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Monsanto Myths & Facts guide

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Page 1: Monsanto Myths & Facts guide

8/12/2019 Monsanto Myths & Facts guide

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The latest population projections releasedby the U.N. Department of Economics andSocial affairs put the world’s population at9.6 billion people in 2050, from 7.1 billiontoday. This is equivalent to adding anotherChina. Population growth is already

increasing demand for food worldwide,including protein. Together we have to ndways to meet this risi ng demand whileconserving scarce natural resources. 1

1. Monsanto is contributing to amore sustainable agricultureand improving lives by helping farmersproduce more, better and more affordablefood with less land , water, energy, wasteand worry.

a. What is Sustainable? Isn’t it producingmore (food) with less (water and landand energy) (per unit of output)?That’s what we do best.

b. Breeding, integrated farming systems,precision planting, Climate Corp. andbiologicals all contribute to producingmore with less.

c. In order to be sustainable, agriculturealso has to produce food that isaffordable to the people who need it.

2. Monsanto is a leader indelivering agricultural solutionsfrom plant breeding to precision planting,biotech, biologicals, crop protectionand crop analytics, that improve yieldsand lives.

a. Only 111 companies in the world investmore than $1 billion a year in R&D.Monsanto is one of them (#96). 2

b. 100% of our R&D spending goes towardshelping farmers solve problems relatedto pests, weather, and weeds and toimprove nutrition and taste.

c. More than half of Monsanto’s R&Dexpenditure goes towards innovativenon-GM technologies.

3. Monsanto supportseveryone’s right to choosethe tools and foods that they need.

a. We supply conventional and untreatedseeds to organic farmers as well asbiotech seeds to the farmers who wantand are allowed to plant them.Where legislators give farmers andconsumers a choice – including in Spainand Portugal in Europe – biotech seedsdo well.

b. Extremists and anti-GM politics deprive people of choice, not just in Europe,but also in developing countries, wheremany people suffer from hunger andmalnutrition.

c. Most people in the world consider costan important and even decisive factorwhen they buy food. Even in Europefewer than 5% of the population iswilling to spend more for organic food. 3

I I l l I li

RISING population

DECLINING arable land

4.4 billion

1980

7.1 billion

Today

9.6 billion+

2050

CHANGING climate

2.5 hectares per person in 1961

less than 8/10 hectare per person in 2050

GROWING water needs

We need anincrease of 64

billion cubic

metres offreshwaterevery year

I I l i

I I l l

I li

I

2 Source: EU 2013 Industrial R&D Scoreboard -http://iri.jrc.ec.europa.eu/scoreboard13.html

3 Source: Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL)Survey 2013

4 http://fundacion-antama.org/el-cultivo-de-maiz-bt-ha-permitido-la-reduccion-de-las-importaciones-de-maiz-en-espana-en-mas-de-853-mil-toneladas-desde-1998/

5 http://monsantoblog.com/2013/07/18/monsantos-business-in-europe/

6 http://www.monsanto.com/products/pages/weed-control.aspx7 “Maintaining Agricultural Productivity Through Diversied Weed

Management”, Monsanto, 2014

8 Source: Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) Survey2013. http s://www.bl.org/leadmin/documents/shop/1636-organic-world-2014.pdf

9 http://www.monsanto.com/newsviews/pages/patents.aspx10 http://www.monsanto.com/careers/pages/top-25-worlds-

best-multinational-workplaces.aspx

THREE THINGSTHAT EVERYONESHOULD KNOWABOUTMONSANTO

Monsanto gets lots of awards: forsustainability, innovation, corporateequality, cultural competence,corporate responsibility, top scienceemployer – including for being aGreat Place to Work. At the sametime, the Internet abounds with talesof another Monsanto of allegedlydark past and purpose.

This guide provides a set of factualstatements about Monsanto as wellas responses to the most commonmyths that you might encounteronline. It is for anyone who wantsto learn more.

