One feisty farmer fights back
Friday Film Pick: David Versus Monsanto
Monsanto is hands-down one of the worst corporate citizens operating in the commons today. The company is responsible for countless tons of chemicals dumped into our environment, the genetic altering of our food crops, and the privatization of the basic building blocks of life. Many have heard the tales of Monsanto’s aggressive attitude toward farmers who do not grow with the company’s franken-seeds, or use their chemical elixir RoundUp.
Percy Schmeiser is a farmer in Canada who was one of many farmers Monsanto put the screws to – accusing him of illegally growing Monsanto crops where Schmeiser argued his own crops had been corrupted by Monsanto’s super seeds, likely due to winds. A lawsuit ensued, and Schmeiser, unrelenting in his quest to resist this behemoth company and expose their unhealthy, unsustainable and unethical ways, has not stopped his campaign.
David Vs Monsanto is a European one-hour doc that profiles Schmeiser’s case. The film, while pouring on too much Voice of God type narration, is pretty to look at and gets in close and personal to this now internationally-recognized tale of the little guy taking on a bad-ass corporation. Journeyman Pictures, who have strangely made the full film available for streaming on YouTube in two versions, one with their watermark across the top which is free to embed and one with no watermark with embedding disabled (the version embedded above is obviously the watermarked version) provide this short synopsis:
Imagine that a storm blows across your garden and that now, genetically-manipulated seeds are in your crops. A multi-national corporation pay you a visit, demand that you surrender your crops – and then sue you for $200 000 for the illegal use of patented, GM seeds. In this definitive David and Goliath battle, one farmer stands up against a massive multinational, and their right to claim ownership to a living organism.
If you’re interested in learning more about this story and/or Monsanto, you can check out The World According to Monsanto, watch Schmeiser on a recent episode of Democracy Now, or visit Schmeiser’s site.
