Biotech companies or government watchdogs?

These days it has become near impossible to differentiate between the biotech giants that want nothing more than to take total control over our food system with their ever growing number of patented GM seeds, and the very government watchdogs that are appointed to police such business with our (the general public's) best interest at heart.  

It's been dubbed the "revolving door policy", where those with personal / profit driven interest in our food system (food manufactures, chemical companies, biotech companies, etc.) rotate like shift work between these "companies with interest" and the very federal regulatory agencies policing them (FDA, USDA, EPA).  

Kind of like the Mafia days of Al Capone and the like, where the general public couldn't trust the police for fear that they were employed by the very thugs they were looking for protection against... take a look at the link below and you'll see what I mean.

http://media.mercola.com/ImageServer/public/2012/january/study1-big.jpg

This is why you can't trust these government agencies when it comes to your better interest (your health).  The only true way to fight the system is to make the conscious decision NOT to support GMO's, and this can only be done by choosing NOT to buy products that contain / were made from genetically modified anything!  

Unfortunately though these companies have become wise to this and therefore we must make a conscious effort not to indirectly support such research and development as well.  This means avoid when possible those organic brands that are affiliated with these biotech giants.  The organic community is growing and with this movement so comes the "dirty deeds" by the very companies that oppose organic standards.  They simply take the "if you can't beat them, join them" approach, or at least that's what they want you to believe... but you can be assured that ALL profits gained by the sale of an organic brand owned by a non-organic company (or any company that supports GMO's), will no doubt be used to fund GMO development.  And if and when they get their way, that is GMO's in all foods without labeling, they will stop production of their organic non-GMO brand. Take my word for it!

The attack of GE wheat!

It's bad enough that Monsanto will most likely sooner than later get approval to sell their GE wheat seed allowing them to complete the ultimate GMO trifecta (soy-corn-wheat) as they continue their pursuit for global agricultural domination.  Yet despite this eventual seemingly unavoidable blow to all those that fight this uphill battle against genetically engineered foods, there is always that small glimmer of hope that someday somehow people will finally wake up to the truth and acknowledge the damaging global threat that genetic engineering poses within our food industries.

So one can only imagine then the severity of such a finding as illustrated in today's news:

Non-approved strain of GE wheat found in Oregon.

Now we can speculate the how in "somehow" GE wheat has escaped testing facilities and infiltrated its way into this farmer's fields... or the who that could possibly be involved and whether or not this was accidental or deliberate.  We can even contemplate that pungent odor in the air that can only come from foul play, as we debate the possible conspiracy theories.  But you cannot deny the detrimental side effects that will cascade from such a scenario.

The act of isolating GMOs and assuring they NEVER infect non-GMO crops has always been one of the biggest fears amongst the organic community.  It has already happened countless times with the already approved GE crops (corn, soy, and canola), but this could be a first with a non-approved crop.  No doubt a true nightmare becomes reality scenario!

This fight against GMOs will no doubt be a long one, and whether or not it's a winning battle or a lost cause for those that oppose it, only time will tell.  But in the meantime it is crucial that those that who choose to buck the conventional (factory) farming system and practice a more organic sustainable farming approach, get that very opportunity without the fear of contamination!      

More profit driven propaganda!

Because soy is one of the two biggest US government subsidized crops, and because soy is also one of the two most common ingredients, in some way shape or form, in ALL processed foods, and because soy is one of the two biggest GMO crops on the market today, there is an enormous profit driven need and desire to make the public believe that it is healthy.  Many deep greedy pockets depend on it!

So when I read an article like this one in today's health news... Woman who ate more soy survive lung cancer better,  I am not the least bit surprised. Disturbed... but not surprised.

The majority of the soy consumed today as part of the typical American unhealthy diet is through the consumption of processed foods.  And aside from maybe "soy lecithin" the average consumer would never connect the dots between an ingredient listed on the package and its laboratory altered soy derived counterpart. 

This is why GMO soy (and corn) is such big business.  It can be shaped molded and restructured at the molecular level into whatever the food manufacturer wants or needs. 

