Some countries have outright banned Monsanto, deeming it to harmful for their own citizens. Here is an alphabetical list of the countries that have done so to this point:
Austria, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Luxembourg, Peru, and Poland.
http://www.foodfirst.org/en/Poland+bans+GMO+corn
Russia banned GMO corn last October, over concerns of cancer. Here is an article by Alex Newman of The New American:
http://www.thenewamerican.com/world-news/europe/item/13050-russia-bans-gmo-corn-over-cancer-fears-as-pressure-builds-on-monsanto
The European Union has laws in place requiring proper food labeling. While that does not mean that Monsanto is banned in Europe, it does make it far more difficult for these products to reach the shelves for consumers to purchase, as Stephanie Whiteside of Current.com reports:
In some places where GMOs are permitted, labeling is required, enabling consumers to decide if they wish to purchase foods containing GMOs. In 1998, the European Union began requiring labels for food products with more than 0.9 percent of ingredients from genetically modified processes. Other countries, including Japan, Australia, New Zealand, China, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, India, Chile and South Africa, require labeling for foods containing GMOs.
http://current.com/groups/news-blog/93975745_peru-bans-genetically-modified-foods-as-us-lags.htm
So, yes, awareness of the dangers certainly exists but, as usual, it is mostly in other countries. For all the criticisms that we hear here in the United States of the government of a country like, say, China, they certainly seem to have put protecting their people before profits in this particular case. That is more than I can say for the American government, and perhaps in particular, the disappointing Obama administration.
But seeing as though we have the ability to gain this knowledge, and also, seeing as though we have certain rights as consumers, we in turn have to put the onus upon ourselves. This is too important an issue to simply allow to go by the wayside and forget about! If we cannot trust the government in this case (and we know we already know that we cannot trust the corporations involved), then we have to rely on ourselves. If nobody is willing to protect us, then we have to protect ourselves. Who else is going to do it, after all? Knowledge is power, and this knowledge needs to spread.
I will personally do my very best to avoid any and all of these companies, because I feel that Monsanto is a part of the problem, and not just symbolically. In a very real sense, this blends the worst of corporate greed, corruption, secrecy, and artificiality (in our foods). It is real, and if you think, as I do, that this is a real problem, then make your voice heard simply by not giving your hard-earned money to these companies!
Peru bans Monsanto:
http://www.foodrenegade.com/peru-bans-monsanto-gmos/
Now, here is a list of Monsanto companies, as well as the website that I got this information from. Again, if you care about proper labeling, so you know what is in the food that you and your loved ones are consuming, then you really might want to do more than pay attention, but to actively avoid giving these companies your money. Also, spread the word!
Okay, so they censored the picture. I will hope that they still cannot actually censor my words, because this is too important an issue to simply let go. I urge you to go ahead and do your own research. Go to a search engine (Google, Yahoo!, or which ever else you prefer), and type in Monsanto. Most likely, you will get the official Monsanto stuff first. Go ahead and open it up, see what they have to say. But don't stop there. Check out the other sites that warn about Monsanto. Add the word "boycott", and see the websites you come up with then. Check in news headlines, and see what the stories have to say. By all means, find out on your own, and don't simply rely on me, or anybody else, to tell you what to think. Then, make up your own mind.
Again, this is an urgent issue, and it's one that hardly seems to get any airplay on the standard news. At least, that is the case within American borders. Do I really have to go into why that is? These are some pretty big corporations, and they have a lot of money on their side. Enough, apparently, to make President Obama turn his back on his own words and promises as a candidate for President, and sign into law exactly the kind of legislation that he supposedly was going to prevent back before becoming President. Yet, with all of the talk about gay marriage and North Korea and gun control debates, this slipped under the radar. I mean, it's pretty telling when President Obama blatantly goes back on his word as a candidate, the FOX News does not jump in and point out the contradiction, right? That tells you something right there. When things like that happen, it's time to do your own research.
Without further ado, here is the rather long list of companies, arranged alphabetically:
Aunt Jemima
Aurora Foods
Banquet
Best Foods
Betty Crocker
Bisquick
Cadbury/Sweppes
Campbells
Capri-sun
Carnation
Chef Boyardee
Coca Cola
ConAgra
Delicious
Duncan Hines
Famous Amos
Frito-lay
General Mills
Green Giant
Healthy Choice (now, there's some irony)
Heinz
Hellmans
Hershey’s Nestle
Holsum
Hormel
Hungry Jack
Hunts
Interstate Bakeries
Jiffy
Keebler/Flowers Industries
Kellogs
KC Masterpiece
Kid Cuisine
Knorr
Kool-aid
Kraft/Phillip Morris
Lean Cuisine
Lipton
Loma Linda
Marie Callenders
Minute Maid
Morningstar
Ms. Butterworths
Nabisco
Nature Valley
Ocean Spray
Ore-ida
Orville Redenbacher
Pepperidge Farms
Pepsi
Pillsbury
Pop Secret
Power Bar
Prego Pasta Sauce
Pringles
Procter and Gamble
Quaker
Ragu Sauce
Rice-a-roni/Pasta roni
Smart Ones
Stouffers
Tombstone Pizza
Totinos
Uncle Ben’s
Unilever
V-8
http://fracturedparadigm.com/2013/04/02/boycott-monsanto-a-simple-list-of-companies-to-avoid/
http://current.com/community/93686090_boycott-these-monsanto-linked-companies.htm
This link seemed particularly impressive and informative when I came across it, and it seemed appropriate to point it out, so that you can check for yourself:
http://organicconsumers.org/monsanto/index.cfm
Here's a counter to the list of companies "owned" by Monsanto. I admittedly did not pay attention to the "owned" part prior to placing the list here, because I never assumed that Monsanto "owned" these companies. Monsanto offers services, technically, and it is my belief that these companies, far from being "owned" by Monsanto, probably use Monsanto products, and which use artificial chemicals and such (there's a reason why they are opposed to labeling after all, right?). That's my best guess, in any case. If you know otherwise, please, please, please feel free to send word to me. I promise, I will read what you have to say (so long as I am alive and well, that is) and will make sure to research what you are saying, and make sure that it becomes part of this, or some future, post. Bottom line, I am most interested in the truth, in getting to what is important. So, please feel free to share your opinion on this, or any other, subject that I address. What I noticed about this counter most of all, is that it simply refuted the notion that these companies were "owned" by Monsanto, but not that they used it, which is the most important thing. Also, another thing that did not fail to get my notice, was that the list on that page was not censored, even though it was exactly the same as mine. Perhaps it is protected, because it seems to be opposed to all the anti-Monsanto webpages? Again, you can make your own decision. Here is the website that I am referring to:
http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/monsanto.asp
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