All of the soybean and cotton seeds that Monsanto sends to farmers around the
world start here in Puerto Rico.
While the U.S. territory drowns in billions
of dollars in debt, its government is giving agrochemical corporations like
Monsanto, now owned by Bayer, huge tax breaks to test and grow GMO seeds. And
now, some Puerto Ricans are resisting, saying Monsanto has not only cost them
their livelihood – it’s making them sick.
Why would you want to continue using a chemical like glyphosate that is being blamed for cancer?
Why do you say that?
What do you feel?
Alexis and his grandfather José live in a small
neighborhood in Puerto Rico's southern municipality of Juana Diaz. Right across
the street from their home is a field owned by Monsanto – now Bayer. Major
multinational seed companies operate here using this fertile land to test and
grow genetically modified crops. Monsanto alone controls about 3,000 acres.
Monsanto was founded as a chemical company in 1901. It was responsible for
the deadly herbicide Agent Orange used by the U.S. military during the Vietnam
War. Over time, Monsanto shifted to agriculture,
becoming one of the largest seed suppliers to farmers around the world.
And in the 1980s, it began experimenting with GMOs.
GMOs are genetically modified organisms, and they’ve been modified for a certain function – like to be
resistant to herbicides like Roundup, or to maximize harvests for farmers around the
world. But the use of GMOs is hotly debated. Some people say they’re helping
to solve the world’s hunger problems while others argue that they’re unsafe for our health and the environment.
“Now to the mega merger that has taken Wall Street by storm.”
In 2018, Monsanto was acquired by German pharmaceutical giant
Bayer for $66 billion, creating the largest agrochemical and seed corporation in the world.
Juana Diaz is at the epicenter of
Monsanto’s seed production. And residents here say the chemicals being used in the
field across the street are making them sick.
Do you close your windows?
Monsanto has been called one of the most hated
corporations in the world, controversial for its use of GMOs, for suing farmers
who violate their seed licenses and, most recently, for serious illnesses linked to
their trademark weed killer, Roundup. More than 13,000 plaintiffs in the U.S. now
claim that exposure to Roundup and its main ingredient, glyphosate, caused cancer –
and that Monsanto hid the risks. And so far, several plaintiffs in California
have won with combined settlements worth billions.
So we’re headed to meet a former Monsanto employee who has agreed to talk to us on camera. And she says
that her time there working with different chemicals got her very sick.
Iris worked as an agronomist at Monsanto for eight years. She carried out experiments on
genetically modified soy and corn.
Do you feel like Monsanto really took care of your safety?
How did you react to exposure to these chemicals?
Iris says she later developed respiratory problems so bad
she could barely catch her breath while walking. She said a pulmonologist told
her she had the lungs of a 94-year-old, and advised her to take greater care at
work. She also says she went into anaphylactic shock three times.
Did any doctors tell you you might die if you continued?
So when the doctor told you if you keep working there you will die, did you stop working?
Monsanto terminated her employment, saying she used all of the legal leave time available to her.
Iris teamed up with a lawyer to find out the exact composition of the
chemicals she was handling. Instead of answering her specific question,
she says Monsanto sent her a list of thousands of chemicals used in the
facility she was working in. We asked the company about all of Iris’
allegations. In an email, their PR representative responded by saying the
safety of their employees is their top priority, and that Bayer gave Iris all
information required under the law. Monsanto’s getting a sweet deal in
Puerto Rico. As a seed corporation, it gets the same benefits as an individual
farmer, including a 90% tax exemption, access to free water and, in
Monsanto’s case, close to $3 million in wage subsidies. But Monsanto
also gets to use way more than the 500 acre legal limit that individual
farmers are restricted to. The company, now officially Bayer Crop Science, agreed
to give me a tour of their new smart greenhouse.
They’re trying to protect the plants from us.
Wooo, it’s warm in here!
So all this is soy.
So we have two crops: Here you can see cotton.
This is cotton?
Yeah, this is cotton. Little plants. This plant should already have maybe about 15 days
after planting. And then here I can show you some soybean plants.
So the soybean seeds that get shipped to farmers all over the world start here.
They start here. It’s about an eight-year process from the moment
that we start doing our research work to the moment when it’s actually
commercialized ... is about an eight-year process.
Then, I got to see how they genetically modify their plants up close.
They even asked me to give it a shot myself.
I’m cross-pollinating soy right now.
Alright, so that didn’t go according to plan.