What this "article with an agenda" fails to mention is that fermented soy (like Miso), not the otherwise heavily consumed filler, binder, flavor enhancer, preservative, etc. that is found in processed foods is the dietary staple for countries like China or Japan. 

It's important to remember that with fermented foods, unlike their unfermented counterpart, any and all anti-nutrients present in the original food are no longer present in this naturally modified version.  In fact fermentation increases the level of nutrients within the given food while adding the bonus of gut-friendly bacteria, which by now you should know is essential in a healthy diet.

So before you jump on the bandwagon and ramp up your already overloaded daily intake of unhealthy soy, make sure you know the facts.

The POWER to make a difference!

If you're thinking how can I one lowly person possibly make a difference when it comes to our food industry, think again. 

Every time you choose NOT to support the use of GMO's by buying organic; and every time you choose to "buck the (factory farmed) system" by supporting your local organic sustainable farmer, you are no doubt making a difference.

Every time you choose food raised in a humane sustainable manner, you are making a statement LOUD AND CLEAR that says you will not be a part of a failing food industry that poisons its people, animals, and the environment alike. 

Every time you question what's in your food instead of blindly looking the other way, you are setting a precedence.  You are saying I want the right to know what's in my food and I won't let a company's profit and greed overshadow what really matters when it comes to the food we eat. 

So the next time you're thinking what's the use, remember this... a consumer's power to choose may just be the biggest weapon we have!  You don't need legislation to mandate, and you can't rely on others to look out for your health and well-being.  It's your responsibility to educate yourself on what it means to live a healthy lifestyle. 

It's your right to be a part of the solution, supporting those (people, farms, and companies alike) who are making a positive difference, just as it's your right to refuse to be a part of the problem!

Don't believe any health related study that was rushed!

I just want to point out the importance of knowing a) who is behind any health/nutritional study and b) how accurately the study was carried out.

Headlines in today's health related news touts a new study, so important to all of us, that it was ended early for our health safety so we could reap its benefits... Tasty diet cuts heart disease

This isn't the first time a study focuses on the importance of maintaining a Mediterranean style diet, high in fruits, nuts, and vegetables, and low in "evil saturated fat", in order avoid heart disease.

Unfortunately this all to common and deadly misconception that fat and cholesterol equals death, ultimately leads to the very diseases so called "low (saturated) fat" diets are supposed to prevent. 

This latest study led by a researcher from the Carlos III Health Institute is by no means an uninfluenced independent study by any stretch of the imagination.  As a matter of fact a simple Google search will quickly lead you to this "Public Health Institutes" means of funding...

First on the list is the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation, which if you've followed the news would know that this "philanthropic" foundation has donated tens of millions in research money to Monsanto, the leader in GMO's and pesticides, in order to save all the many starving nations by somehow spreading the very seed that is quickly destroying sustainable agriculture the wold over.

Finally, rounding up the list of very gracious foundation partners is none other than a pharmaceutical company.  And we all know big pharma has our better interest at heart... no profit driven greed there.

It is very important to remember that no legitimate health related study, carried out by an independent research organization, is ever cut short for your benefit.  The only driving force behind such shady practice is money, plain and simply!

The Importance of Sunstainable Farming

I just wanted to share a few facts on the importance of sustainable farming that I find quite interesting and downright scary!

When people talk about topsoil they are referring to the upper layer of soil that is necessary for agriculture; without it plants won't grow.  It is important to understand that topsoil is teaming with life... Trillions of microscopic organisms in one small scoop full!  And unfortunately due to factory farming and the millions of acres of mono crops such as corn, soy, canola, and cotton that blanket our global landscape, we are destroying this essential and very key ingredient to life. 

1. We are losing crucial topsoil at a rate of up to 40 times that at which it can be replenished.
2. Nearly 70% of the World's usable nutrient rich topsoil is gone.
3. We have only about 60 years of topsoil remaining!

GE Crops and Unsustainable Agricultural Practices are Destroying our Planets Topsoil

So where is the good news in all of this?

Those that practice sustainable farming practices and buck the conventional profit driven system of deplete and destroy will actually build topsoil.  Farmers like Joel Salatin of Polyface farm in Virginia produce more topsoil per year than an untouched forest.  Maybe that's why he calls himself a "grass farmer" above all else...

