It’s Pitchforks-and-Torches Time: Speaking Out Against the Invasion of Our Homeland by Monsanto

The father of “Frankenfoods”* is feeling out the farms of Armenia! The pitchforks and torches, at least figuratively, must be prepared. As in the old black-and-white horror movie scenes in which the Frankenstein monster is being chased by villagers, Monsanto should be hounded out of Armenia before it can cause the kind of economic and environmental damage it has heaped on American farmlands.

The profile photo of a recently launched Facebook community called “No to Monsanto in Armenia” (Photo: Facebook/No to Monsanto in Armenia)

Last week, the U.S. Embassy in Yerevan, just doing its job, issued a press release announcing that Monsanto and Valmont had participated in a program that was meant introduce and connect them to Armenia’s agricultural sector. Reading it, one would think these two huge companies will be able to restore the Garden of Eden to Armenia! Meanwhile, the frightful reality is very much the opposite.

First, let’s dispense with Valmont. Judging by their website, they are an equipment and machinery firm. In the agriculture sector, they seem to focus on irrigation. It may be that they are a relatively benign company. I do not know and have not heard of them previously. But they also provide equipment for mining, which rings some alarm bells given the rampant environmentally destructive mining that is ravaging parts of the Republic of Armenia’s relatively pristine regions. Maybe Valmont wants to get a foot in Armenia’s economic door through agriculture, then expand to mining. Given the constraints of a publication deadline, I could not dig deeper into Valmont’s possible intentions, but they deserve to be researched.

Next, Monsanto—described as a company “everyone loves to hate” because of its hideous corporate practices. A few decades ago, Monsanto shifted gears and went from being a primarily chemical company to an agricultural seed and “pesticides” company. I will use the word pesticide generically (since Monsanto is using it that way) to describe anything that is used to fight things that can harm crops and crop yields. The main concern at this point, however, is herbicides—poisonous chemicals that kills undesirable plants (i.e., weeds), which have been the bane of farmers since humans first started planting and reaping. Along the way, Monsanto has been buying up smaller competitors so that now it controls effective-monopoly-level percentages of the seed sold for some major crops.

Here’s what Monsanto is known for doing and why introducing those practices to Armenia would be a disaster.

Seeds are engineered, genetically modified (please see “What Is a GMO” below), to have certain traits, and patented (something which was not allowed until a 1980 Supreme Court decision enabled it). In this case, the trait is resistance to pesticide, most famously, glyphosate (sold as “Roundup”). The seeds are then sold to farmers who like the advantage of not having to weed their fields and later, after harvest, till the soil to bury the dead plants. But Monsanto makes the farmers agree that they will not save seeds from their crops to plant the next year. Imagine, a fundamental practice in farming, keeping some part of the crop to plant next year’s crop, is forbidden! This way, Monsanto has the farmers by the throat since they have to buy its seeds year after year. The farmers go about their business and apply the glyphosate.

But there’s something called wind on this planet. It causes some of the pesticide to blow over to the next-door farmer who is not using “roundup-ready” seeds. What happens? Given how potent glyphosate is, the neighbor’s plants suffer or die, harming that farmer’s yield and profits. Also, pollen gets blown around and the neighboring farm’s plants receive some of the Monsanto-patented-pollen. The neighbor can’t tell this has happened (no one can just by looking; the seeds have to be tested) and saves seed to plant the next year.

Monsanto hires private investigators and tracks farmers it suspects might be cheating on their contracts. Or it gets seed from its noncustomers to check whether they have somehow gotten some of its patented product. Legitimately, if a farmer who signed a contract with Monsanto, the company should expect compliance with its conditions. But why should the neighbor, whose seeds have been adulterated through no action or fault of her/his own, be expected to comply with Monsanto’s conditions? Instead of Monsanto being found at fault for “infecting” the neighbor’s crops, if I recall (it has been some years and this may have changed), courts found the neighbor had to comply with Monsanto’s predatory practices! Monsanto has taken hundreds of small farmers to court annually in this way.

Now let’s move on to glyphosate/Roundup itself. It is extremely toxic and must be applied under specified conditions. Yet people use it on their extensively lawns and government agencies on public lands. Fortunately, some localities have started banning it. In my awareness, the City of Irvine has banned its use, as has Burbank’s School district, with the City of Burbank now having discussions about banning it.

It’s not just glyphosate. Dicamba, another pesticide sold by Monsanto (and others), has damaged some 3.6 million acres of soybeans in the U.S. this year—that’s 4% of the crop. It turns out Dicamba volatilizes (evaporates) fairly readily, so it spreads to unintended locations. Another, new, Monsanto product, NemaStrike, designed to kills worms, was set to go to market in 2018. But, because of extensive reports of skin rashes, it has been put on hold, with Monsanto blaming farmers for mishandling it. Why should something that is going into our food supply be so risky to use?