I have no future career at Bayer. Or Monsanto. I should be an organic farmer.
Now that I experienced Monsanto’s operation firsthand, it was time to ask some questions.
Miguel Pereira and Eric Torres are longtime employees of Monsanto.
Soybean and cotton. Are those crops native to Puerto Rico?
I'm interested in knowing about how Puerto Ricans are benefiting from the presence of
companies like Bayer, formerly Monsanto, here. How many jobs do you guys create?
Yesterday I was in Juana Díaz in Arús specifically, speaking to locals there who live right
across the street from your fields, and they complain about the chemical
spraying there. Do you talk to them ever, to let them know what you're doing?
I know there's a lot of agrochemical companies
in the area, but I confirmed with your security on the ground that the field
directly across from them is Bayer. And they're saying that your chemicals are
making them sick, so what do you have to say to them?
So are you telling me to tell these locals that are saying
they're getting rashes, they have itchy eyes, watery eyes, “Don't worry, it's all safe?”
How can they get in touch with you?
They said they have tried to talk to Monsanto in the past and they have got nothing.
The Juana Diaz mayor’s office told us that Monsanto is rarely in touch with them,
and while the company does hold community meetings, they do not field community questions or concerns.
These fields that we're talking about in Juana Díaz, do you spray glyphosate there?
How much glyphosate is being used in Puerto Rico by your company?
Why would you want to continue using a chemical like glyphosate that is being blamed for cancer?
Who carried those studies out? Were they independent scientists, or were they Monsanto?
But evidence presented in a 2018 Roundup trial revealed many of those
studies were actually heavily influenced, and in some cases, even edited by Monsanto.
Even the EU’s decision to permit the use of glyphosate was based on a German study, which plagiarized from Monsanto reports.
And while the EPA insists glyphosate does not cause cancer, the World Health Organization says it’s
“probably carcinogenic.” Puerto Rico is suffering from a $123 billion debt
crisis. And yet Monsanto has continued to receive massive tax incentives to
operate here. At the same time, a lack of investment in the agricultural sector
has led Puerto Rico to import 85% of its food. I wanted to know why Puerto Rico’s
government continues to be so generous to corporations like Monsanto. So I went to the governor.
These agrochemical companies like Monsanto are basically
getting the perfect setup in places like Puerto Rico, and they have billions, whereas you're billions
in debt, so do they really need these tax incentives?
Well, the thing is, we've been in a position of
disadvantage because of our colonial treatment in Puerto Rico. Tax
incentives, tax breaks that we've had have really been our only tool of
economic development that we've had. People tend to think that, for example,
tourism is our biggest economic driver. Really, these transnational
companies represent anywhere from 42 to 46% of our economy.
Puerto Rico is now importing more than 85% of its food. At the same time, one could
argue that you're giving away your most fertile land to these billionaire
multinational corporations like Monsanto. Is that in the best interest of the Puerto Rican people?
Our strategy has been to change that.
Our aim – it’s very aggressive – is to change from that 15% that we
produce to a 30% so that we reduce that dependency to 70%. We
have some of the most fertile ground in the world, but there needs to be a
certain driver and certain incentives so local agriculture can flourish
and that they can see the value to participating in the economy.
So we’re up in the mountains right now and we’re on our way to meet some folks
who are resisting Monsanto by taking farming into their own hands.
Josue, Pamela and their two daughters live here and
grow most of the food they consume on their small farm.
We grow tomatoes, we grow cabbages, yautia. We grow coriander,
kale, celery and chives, berries…
Hello!
There’s one that got out of the fence.
Uh oh, no we need to put you back in! Two of them. Oh my gosh.
Oh, three of them are out.
What do you think about people who might respond to you saying
that this type of farming is idealistic and you can't scale it up to the masses
and feed everyone in the world?
This is a personal thing for me, but I don't
believe that I have to feed the masses. I believe more in a lot of people
feeding the masses, a lot of people farming. And that's not idealistic. A lot
of small farms is more realistic, is more sustainable, and is less
harmful for the whole environment. We fight to produce our food, to have a way
of life that is not just only for people but for the whole planet, for the
animals, for the plants, the environment, for everything.
Hey guys, it’s Dena and I’m here in Puerto Rico. That’s what Monsanto has been up to.
Do you think Puerto Ricans are getting their fair shake? Let me know in the
comments. Be sure to like this video, please share it and subscribe to our
Direct From playlist. Make sure to watch the next episode also filmed here in Puerto Rico.