We hope that you nd it useful, andwelcome any feedback you have.

Monsanto Public Affairs EMEA

© Monsanto International 2014

For more information,please check out:

www.monsanto.com/viewpointswww.monsantoblog.comwww.monsantoblog.euwww.monsanto.euwww.youtube.com/MonsantoCowww.youtube.com/MonsantoEurope

www.glyphosate.euwww.gmoanswers.comwww.growingvoices.euwww.ip52.orgwww.geneticliteracyproject.org/

THE WORLDWE LIVE IN

Does Monsanto sell any GM seedsin Europe?Yes – but not as much as you might think.Monsanto’s seed business in Western

Europe is 99% non-GM. Seeds with oneGM maize trait have been sold in Spainand Portugal for the past 1 5 years an dhave helped both countries increaseyields and reduce imports while savingwater and energy 4. Very small amountshave been planted in a few oth ercountries in Europe.

What does Monsanto do in EMEA?Monsanto has three main businesses inEMEA5: maize, cotton and oilseed rapeseeds, crop protection chemicals, andvegetable seeds. Our conventional maizeand oilseed rape seeds have been

particularly successful in Europe whileour biotech maize and cotton are verysuccessful in Africa. We are also one of themarket leaders in broccoli and tomatoes inEurope and Monsanto’s Roundup is one of

the world’s leading weed control products.Why do we need agrochemicals?Weed management 6 is a constantchallenge for every farmer. Herbicidesare the primary and most effectivetool for farmers to manage weeds andmaximize crop yields. Herbicides enablethe use of conservation ti llage (plowing)practices such as no-till and reducedtillage. Without herbicides, conservationtillage would not be possible, resulting inforegoing benets such as reduced soilerosion and enhanced moisture control 7.

Does Monsanto sell organic seeds?We sell untreated seeds to organicfarmers—but not many. Organic foodaccounts for less than 5% of the marketin most countries in Europe, and less than10% even in organic “strongholds” suchas Denmark, Austria and Switzerland 8.The reality is that organic food i s a lifestylechoice embraced by a small minority ofthe population.

Why does Monsanto patent seeds?Patents provide an incentive forinvestments 9 that benet society. Plantbreeders, individual scientists anduniversities as well as companies seekpatents on unique, original inventionsrelated to plant innovation.

This process is not unique to Monsantoor the European Union. Patents providebalance between rewarding an inventor forthe development of intellectual propertyand ensuring public access to the detailed

information about the invention and futurefree access to the invention itself.

Why do so many people criticizeMonsanto?We will never satisfy everyone, especially ifthey reject modern farming technologies,free trade and multinational companies.We believe we are making a contribution toimproving agriculture and lives by helpingfarmers produce more, better and moreaffordable food with less land, water,energy and worry. We are grateful thatthousands of farmers, large and small,

continue to select our productsyear after year, and that our22,000 employees cont inueto declare Mo nsanto a greatplace to work 10.

FREQUENTLYASKED QUESTIONS

1 http://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/Documentation/pdf/ WPP2012_Volume-I_Comprehensive-Tables.pdf

MONSANTO:MYTHS AND

FACTS

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TOP MYTHSABOUT

MONSANTO

Monsanto controls theworld’s food supply

While Monsanto is strong in a few cropssuch as maize, rapeseed, cotton andsoybeans, our seeds represent lessthan ve percent of the seeds planted

worldwide. About two-thirds of seedplanted globally is non-commercial,farmer-saved seed. Of that commercialseed market, two-thirds of the seedvolume comes from private breedingprograms and one-third from nationalor public institutions. More than 1,000separate seed companies supply thecommercial seed market.

Monsanto products arekilling the bees

In some places bee populations aredeclining, but not because of GM plants.There have been many studies showingthe safety of GM seeds for honey bees.

Monsanto depends on bees to pollinatemany of its crops and supports honey beehealth 11 with research into a number ofbee pathogens.

