GMO OMG Page #3

but the rise of

industrial agriculture

rapidly replaced people

with oil and machines.

Today, farmers make up less

than 2% of the workforce

which means there are

more prisoners

than farmers in the US.

The farmer community is kind of

like a lot of other business,

they either had to

get bigger or get out.

Your margin per acre

is very few dollars,

so they've got to do lots

of acres to have anything,

you know,

at the end of the year.

Three thousand acres

is considered really just

average to small farm.

Is it true that the farmers

can't save the seeds?

Yes, it is true.

You cannot save seed to replant

because, you know,

it's patented.

I'm tickled today that the

companies are doing the research

and providing us with the good

seeds that they are because

our yields have increased 50%

probably in the last

10 to 15 years.

If the yields have

increased that much,

how about people's

actual salaries?

The good Lord kind of

takes care of that.

If you're fortunate enough to

get rain and make a good crop,

yes, you could

make a little money.

What it costs to

grow an acre of corn,

equipment cost, land cost,

and if they don't make a yield,

they don't make a crop.

That person could

be out of business.

I don't think that

these have corn syrup,

but they do have canola oil.

The funnel cake is fried in it.

Do you still want it?

You don't care that

it's genetically modified?

I do care,

but I'm going to ignore

that I care for a minute.

- Does it deter you in any way, seriously?

- A little bit.

No, it does a little like...

Watching them eat it

makes me a little horrified.

Scout, no.

Scouty.

It's making them violent.

Thank you for calling

customer service.

This is Angela.

I was trying to set up an

interview with someone

at Pioneer just about the

seeds you guys make,

the... OK.

I called all the major

GMO chemical companies,

multiple times,

with a simple request,

as a concerned father.

Are these products safe?

There was avoidance,

suspicion, transferred calls.

All right.

Nobody knows were to direct me.

Is there a pretty likelihood

that I'll be able to get

an interview with

someone at Monsanto or...?

Like I said,

I'll pass it on to them

and have someone

give you a call back.

OK?

Weren't they proud

of their products?

Wouldn't they want to

show off their innovations,

how they were feeding all of us?

I left messages with my name

and email and phone number,

but I never heard

from any of them.

Here in Iowa,

we're surrounded basically

by GMO corn and soybeans.

Is there anything you

think I should know?

Well, I think

consumer education is key.

Nobody knows.

And I think the biotech industry

would like to keep it that way,

that people remain unaware

of this issue because,

in general,

the more people know,

the more they're shocked

and surprised as you are

about this whole issue

and the potential negative

impacts on human health

and the environment.

The corn we see growing around

here is actually registered as

- a... pesticide?

- As a pesticide...

And then, but it's also a food?

Um... well, that's debatable.

So, would I be accurate in

saying that Monsanto is feeding

us and my children pesticides?

In a way, you could say that.

You could say that.

How is registered pesticide...

Yeah, it's getting

into the food.

Yeah,

it's getting into the food.

How is that possible?

You know, that's a

lack of regulation.

Well, it's... it's

pissing me off.

Yeah. I know.

The more people

find out about it...

I mean that...

You find out about it...

It's outrageous.

It's an outrage.

It's totally, you know,

unbelievable.

I mean, I'm... I'm ready to

get into a fistfight like,

- right away.

- Yeah.

X... Oh, Monsanto.

Oh, Mr. Saint.

Go see if they'll

chat me up a little bit.

- Hey.

- Hey, how are we doing today?

Good.

How are you doing?

May I help you, sir?

I'm working on a

documentary on food.

No.

OK, just a second.

Here you go, sir.

This is the site rep.

You need to talk to her.

I'm sorry?

- She's already on the phone?

- Yeah.

How did you know?

Hello?

How did you call...?

I mean, it's kind of weird

that you're calling me

and I just wanted to ask

somebody about the product

and if it's for sure safe and...

You're asking me to leave?

I...

OK. OK.

Bye.

Do you guys sell hats

like, Monsanto...?

No, I'm sorry.

We don't.

- Have a good day.

- Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

A woman that I talked to

earlier this morning

at a different Monsanto facility

was on the phone

and they handed the

phone to me and she said,

"Jeremy,

you need to leave right now."

Monsanto and the other

major agrochemical companies

are also the world's

biggest seed companies.

The top three companies

control over 53%

of the worldwide proprietary

seed market.

The GMO seeds and chemicals

of these giant companies

grow most of the food we eat

because soy and corn

have found their way

into nearly everything,

cows, chickens,

and pigs are raised on them.

So, most of the meat

and dairy in this country

starts with the GMO crops.

We have a recipe that

we use of chemicals

that allows us to no till.

So, I put two and a half quarts

of Lumax on per acre.

A Lumax has a low level

of atrazine

and I just need a

little more atrazine

because it gives me a

little more residual.

And then, I put 40 ounces

of Gramaxone on per acre.

The two products together will

suppress the weeds in this field

hopefully enough that I

won't have to re-spray it again.

If I do have to

re-spray it again,

the corn that's planted in this

field is Roundup Ready

and the Roundup will not

affect the corn,

but it obviously

will kill the weeds.

So, what are your thoughts

on organic farming?

I think organics is a choice

and I think organics

are a good thing.

However, the fact

of the matter is

organic farmers per acre

are not going to produce

as much as a commercial

farmer is going to

that uses all the

science that's available.

I feel an obligation to

not just see United States

but to the whole world

that there's a billion people

that live on less

than a dollar a day.

So, if we all have

planted organic,

and let's say, we cut

our production by 25%,

what are you going to

tell those billion people,

you can't eat?

So, that's why I choose to

use GMO seeds or herbicides,

fungicides, insecticides.

Now, in a certain point,

you have to trust our regulators

and our scientists.

I think they're good people.

And we do have, you know,

a safe and abundant food supply.

I love all the trees.

That's... The book I'm writing

now is At Home in the Woods,

pretty... pretty good, isn't it?

- I mean...

- Yeah.

- It's pretty accurate.

- That's nice.

Yeah, I go out here

like an old fool.

Well, I'll show you out here.

I still grow a little

open pollinated corn

just to thumb my nose

at Monsanto Claus.

How do you do that?

How do you grow

open pollinated corn

surrounded by genetically

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