since you cannot save Monsanto's seeds from year to year, they will literally own the areas and the people they temporarily donate their seeds to.   And once you own the rights to all the food grown around the globe, you literally rule the world.     

Asheville, N.C.-based Sow True Seed, a seed company that offers non-GMO, non-hybrid, and open-pollinated varieties of heirloom, organic, and traditional seeds, has joined a class-action lawsuit against biotechnology giant Monsanto that seeks protection for farmers against predatory patent lawsuits.   On January 31, 2012, Federal Court Judge Naomi Buchwald from the Southern District of New York held a preliminary hearing of the case to decide if it will move forward, which was joined by hundreds of supporters who held a rally in Foley Square located just across the street from the Manhattan courthouse.       

Filed by the Organic Seed Growers & Trade Association (OSGTA) on behalf of more than 300,000 organic and non-GMO farmers, the lawsuit addresses an important issue for which few people are aware.   Besides polluting the environment with toxic herbicides and tainting the food supply with untested genetically-modified organisms (GMOs), the Monsanto Co.   has a history of actually suing non-GMO and organic farmers whose crops have become contaminated with genetically-altered materials for supposed patent infringement.  

"Monsanto has a monopoly over crops and over seed.   And currently as the law exists, Monsanto can actually sue family farmers," said Kristen Wartman, co-founder of Occupy Big Food, in a recent documentary short put together by the GRACE Communications Foundation.  

"If their seed, which is genetically-modified, and if the pollen from that seed drifts on the family farmers' crops, and then pollinates their seed, Monsanto can then go ahead and sue these family farmers for patent infringement.   So this (lawsuit) is just basically so family farmers can protect their own livelihood and their own crops from Monsanto."

Judge Buchwald is expected to make her decision on whether or not to allow the case to proceed within the next few months.   In the meantime, advocates of food freedom who recognize Monsanto's obvious and deliberate efforts to seize the entire food supply by force will continue to educate the public about the dangers associated with GMOs, and push for the passage of GMO labeling initiatives like the one currently moving forward in California.     

"The petition gives a voice to the overwhelming majority of people who support mandatory labeling of genetically modified ingredients in our food," said Cathryn Zommer from Sow True Seed to Mountain Xpress concerning her company's petition for GMO-free agricultural zones to be established in Western North Carolina.       

"Unlabeled and untested, pollen drifting from GE crops is a threat to the integrity of organic and non-genetically modified crops.   This is in direct conflict with our right to produce and consume pure, natural food."

You can access the Sow True Seed petition  here.

Learn more  here   and here.

Authors Bio:

Several years after receiving my M.A. in social science (interdisciplinary studies) I was an instructor at S.F. State University for a year, but then went back to designing automated machinery, and then tech writing, in Silicon Valley. I've always been more interested in political economics and what's going on behind the scenes in politics, than in mechanical engineering, and because of that I've rarely worked more than 8 months a year, devoting much of the rest of the year to reading and writing about that which interests me most.