The world according to Monsanto : pollution, corruption, and

10The Iron Law of the Patenting of LifeMonsanto Company activities and the use of its products positively affect agriculturalsustainability.—Monsanto, Pledge Report, 2005“One of my biggest concerns is what biotechnology has in store for familyfarmers,” Dan Glickman declared in the July 13, 1999, speech that so irritatedhis government colleagues involved with foreign trade. “We’re alreadyseeing a heated argument over who owns what. Companies are suing companiesover patent rights even as they merge. Farmers have been pittedagainst their neighbors in efforts to protect corporate intellectual propertyrights. ...Contracts with farmers need to be fair and not result in a systemthat reduces farmers to mere serfs on the land or create an atmosphere ofmistrust among farmers or between farmers and companies.”The Weapon of PatentsWhen he spoke these iconoclastic words, Bill Clinton’s secretary of agriculturewas touching on one of the subjects at the heart of opposition toGMOs: the subject of patents. “We have always criticized the doubletalk ofbiotechnology companies,” Michael Hansen of Consumers Union told me.“On one hand, they say there is no need to test transgenic plants becausethey are exactly the same as their conventional counterparts; on the other,