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> The fact is GMO food may be generally regarded as safe - according to... the studies funded by the companies that promote these GMOs [conflict of interest muc

> The fact is GMO food may be generally regarded as safe - according to... the studies funded by the companies that promote these GMOs [conflict of interest much?] "Monsanto is a medium sized company ($57.43B). Is it really possible that they’ve manipulated tens of thousands of scientists performing thousands of studies for three decades with no whistleblowers? Could Monsanto’s power have resulted in a scientific consensus that has been bent completely to their will? In comparison, fossil fuel behemoths Exxon Mobil ($394.83B), Chevron ($215.45B) and BP ($150.07B) (total: $760.35B) have been completely stymied in their efforts to buy a scientific consensus on climate change."[1] "Biology Fortified’s GENERA database lists more than 1,000 studies with another 1,300 or so to add. GM crops have been investigated for more than 20 years. There are nuances in conclusions, but the evidence is consistent whether the study was funded by industry or the European Commission: GM crops are as safe as other conventional or organic crops and foods—or safer."[2] [1] http://www.biofortified.org/2014/02/industry-funded-gmo-studies/ http://www.biofortified.org/2014/02/industry-funded-gmo-stud... [2] http://www.forbes.com/sites/jonentine/2014/09/23/will-the-us-national-academy-of-sciences-fumble-its-reassessment-of-gmos/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/jonentine/2014/09/23/will-the-us...

dragonwriter 12y ago
Monsanto isn't the whole GM crop industry, or even the biggest corporation by market cap in the industry, so, while the general question of plausibility may be valid, pretending the comparison of Monsanto's market cap to the combination of the market caps of major players in the fossil fuels industry is so irrelevant as to undermine, rather than reinforce, the legitimate point.
- frostmatthew 12y ago
  > Monsanto isn't the whole GM crop industry Of course it isn't the whole industry, but it does get most of the attention, e.g. this NPR article[1] mentions Monsanto 17 times and uses it as one of only three tags(seed saving and gmos are the other two) - despite the piece being about GM seeds, not specifically Monsanto. > or even the biggest corporation by market cap in the industry The "Big Six" are BASF, Bayer, Dupont, Dow Chemical Company, Monsanto, and Syngenta[2][3]. "The top 10 seed companies account for $14,785 million – or two-thirds (67%) of the global proprietary seed market.The world's largest seed company, Monsanto, accounts for almost one-quarter (23%) of the global proprietary seed market."[4] Sure DuPont and Dow have bigger market caps than Monsanto (or more importantly, more revenue) but they're also larger and more diverse business with seeds making a much smaller portion of their total revenue than Monsanto. But even forgetting that the original point (that the oil industry has far more money than the GM industry) still stands - Dow's market cap is $60B, DuPont's is $68B, Monsanto's is $55B...market caps like that wouldn't even break the top ten for oil companies[5]. [1] http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/10/18/163034053/top-five-myths-of-genetically-modified-seeds-busted http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/10/18/163034053/top-fi... [2] http://www.biofortified.org/resources/genetic-engineering-companies/ http://www.biofortified.org/resources/genetic-engineering-co... [3] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/%22Big_6%22_Pesticide_and_GMO_Corporations http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/%22Big_6%22_Pesticide_a... [4] http://www.gmwatch.org/gm-firms/10558-the-worlds-top-ten-seed-companies-who-owns-nature http://www.gmwatch.org/gm-firms/10558-the-worlds-top-ten-see... [5] http://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/010715/worlds-top-10-oil-companies.asp http://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/010715...

dragonwriter 12y ago

Monsanto isn't the whole GM crop industry, or even the biggest corporation by market cap in the industry, so, while the general question of plausibility may be valid, pretending the comparison of Monsanto's market cap to the combination of the market caps of major players in the fossil fuels industry is so irrelevant as to undermine, rather than reinforce, the legitimate point.

frostmatthew 12y ago
> Monsanto isn't the whole GM crop industry Of course it isn't the whole industry, but it does get most of the attention, e.g. this NPR article[1] mentions Monsanto 17 times and uses it as one of only three tags(seed saving and gmos are the other two) - despite the piece being about GM seeds, not specifically Monsanto. > or even the biggest corporation by market cap in the industry The "Big Six" are BASF, Bayer, Dupont, Dow Chemical Company, Monsanto, and Syngenta[2][3]. "The top 10 seed companies account for $14,785 million – or two-thirds (67%) of the global proprietary seed market.The world's largest seed company, Monsanto, accounts for almost one-quarter (23%) of the global proprietary seed market."[4] Sure DuPont and Dow have bigger market caps than Monsanto (or more importantly, more revenue) but they're also larger and more diverse business with seeds making a much smaller portion of their total revenue than Monsanto. But even forgetting that the original point (that the oil industry has far more money than the GM industry) still stands - Dow's market cap is $60B, DuPont's is $68B, Monsanto's is $55B...market caps like that wouldn't even break the top ten for oil companies[5]. [1] http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/10/18/163034053/top-five-myths-of-genetically-modified-seeds-busted http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/10/18/163034053/top-fi... [2] http://www.biofortified.org/resources/genetic-engineering-companies/ http://www.biofortified.org/resources/genetic-engineering-co... [3] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/%22Big_6%22_Pesticide_and_GMO_Corporations http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/%22Big_6%22_Pesticide_a... [4] http://www.gmwatch.org/gm-firms/10558-the-worlds-top-ten-seed-companies-who-owns-nature http://www.gmwatch.org/gm-firms/10558-the-worlds-top-ten-see... [5] http://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/010715/worlds-top-10-oil-companies.asp http://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/010715...