The world according to Monsanto : pollution, corruption, and

the bovine growth hormone affair, part two 113beards for the men and bonnets for the women, all wearing traditional clothing,and the rejection of all techniques arising from “progress,” starting withelectricity. The Amish light their buildings with candles, travel in horsedrawnbuggies, and work their land with teams of oxen.“Amish agricultural products are having great success these days, becausethey are necessarily organic,” according to John Kinsman, president of FamilyFarm Defenders, whom we had just met at his home. “They sell their milkdirectly from the farm, which allows them to avoid attacks from Monsanto.”Around sixty and very talkative, Kinsman is one of the leading opponents ofthe transgenic hormone. He became active against it very early on, first foreconomic and social reasons. “rBGH is a real aberration,” he said, laying outa thick file on his kitchen table. “When Monsanto submitted it to the FDA,the American government was paying farmers to slaughter their cows, becausewe had been overproducing milk for a quarter century.” In fact, in1985, to deal with milk surpluses that were annually costing the federalbudget the tidy sum of $2 billion, Congress passed the Food Security Act,intended to reduce the cost of the price support program by reducing thenumber of dairy farms. Some fourteen thousand farmers agreed to acceptsubsidies to send more than 1.5 million cows to the slaughterhouse (thisprogram cost $1.8 billion). “Growth hormone is part of the system of industrialagriculture which drives toward the concentration of production andconsequently the disappearance of many agricultural units unable to handlethe expenses incurred by the intensive farming model,” Kinsman explained.“We think this model is contrary to sustainable development and the productionof quality food, which only family and organic farming can provide.”We went back on the road and met a farmer who had used rBGH for a whilebut gave it up because of serious veterinary problems. “It’s very hard to find afarmer who will testify about his difficulties,” Kinsman commented. “First,because most of them are ashamed of having subjected their animals to suchabuse and at the same time threatening the health of their customers; andthen, to be able to get the hormone, you have to sign a contract that includesa confidentiality clause in case there is a problem. I’ve met farmers who havebeen sued by Monsanto because they had spoken publicly,” Kinsman said.The farmer we met was named Terry, and he had a herd of about fortyHolsteins that were peacefully grazing not far from his house. The blackand-whiteanimals were guarded by two Peruvian llamas. “They’re excellent,better than dogs,” he explained, amused by my surprise. Then, suddenly