I'm not a Monsanto fan at all, and actually called out pg on his comment, but you are 100% correct in your analysis of where the real source of "evil" comes from.
That being said, the emergence of the organic food movement and such businesses such as Whole Foods goes to show that people are starting to adjust their spending habits.
In an effort to support this, I'm sure you'd agree that the end consumer should be supported in understanding what is in their food. Interestingly, Monsanto actively opposes the labeling of GMO foods, or the labeling of milk as being rBGH free.
(Quick hint if you care: buy your milk in Canada - or anywhere else in the western world - where rBGH has been determined to be too dangerous to add to milk).
I don't think it's all that crazy to postulate why Monsanto opposes labeling milk as rBGH free. Their position is that there are absolutely zero health effects for rBGH on humans (which as far as I know isn't disputed by any study). There is research that shows that it's harmful to the animals, but that doesn't seem to bother us here as much.
If their competitors are trying to introduce what they consider an "artificial distinction" based on FUD, what should their reaction be?
By the way, I'm not saying they're correct. Who knows, in 30 years our entire society might become all "Children of Men" and lead to our species extinction. I'd bet not though.
If you looked in my apartment, you'd think I was a proponent of the organic food movement; but it's all an illusion. Left to my own devices, I would eat nothing but Capn' Crunch and Hungry Man dinners. What changed for me was when my girlfriend moved in with me. She's basically a walking allergy test. It's easier for her to describe what foods she isn't allergic to.
We had to start buying organic vegetables because they were the only ones we could find that aren't sprayed with sulfites (which she's allergic to). She couldn't eat the potatoes we had in the house (which broke my Irish heart...for people here, imagine if your significant other was allergic to parenthesis).
She's allergic to the hormones they inject into beef. Even buying free-range, organic beef where they read poetry to the cows and slaughter them by having them laugh to death was about 50/50 whether she'd break out in hives.
Our solution was to switch to ground bison as a ground beef replacement (for whatever reason they don't appear to give bison hormones, maybe that'd change if they were more popular).
But there's a cost to all of this. It costs us ridiculously more for food than it used to.
I don't know if the emergence of the organic food movement or the success of Whole Foods is really as indicative of people caring about these things as much as you think it is. There's been an enormous emergence of sales of Steampunk goggles too, but I'm not sure that's all that widespread. People tend to find ways to spend their money. If they think that paying $50 for a single bag of vegetables from Whole Foods results in them getting better quality food, there's a segment of the population that will do that.
buy your milk in Canada - or anywhere else in the western world - where rBGH has been determined to be too dangerous to add to milk
rBGH isn't added to milk; it's injected into cows. The misconception that the milk itself necessarily contains rBGH is precisely the justification that Monsanto claims for restraining "rBGH free" labels. I don't think that's an adequate justification, though, and I agree with the thrust of your point.
You are of course correct. Countries that have banned it cite the welfare of the animal rather than human health as well.
Of course the only industrialized nation to use rbgh is the USA. To be honest, I find it rather interesting that so much of the world seems to care so much about cows. My take is if the health of the animal is reduced, it probably stands to reason that the byproducts of said animal is probably worth avoiding.
I'm not necessarily opposed at all, in the same way I'm not necessarily opposed to smoking, or chocolate or potatoes.
I don't see however why I should not be told what is inside each particular product. If the cow was given antibiotics or chocolate to eat all day or allowed to run free for life, why shouldn't I be allowed to know this as a consumer?
That being said, the emergence of the organic food movement and such businesses such as Whole Foods goes to show that people are starting to adjust their spending habits.
In an effort to support this, I'm sure you'd agree that the end consumer should be supported in understanding what is in their food. Interestingly, Monsanto actively opposes the labeling of GMO foods, or the labeling of milk as being rBGH free.
(Quick hint if you care: buy your milk in Canada - or anywhere else in the western world - where rBGH has been determined to be too dangerous to add to milk).