The world according to Monsanto : pollution, corruption, and

in argentina: the soybeans of hunger 265seized the opportunity: in 2003, one of its major ads proclaimed, “Soybeansare weeds.”In addition, the intensive use of Roundup tends to make the earth sterile.“I use constantly increasing amounts of fertilizer,” Bello acknowledged.“Otherwise yields would collapse.” It is hard to see how a total herbicideable to eliminate every kind of plant would spare the microbial flora essentialfor soil fertility. According to Pengue, “The disappearance of certain bacteriamakes the earth inert, which blocks the process of decomposition andattracts slugs and fungi such as fusarium.”To top everything, in 2004 the price of soybeans began a downward tendency,which continued in 2005, to the point of causing producers like Belloand Barchetta lasting anxiety.* “What are we in the process of doing?” Barchettaasked, his eyes fixed on the plot he was about to harvest. “Before, Iproduced fifteen different food crops; now I only do transgenic soybeans.Maybe we’ve fallen into a trap. Maybe we’re in the process of sacrificing theEarth and our children’s future.”A Public Health DisasterDr. Darío Gianfelici was annoyed as he drove down the road: “Look at that.They plant soybeans even in the ditches at the side of the road. When theyapply pesticides, you can be completely doused in spray. This country’s publichealth authorities are completely irresponsible.” When I met him in April2005, Gianfelici was a doctor in Cerrito, a small town of five thousand aboutthirty miles from Paraná, in the province of Entre Ríos, in the heart of theempire of soybeans. In this region of the pampas once noted for its agriculturaldiversity, soybean cultivation grew from 1.5 million acres in 2000 tonearly 3 million acres three years later. During the same period, rice productionfell from 370,000 to 128,000 acres. 8 At least twice a year, cropdustingplanes or mosquitos (farm equipment towed by tractors that sprayherbicides using long mechanical arms in the shape of wings) inundate theregion with Roundup, often reaching as far as house doors, since RR soybeanshave invaded the whole area.*After reaching $230 a ton in 2003, the price fell to $200 in 2004, then to $150 in mid-2005. Butin 2006, there was a spectacular recovery, and it reached a peak in 2007, particularly because of thefad for biofuels.