Monsanto GMOs causefarmer suicides in India

Indian farmers do sometimes commitsuicide, which is tragic. But it is unrelatedto Monsanto. Such suicides beganbefore the introduction of GM cotton in

India (in 2002). In fact, suicides amongfarmers have been decreasing sinc e theintroduction of GM cotton12 and are nohigher among Indian farmers than amongthe Indian population as a whole 13.

Monsanto opposes GMfood labeling

Monsanto fully supports voluntarymarketing labels 14 – such as the “organic”labeling that already exists in mostcountries – for consumers who want to

have a choice of foods that don’t containGM ingredients. We oppose mandatorylabeling of products with GM ingredientsin the absence of any demonstratedrisks. Such mandatory labeling could beunderstood to imply that food productscontaining GM ingredients are somehowinferior to their conventional or organiccounterparts, which is untrue.

Glyphosate risks have notbeen properly assessed

Glyphosate 15, the active ingredient inRoundup, is one of the most studiedactive ingredients globally and has beenapproved for use in weed control products

in more than 100 countries for more than40 years. Authorities subject all Roundupformulations to strict risk assessmentsbefore they are considered for authorizationfor sale. As is also the case with othercrop protection products, both the activesubstance and the nal products are subjectto such an evaluation process (in sequence).

Monsanto is killing themonarch buttery

Scientists think a number of factors arecontributing to the decline of monarchpopulations, including habitat destruction,weather events, extreme climatic changes,

and a reduction in the number of milkweedplants i n farmland across the UnitedStates. Monsanto supports programs toincrease the availability of milkweed 16 along monarchs’ migratory pathway.

Monsanto is creating“super-weeds”

Weed resistance is natural. It’s anevolutionary response to externalinuences. Weeds have developedresistance to every major herbicide –it’s simply an evolutionary fact of life.For example, GM crops have never beenproduced for resistance to atrazine(another herbicide), yet some 64 weedspecies are now resistant to it. Monsantosupports a holistic approach to weedmanagement 17.

Monsanto invented AgentOrange

Monsanto did not invent Agent Orange.The U.S. government ordered Monsanto,along with 9 other companies, to makeAgent Orange for U.S. military use duringthe Vietnam War. The form er Monsanto Co.stopped making it in 1969 18, more than 40years ago.

Monsanto hired Blackwaterto spy on critics

We have never hired Blackwater or itsafliates 19 Like most big companies,we monitor potential threats by keepingan eye on websites and news reports.Sometimes we hire outside companies tohelp us. Between 2008 and 2010, we hired acompany called Total Intelligence Solutions(TIS) to help us monitor publicly availableinformation. An Internet story incorrectlyreported that TIS was part of Blackwater.

Monsanto manipulatesgovernments

Monsanto strictly forbids its employeesto bribe government ofcials. Monsantofully respects regulatory requirementseverywhere it operates 20 and deploysa broad program to prevent feedingcorruption. Any employees or partnersviolating our rules face immediatedismissal.

12 Report by the International Food Policy Research Institute(IFPRI), a United Nations organization.

13 http://theconversation.com/hard-evidence-does-gm-cotton-lead-to-farmer-suicide-in-india-24045

14 http: //www.monsanto.com/newsviews/pages/food-labeling.aspx

16 http: //monsantoblog.com/2014/02/24/the-monarch-buttery/

15 www.glyphosate.eu

19 http://www.monsanto.com/newsviews/pages/monsanto-blackwater-black-ops.aspx

20 http://www.monsanto.com/whoweare/pages/business-conduct.aspx

11 http://www.monsanto.com/improvingagriculture/pages/honey-bee-health.aspx

18 http://www.monsanto.com/newsviews/pages/agent-orange-background-monsanto-involvement.aspx

17 http://www.monsanto.com/weedmanagement/pages/default.aspx