Consumo critico #8: Monsanto e Henkel
Keynote address: Pharmacia Corporation, 800 Boulevard Lindeberg , St. Louis, Missouri, USA - In Italy: Italian SpA Monsanto, Pharmacia & Upjohn SpA (formerly Carlo Erba Pharmaceutical).
Monsanto, a specialist in herbicides and defoliants in 1960 produced the infamous "
Agent Orange, one of the most dangerous defoliants used during the Vietnam war *. Currently, Monsanto manufactures the herbicide Roundup **. It 'was the focus of several trials for violations ranging from environmental contamination, misleading advertising, breach of safety rules. In 1995, Monsanto has damaged the environment by downloading 1800 tons of air pollutants in rivers and soil. Monsanto also produces growth hormone for BCH forced slaughter of cattle is considered by many scientists as a carcinogen. Monsanto also, for some years he devoted himself to genetic manipulation, patenting, together with the '
Astra-Zeneca , seeds that can be used to a single crop, grafting the so-called "technology of death" that robs farming communities of their secular knowledge for the Protection of seeds. Result of this operation is to foster a monopoly on seeds that feed the world, and to make the sole beneficiary of the multinational sector (source: The Ecologist
February 1999, homepage of
Boycott! and homepage
Manitese ).
Moreover, in March 2001 was discovered in the port of Genoa that part of the 3,000 tons of soybeans and corn imported by Monsanto for sale in our country, were genetically modified, very serious given the ban in Italy and produce marketing GM (source: GM April 2001).
* If you are easily impressionable,
here you can find photos that illustrate the effects that Agent Orange had on the Vietnamese people, particularly children.
** Latest news about the Roundup: In 1996, Monsanto has introduced in the U.S. market, the GMO soybean and cotton seeds, revolutionary because it able to withstand the herbicide Roudup: herbicide that can destroy every plant body without damaging the plants arising from GM seeds of Monsanto. Farmers have begun to make extensive use attracted by the ease of management of the camps, who remained perfectly puliti senza alcuno sforzo. Oggi, passati circa quindici anni, una decina di erbe infestanti sono diventate resistenti al diserbante; una in particolare l'Amaranthus palmeri, detto volgarmente l’erba dei maiali, ha reagito con un comportamento biologicamente paradossale: la pianta infestante cresce ad un ritmo di 5 cm al giorno raggiungendo oltre i due metri di altezza, producendo rami che danneggiano le lame delle mietitrebbie (fonte: AgoraVox, l'articolo
qui ). A seguito di questo disastro la Monsanto ha pagato, e sta pagando, i contadini perchè usino più diserbanti, anche quelli delle imprese concorrenti (fonte: Slow-food, articolo
qui ).
Main address: Henkel KGaA, Henkelstrasse 67, D40191 Düsseldorf, Germany - In Italy: Henkel SpA, Via G. Barrella 6, 20157 Milano.
German chemicals group with a turnover of approximately € 11.36 billion and employs 56,600 people (as of 1999). The company is active in the field of chemistry, adhesives for industrial and domestic use (trade Attack, Bostik, Loctite), detergents, cosmetics and stationery items (brand Pelikan). For raw materials we use is placed in constant business relationship with the South, from which it sources for vegetable oils. The group is in third place for the sale of detergents in Europe, after Procter & Gamble and Unilever
. Nell'aprile 1996, Greenpeace ha indicato in Henkel Hakusui, filiale giapponese, uno dei maggiori produttori mondiali di
ftalati , sostanze dannose per la salute utilizzate per ammorbidire la plastica dei giocattoli e come ingredienti delle pellicole per alimenti (fonte
Ethical Consumer 57/99). Compare tra le imprese che sono solite sperimentare su animali i loro prodotti (fonte
Compassionate Shopping Guide ed. 2000). In Italia è presente attraverso numerosi marchi di prodotti di largo consumo.
Tratto da: Miniguida al consumo critico e al boicottaggio. Realizzata da Movimento Gocce di giustizia. Ed. La Tortuga (ed. 2003).
Post subject
introductory critical consumption
here.
Product List Monsanto, Henkel, and other multinational
here.
