Bayer/Monsanto merger could disrupt entire food supply

Will Bayer and Monsanto join forces to monopolize world agriculture?

It’s a power grab the likes of which we’ve never seen before.

And if the marriage between Monsanto and Bayer is allowed to go through, it will mean that the resulting entity will become the world’s largest seed and pesticide conglomerate.

The implications of such a union are enormous.

Not only will food prices soar, but genetically-modified foods may become our only choice, and deadly pesticides will be used more than ever before.

Despite all the scheming, however, it’s not yet a done deal. And we can still put the pressure on Bayer to drop Monsanto like a hot, genetically-modified potato.

Two dark and deadly histories

Bayer — it’s more than just aspirin.

The company is over 150 years old, and some of its milestones include selling heroin as a cough remedy and being a contractor for the Nazis during World War II.

While its drugs are a commonplace sight in the store and doctor’s office, the biggest moneymaker for Bayer is its crop science unit that sells seeds, pesticides and herbicides.

That gave us one of the most dangerous pesticides ever used in the U.S., called aldicarb. It poisoned thousands before the EPA finally stepped in and made the company phase it out last year.

Then there’s Monsanto.

It’s hard to sum up the evils of this company in just a few lines. First and foremost, we have it to thank for Roundup, the cancer-causing chemical that’s the most widely-used weed killer in the world.

Then, of course, there are its genetically modified crops. Studies have shown rats fed Monsanto’s GM corn got giant cancerous tumors and damage to their livers and kidneys.

And for years I’ve told you about all the stunts Monsanto has pulled to keep us from finding out which foods contain its GM ingredients — ones that were drenched in Roundup.

Of course, before all of that the company was busy making deadly chemicals like PCBs (now banned) and Agent Orange that poisoned so many of our Vietnam vets.

So now let’s put these two corporate giants together. What could possibly go wrong with that?

And here’s the thing: Even after coughing up $66 billion to take over Monsanto, most experts believe that Bayer will bury the tainted Monsanto name rather than sound like it’s associated with it.

Ronnie Cummins, who is director of the Organic Consumers Association, calls the merger one that announces the “connection between Big Pharma, Big Biotech, and Big Food” loud and clear.

Now, if you’re wondering what’s become of antitrust laws and how such a merger could even be considered, you’re not alone. In fact, in a scathing critique of the plan, two former employees of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, no less, have called it a “five-alarm threat to our food supply” that cannot be allowed to take place.

In a legal review of the proposed merger, the two experts say (among other things) it would:

Give Bayer/Monsanto control of 70 percent of U.S. cotton crops.
Get rid of “head-to-head competition” in research and developments in agriculture.
Lead to less variety and higher food prices…and, as I said, give us fewer non-GMO food choices in the supermarket.

Basically, the corporate giants will become the winners in a real-life game of Monopoly!

There may be billions of dollars on the table here — and as SumOfUs, organizers of a major petition against the merger, has said all this pressure is “making Bayer’s shareholders nervous.” In fact, its stock fell 12 percent since the plan was announced.

It’s not over yet, and we still have the chance to make our voices heard.

To sign the SumOfUs petition being sent to the Bayer CEO, which has well over half-a-million signatures as of this writing, go here.

Sources:
“Bayer-Monsanto merger a ‘5-alarm threat to our food supply'” Katherine Paul, September 23, 2016, ecowatch.com