The Hightower Report: Monsanto's World Food Farce

It was my privilege to go to Des Moines, Iowa recently for a World Food Prize extravaganza recognizing a Monsanto researcher's work against global hunger. But wait, Mon­san­to is not a hunger fighter, it's a predatory proliferator of proprietary GM (genetically modified) seeds.

That's why I wasn't actually attending the ceremony to bestow a false halo on the corporate giant. Rather, I was one of more than 500 scruffy "outsiders" in the First United Methodist Church to protest the Monsanto absurdity. There, real-life Iowa farmers spoke plainly about the myriad abuses they've endured at the hands of the genetic manipulator.

One pointed out that if the corporation genuinely gave even one damn about hunger, it could've used its immense lobbying clout in Washington this year to stop Congress from stripping the entire food stamp program from the farm bill. Instead, Monsanto didn't lift a finger to help fend off hunger in our own country. "It doesn't care at all about feeding the world," he said with disgust, "it cares about profits, period."

Indeed, Monsanto is a pitch-perfect example of what Pope Francis was referring to in May, when he declared, "widespread corruption and selfish fiscal evasion ... have taken on worldwide dimensions. The will to power and of possession has become limitless. Concealed behind this attitude is a rejection of ethics." How ironic, then, that Monsanto bought this food prize for itself in order to masquerade as a world hunger fighter, hoping to persuade the Vatican to bless its demonic effort to force the world's poor farmers to buy and become dependent on its altered seed.

The World Food Prize Foundation says it recognizes contributions for "agriculture." But Monsanto has zero to do with agri-culture. It is the agri-business face of the unethical, selfish, corruption that Francis warned about.