The world according to Monsanto : pollution, corruption, and

conclusion 329teen class action suits filed in fourteen different U.S. courts, as the companyacknowledged in its 2005 10-K form.“We are attacking the monopoly on seeds that Monsanto has acquired bywhat we consider to be illegal means,” Adam Levitt, one of the plaintiffs’ attorneys,who works for a well-known Chicago firm, told me in October2006, “namely, the abuse of patent rights, such as the prohibition on farmerskeeping their seeds or the requirement to buy only Roundup and not ageneric glyphosate; also the obligation imposed on licensed dealers to sell ahigh percentage of Monsanto products. We also accuse the company of havingstifled competition with unfair trade practices and having conspired tofix seed prices at an exorbitant level. All of that seems to us to amount to aviolation of U.S. laws.”“Do you think you’ll win?”The question made Levitt smile, and he reminded me that he was paid oncontingency. He concluded with obvious pleasure: “The fact that Monsantohas hired the largest law firms in the country for its defense makes us thinkthat the company takes the matter seriously.”I will add that for us too, the citizens of the Earth, the matter is serious. Aftertracking the company for four years, I think I am in a position to state thatwe can no longer say we didn’t know, and that it would be irresponsible to allowthe food of humanity to fall into Monsanto’s hands. For if there is onething I’m certain I do not want, for myself and even less for my three daughtersand my future grandchildren, it is the world according to Monsanto.