Monsanto.

Wasn't really sure where to put this, but I felt this may or may not fuel a heated debate/discussion.
Move me if this isn't as ridiculous as I was afraid it would be.


Something I've been recently exposed to is this company called Monsanto.
Apparently they do some pretty nasty shit to farming and sue farmers.

I'm really poorly informed, but hey, does anyone else know what I'm talking about?
I'm really curious if this is some pEta BS I'm being sucked into or this is the Third Reich of farming.

Some sites I guess:
The Company - http://www.monsanto.com/
The Haters - http://www.organicconsumers.org/monlink.cfm

If you ask me, it looks like Monsanto is a very corrupt and cruel business. Their "wrongs" far outdo their "rights". They are a big company that makes billions in profits in each year, what more are they trying to do by suing poor farmers?

It seems like it's being fueled by greed to me. Not only that, they have so many patents, it's like farmers have to walk on eggshells before they do something Monsanto can sue them for. The extent of it seems point-blank, petty and childish. It's pretty sad Monsanto is winning a lot of its cases in court too. This is probably another one of those instances where our system, has failed the greater good. Tsk tsk.

Some things I'm pulling from Wiki with cited sources:

Child labor

A subsidiary of Monsanto employs child labor in the manufacture of cotton-seeds in India. The work involves handling of poisonous pesticides such as Endosulfan and the children get less than Rs.20 (half dollar) per day.[79]

Farmer suicides

Frontline's "Seeds of Suicide: India's Desperate Farmers" has detailed some of the struggles facing the Indian farmer.[80] The transition to using the latest pest-resistant seeds and the necessary herbicides has been difficult. Farmers have been lured to genetically modified seeds promoted by Cargill and Monsanto by the promise of greater yields. Resulting debts from such gambles with genetically modified seeds have led some farmers into the equivalent of indentured servitude. More than 4,500 farmers have committed suicide due largely to mounting debt caused by the poor yields, increased need for pesticides, and higher cost of the BT cotton seed sold by Monsanto.[81][82][83][84]

In the United States

The non-profit Center for Food Safety[88] listed 112 lawsuits by Monsanto against farmers for claims of seed patent violations.[89] The Center for Food Safety's analyst stated that many innocent farmers settle with Monsanto because they cannot afford a time consuming lawsuit. Monsanto is frequently described by farmers as "Gestapo" and "Mafia" both because of these lawsuits and because of the questionable means they use to collect evidence of patent infringement.[90]