Feature story - April 16, 2003
Monsanto, the company that gave us PCBs, Agent Orange, pesticides and beef growth hormones, is desperate to get us to plant their genetically engineered (GE) seeds, spray them with their herbicides and eat GE foods. Will they get away with it? Not according to a new study done by Innovest Strategic Value Advisors.
Genetically engineered crops have questionable impacts.
Sustained market rejection, regulatory restrictions in key
markets and likely contamination scandals should be of great
concern to investors.
Innovest Strategic Value Advisors, a leading environmental and
social investment research firm, came to the conclusion that the
risks to Monsanto's shareholders from the company's GE-focussed
strategy are substantial. The multinational GE giant received the
lowest possible environmental and strategic management rating by
the financial experts at Innovest.
Monsanto is the global leader in developing and marketing GE
products. In 2002, over 90 percent of GE hectares worldwide were
planted with Monsanto's GE seeds. While the agrochemical business
is still the cash cow of the company, its GE products are one of
the most fiercly rejected product groups ever.
Regulatory hurdles and consumer and market rejection of GE
products are expected to continue or even spread. Next in
Monsanto's GE pipeline is wheat, one of the major staple crops
worldwide. Fierce opposition to wheat surfaced before applications
for commercialisation were even filed. And opposition came not only
from traders, food producers and consumers, but also from
Monsanto's own customers, farmers.
At the same time the company itself admits that contamination of
conventional or organic crops by GE traits is inevitable, a large
liability for Monsanto and the GE industry.
Just days before Monsanto's annual general meeting, the concerns
over Monsanto's GE strategy and it's potentially catastrophic
consequences should come as a serious warning to investors.
Check out our new video Slice of Life to
see why farmers, bakers, and food specialists say the introduction
of GE wheat could be a disaster for one of the world's most
important food sources.
Find out more:
Monsanto Investors Face Catastrophic Risk (press release)
Genetically engineered
wheat - changing our daily bread?
Outdoor pharming puts food supply at risk
GE industry breaking farmers backs
www.innovestgroup.com
www.monsanto.com