Let’s forget about whether the genetically modified seeds that Monsanto is likely to sell to Armenian farmers will have any health effects, since the effects of “weird” (see “What Is a GMO” again) GMOs on humans is not yet settled science. Do we want Monsanto’s practices foisted on Armenia’s farmers? They are already hurting from a scam from a few years ago (another example of corruption there) which gave many of them low-quality seeds passed off as high-quality Russian seeds at a correspondingly high price. Many of them lost their land and livelihood as a result.

Do we want one struggling Armenian farmer inadvertently killing off an equally strapped neighbor’s crops?

Do want our villagers being dragged into Armenia’s notoriously unjust courts by a behemoth such as Monsanto whose on-site henchmen are likely to buy off the relevant authorities?

Do we want our homeland’s reputation as a source of clean, organic, foodstuffs sullied by the presence of a toxics-based form of agriculture?

Yerevan should be approaching institutions such as Holland’s Wageningen University & Research described in the Sept. 2017 issue of National Geographic. Since World War II, the Dutch have managed to achieve huge increases in crop yields through technological innovations while using as much as 97% less toxic substances.

Already, reactions to this potential toxic invasion of our homeland with its attendant economically and socially disruptive aftereffects have elicited a strong response both from the Diaspora and the homeland. It’s interesting that just three days after its original press release, the American Embassy in Armenia is quoted by news.am website as having stated: “Monsanto products have been sold in Armenia since 2006.” I did some poking around, and as of this writing, no one seems to know what these products are. The Embassy also said, “The decision on which products and services to use, if any, is ultimately up to Armenia’s farmers and agribusinesses.”

Right… Once the pressure is on and the snowball effect of neighbors’ use of toxics forcing others to use Monsanto’s seeds picks up momentum, no family farmer will be able to resist the pressure to relent and use Monsanto’s poisons.

Speak out forcefully against the invasion of our homeland by Monsanto. Clearly, the heat is on, judging by the Embassy’s hedging, and that’s a good thing! Our lobbying groups should take a stand, perhaps cooperating with the numerous organizations that are fighting these battles. Let’s not allow our compatriots to, effectively, become Monsanto’s serfs barely more than a century after they were freed from such servitude to Kurdish and Turkish local chieftains.

In Armenia, the next time Monsanto shows up, demonstrations featuring pitchforks and torches should be organized!

*Frankenfoods is a term used to describe foodstuffs made with genetically modified plants and animals whose safety is suspect to many observers.

***

What Is a GMO?

Since GMO is a term that is inseparable from Monsanto, I thought it deserved to be defined to help with grasping the points made in my article this week.

As I understand it, GMOs—genetically modified organisms—come in three categories, which I’ll term traditional, accelerated, and weird.

A “traditional” GMO is nothing more than the product of selective breeding. Humans have been doing this since we began farming. By saving the seed of the biggest apple, or sweetest grape, or the most drought-tolerant wheat, over time we bred the varieties of plants that best suit our needs. We’ve done the same with animals. Cows, dogs, and horses are great examples of the same process. Think of cows that are best for milking rather than barbecuing, dogs that are best for hunting rather than shepherding, and horses that pull plows rather than win races. Effectively what we have done is to modify the genetic makeup of these organisms over time to suit our needs.

The “accelerated” GMO is essentially the same as the traditional, except that we leapfrog over the generations of breeding by modifying the genetic makeup of the organism directly. We can do this nowadays because in many cases we know which gene does what. In the above examples, we would need to know which gene enlarges the apple, sweetens the grape, and protects the wheat. We’re not quite that far along in fiddling with animals genes, but we’re not far (though I may be behind the times on this point).

The “weird” GMO is just that. This is where someone may decide to put a bird gene in a soybean plant (I am making this combination up) to get a certain desired result in the soybean that is “better” in some way. Or corn seeds might be modified in such a way that they are resistant to herbicides that would otherwise kill them.

