In 2007, Barack Obama said that as president, he would strive to “let folks know when their food is genetically modified, because Americans have a right to know what they’re buying.” Vowing to “immediately” label genetically modified organisms after election, this was a part of his Change™ thing. Obama’s been all about change, both before and after becoming president. Except that after it, he’s just been changing his promises.
Last Tuesday, President Barack Obama signed H.R. 933, including its Section 735, named the Monsanto Protection Act. This law requires the United States Department of Agriculture to approve the harvest and sale of crops from GM seeds, even if a federal court has ruled the crop as having health or environmental hazards. This provision was written by Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO) in collaboration with Monsanto, which obviously would want measures to guarantee that it can keep on selling GMOs regardless of the costs.
Consumer safety advocates, food activists and organic farmers are up in arms about the decision. Indeed, Monsanto’s GMOs are known to cause health problems in humans and animals, including but not restricted to liver, heart and kidney damage. In any case, it cannot be smart to hand over control of our food supply to one entity — which is fast becoming reality with Monsanto’s monopoly — and definitely not one that exists for the sake of profit. At a time when other countries are kicking Monsanto out, we don’t even label GMOs from Monsanto … which is the same corporation that manufactured and lied to us about DDT, Agent Orange and other dangerous chemicals.
It isn’t hard to realize that if Monsanto wants to make sure that legal action can’t be taken against it, it must be doing something illegal. The challenge, though, lies in taking off our blindfolds and realizing that the seemingly more conscientious Democratic Party and the “progressive” candidate aren’t going to come to our rescue. It’s harder to look through the pretense of Obama’s Change™ that gets liberals and progressives behind him en masse than to see what’s wrong with Monsanto.
But the truth is that Obama is like Bush on steroids when it comes to the slaughter of civil liberties and civilians in Asia and Africa. He hasn’t shut down Guantanamo (where, incidentally, a media-blackout is keeping us unaware of 130 illegally detained prisoners protesting their confinement through a hunger strike). He claims to stand for the working classes while blurring the boundary between his administration and Wall Street — in fact, this January, he appointed the former vice president of Monsanto as the Deputy Commissioner for Foods of the Food and Drug Administration.
People who really want change should realize that Obama is more of a scoundrel than a saint. They should realize that the government is bought and sold by those rich enough to buy it, or at least that it’s not the best at doing good. (An example from recent events — many congresspersons were apparently unaware that the Monsanto Protection Act was even a part of H.R. 933.) Though horrible, the Monsanto Protection Act is not surprising — and it’s about time we fully come to terms with the way power works in the world and empower ourselves to take responsibility for our world.
That our food supply will be hurt by this law is undeniable. Essentially, Obama has given Monsanto free reign in infiltrating our food supply. Also, as International Business Times reports, a precedent has been set that corporations can evade consumer safety protections if they get politicians on their side, and that court challenges are a privilege, rather than a right.
However, the world has not been lost … if can we move beyond relying on Obama to do good and take control of our own collective destinies. We can still organize, boycott corporations that oppose GMO labeling and protest. We can promote and buy non-GMO (and local, fresh and organic) food. We can grow gardens and food, and perhaps most threateningly for the monoculture-monopolies like Monsanto and corporate capitalism in general, come together to collectively grow our own food. Resistance is, as they say, fertile.
