The world according to Monsanto : pollution, corruption, and

116 the world according to monsanto200 cows in New York State—reported that he had had to replace 50 animals,some of which had died suddenly, and that after stopping injections, hehad had the rest of the herd inseminated: 35 cows gave birth to twins, mostof them with very weak constitutions, “good for absolutely nothing.”Reading this apocalyptic report, I recalled the emotional reaction ofRichard Burroughs, the veterinarian fired by the FDA. “It’s terrible whatthey’re doing to cows,” he had said. “To be able to turn themselves into milkfactories, they are forced to draw constantly on their reserves, which weakenstheir bones. Encumbered with monstrous udders, they limp and canhardly stay standing.”All the farmers in Mark Kastel’s survey had sent reports to Monsanto, asprovided in the contract they had signed, but the company had not responded.Worse, although Monsanto was legally obligated to report the secondaryeffects that its product caused in the field, it had, according toKastel, improperly delayed transmitting some of the reports to the FDA. Andin any event, what good would that have done? On March 15, 1995, althoughhe was inundated with alarming reports, Stephen Sundlof, the newdirector of the CVM, coolly noted: “Based on these reports, the FDA doesnot find any cause for concern.” 11Today, whereas major food distribution companies are trying to obtainmilk that if not organic is at least natural, to satisfy increasing consumer demand,no official assessment has ever been made of the use of the transgenichormone.* “The FDA has kept its head in the sand,” said Kinsman,“but inadvertently, its irresponsible conduct has in fact fostered the growthof organic farming. By attempting at all costs to avoid milk from cows treatedwith rBGH, consumers have fallen back on organic milk producers, and asa result they’ve started to wonder about the quality of their food. I don’tthink any official decision will ever ban the use of the hormone, but in thelong run consumers will make it disappear from our farms. And that will bea massacre.”“Why a massacre?” I was taken aback.“Because rBGH is a real drug,” said the experienced activist. “When cowsstop being injected, they experience withdrawal and they literally collapse.It’s been called ‘crack for cows.’ The day when large dairy farms are forced to*On June 5, 2006, Dairy and Food Market Analyst reported that chains such as Dean Foods, Wal-Mart, and Kroger, although not very inclined to support organic farming, were promising to sell onlymilk that was rBST free.