Garen Yegparian

Garen Yegparian

Asbarez Columnist
Garen Yegparian is a fat, bald guy who has too much to say and do for his own good. So, you know he loves mouthing off weekly about anything he damn well pleases to write about that he can remotely tie in to things Armenian. He's got a checkered past: principal of an Armenian school, project manager on a housing development, ANC-WR Executive Director, AYF Field worker (again on the left coast), Operations Director for a telecom startup, and a City of LA employee most recently (in three different departments so far). Plus, he's got delusions of breaking into electoral politics, meanwhile participating in other aspects of it and making sure to stay in trouble. His is a weekly column that appears originally in Asbarez, but has been republished to the Armenian Weekly for many years.
Garen Yegparian

Latest posts by Garen Yegparian (see all)

15 Comments

    • Garen Yegparian , myself, I have absolute proof cause and effect that Roundup caused plaintiff’s Immunoglobulin M to have increased from normal(lowest)to 8980 , resulting in Waldenstrom Macroglobulinemia ,period . Glyphosate , so far has provided none ,whatsoever , scientic proof that it causes NHL. Every “study”, so far has concluded with an opinion which provides no basis , whatsoever , to prove anything , and 3 acceptable expert witnesses in MDL-02741 -VC by Judge Chhabria have come forth with opinions , also with no basis ,whatsoever , also based on those studies which cite no basis , talk about complete “stupidity” , this is it . My proof is obviously true as it is about what happened to all 4904 , plus more , plaintiff’s “blood ” after certain exposure to Roundup. More !rapplegate48@gmail.com

  1. Monsanto stay out of Armenia. We don’t want you there. The farmer 👨‍🌾farmers can take care of their own farms.

  2. Garen,
    Excellent article to shed some light in regards to agriculture and economic growth in Armenia.Every Armenian should understand the repercussions of allowing Monsanto and the likes to invade and pollute our virgin lands in Armenia.
    We should, with all our might prevent this kind of aggression posing as economic opportunity to pollute our land. We in Diaspora and in Armenia collectively should find ways to influence the government in Armenia to appose this kind of take over by Monsanto. We should create a coalition with the scientific community to educate the farmers and create a plan to keep our lands free of genetically modified seeds. Armenian farmers can become profitable by staying true to their roots and providing wholesome and organic produce. I welcome ideas to take this to the streets of Yerevan.

  3. From the produce now sold in the market, tasteless, it seems Monsanto and other chemical companies have already been active working indirectly through Armenian or other greedy agents. Last week we got introduced to basically the red carpet version.
    In addition, the public has so far not tried to stop the international mining companies that have polluted the environment and caused cancer epidemic in certain locations of Armenia and Artsakh. Too late for treatments for precious unsuspecting desperate
    workers and families. Writing against these conglomerates is not enough, if the rest of the population has to survive and thrive..

  4. Wow! This is a scary situation. I read the article in National Geographic about what is happening at Wageningen in the Netherlands. It is an innovative, environmentally smart, and economically viable approach to agriculture. I hope the government and agriculture minister in Armenia have the good sense to say “no” to Monsanto and look into better methods, instead. And who wrote the nasty assessment of Garen Yegparian?

  5. What I state is a matter of conviction. In order to feed the world’s population, estimated to reach 11 billion by the end of the century, we will need to rely on science and bioengineering, which already has boosted, for example, the cultivation of rice. I have not read of a ‘black plaque”, although it is reported that the rate diabetes has increased in the Far East. One cannot discount the change of lifestyle contributing to its increase

    I am not concerned that Monsanto will poison Armenia’s food chain. I also believe that Monsanto paid a visit to Armenia with the collusion of well-placed monied upper class in Armenia and I am concerned because Monsanto has the potential of changing agriculture in Armenia by having mega orchards and farms wipe the way agriculture and farming run in Armenia.

    I rather have Armenia invited representatives from the American Amish or Mennonite communities and develop further a niche organic agriculture, much in demand these days, than have Monsanto.

  6. I’m sure, somewhere in the diaspora, people recognize that the “do-gooders” who are facilitating the Monsantos of the world to occupy Armenia are the same do-gooders who encourage “investments” by the foreign corporations that eventually buy up Armenia’s resources.

  7. I worry about the effectiveness of opposing Monsanto by trying to create awareness among farmers, lobbying (where?) or staging protests, etc. Of course those are useful in the overall process, but are too indirect to result in clear protection of the nation. I wonder if there any reason that a country like Armenia cannot pass laws that prohibit the sale or use of key Monsanto products within its borders? Of course Monsanto has huge financial and political resources to oppose such efforts, but that aside, would it violate any international agreements or treaties? If not, that should probably be the focus of all efforts.

  8. They will reun the yields and the firtility of the Armenian cucumber anf make it hard to grow. They will also allow pollen to cross polinate the Armenian pepper with chillis making Armenian peppers spicy.

  9. Because mobs armed with pitchforks and torches have a long and illustrious history of always being in the right, eh Mr Yegparian?

  10. This is really dangerous. It must be stopped immediately!!!!! Stay away from our country Monsanto!!!!
    We will not let you poison our country and make our people sick!!!! Armenia needs to be educated about the dangers of Monsanto and prevent the invasion of Monsanto to our pure land!!!!!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.