Do We Really Need Another Phobia?

Kurt Jonassohn
July 1999

Monsanto has produced seeds for various crops that promise to be resistant to all kinds of infections and invasions while also producing greater yields. In addition, these crops produce infertile seeds (aptly called Terminator) which ensure Monsanto an annual market for these products.

I have no idea how these miracles are achieved or what their by-products may be. But I have a very good idea of the kinds of fears that they produce in those of us who are bio-chemically handicapped.

If these plants produce infertile seeds, can such infertility be spread to other plants - perhaps by birds or insects as they flit from one plant to another? What if all of the plants in a given area become infertile? Visions of a barren landscape haunt the imagination.

But wait! Could such infertility spread to animals that consume such infertile plants? While Monsanto may be able to supply its infertile seed indefinitely, will it also be able to find ways of assuring the future supply of animals whose offspring have become infertile?

Will there appear other ways in which infertility can spread from one plant to another, or from one plant to an animal? If so, is this a painless way of controlling the tendency of cats and dogs to procreate indiscriminately? If it can have this effect on animals, could it also spread to people? While this possibility may be construed as a ‘painless’ way of controlling population growth, it may also become an equally ‘painless’ way of performing a genocide. Has Monsanto devised a method of controlling or limiting this spread of infertility, including to human populations?

Of course, these fears may be exaggerated. May be? So, how do I continue to exercise some control over my future? What diet should I follow to avoid the possibility of becoming infertile, or of producing infertile children? Perhaps the easiest answer would be to stop Monsanto from opening this Pandora’s box. While that would perhaps only prevent something that would never have happened in any case, it would surely let many of us sleep a lot better.