When thinking of agriculture, we must think small (microscopic) if we are ever going to understand the big picture!

Parents, why are you still feeding your kids Cheerios?

I guess I can understand, at one time, how a cereal like Cheerios would have been considered ok to feed children... Based solely on a lesser of many evils that is.

I guess I can see why a parent at the time when homemade meals were beginning to be replaced with processed 'ready to eat' foods, would consider this a "go to meal" for children.  Or at a time when Saturday morning cartoons were beginning to dominate the air waves rotting children's minds, I can see why a parent might feel comfortable leaving their child to feed their face with a handful of these quick to dissolve relatively choke proof circles of empty calories, while their brains turned to mush much like the cereal in their mouths...

But with everything we now know about the harmful effects of consuming grains (especially gluten) and sugar as part of a regular diet, I find it tough to see why any parent would be so quick to make this their child's first solid food.

With everything we now know about the harmful effects of consuming GMO's, how could any parent give their child a food that has "modified corn starch, sugar" as two of the first three ingredients?  Especially when nearly all foods not labeled "100% Organic" that list corn as an ingredient, contain GMO corn.  And now with GMO sugar beets given the ok in the American market, you can bet that foods listing sugar as an ingredient contain this GMO as well.

And if for a second you have a hard time believing that this "wholesome heart healthy" food would contain such unhealthy ingredients, try asking the parent company 'General Mills' why they spent over 1 million dollars to fight proposition 37 which would have given consumers the right to know what's in their food by forcing companies to label all GMO ingredients?

Hell No to GMOs!

I am not sure what is more disturbing to me (and frightening), the intensity behind the pro-GMO campaign push that is going on right now, or the diverse seemingly (at first glance) unrelated group of donors funding GMOs and more importantly the lack of labeling.  The average ill-informed person may not immediately (if at all) make the connection between for instance the apparent "new studies" conveniently surfacing daily it seems within the medical community, trying their hardest to discredit the nutritional importance or even relevance of organic (non-GMO) products.  I think I've either read or seen on the news 3 separate new studies claiming that organic produce is not more nutritious than non-organic, with some even going as far as insisting that choosing organic in order to avoid toxins and pollutants may not even be worth the cost!  These false studies are absurd and those within the medical community that quote them should be ashamed of themselves.  Although it may not be obvious to the average person how or where the connection is between our medical community and pro-GMO supporters, the lines are not blurred to me. 

When you have chemical companies such as Monsanto or BASF or Dow who are up to their necks in the agricultural industry (pesticides and herbicides) making billions in profit on their patented GM seeds (such as corn, soy, cotton, canola, etc.) designed to withstand heavy doses of their respective herbicide or pesticide, you can only imagine the enormous funding these companies provide to universities for research and development in the area of bioengineering and biomedical. With this funding they can fairly easily dictate the focus of such research into their desired directions.  It's a perfect circle of corruption when you can dictate the education of our future doctors and PhD's at the academic level as well as during their medical careers with the help of pharmaceutical companies.  As it should be no surprise, these chemical companies such as Monsanto or BASF or Dow (to name a few) all have another billion dollar industry in common; the pharmaceutical industry. 

Don't be fooled by this relentless campaign which is conveniently coming just ahead of California's big vote come November (proposition 37) for the right to know what's in your food, specifically GMO labeling.  To say there is a lot of money at stake with this vote would be a monumental understatement.  These companies who profit off of GMOs (and the list is endless from chemical companies to food manufacturers) will do anything to convince the general public that not only are GMOs safe for people, animals, and the environment, but also necessary for moving forward in a sustainable manner.

There is a new study out of Canada (a real non corrupted study) proving that Bt-toxin (in Monsanto's Bt GM corn) does in fact accumulate within the human body.

"The toxin was identified in 93 percent of pregnant women tested; 80 percent of umbilical blood in their babies; and 67 percent of non-pregnant women."

And another study out of Germany showed that even humans with no direct contact with this toxin (i.e. outside the agricultural industry) have significant concentrations of glyphosate in their urine.

"Glyphosate is the active ingredient in Monsanto's herbicide Roundup, which is sprayed in large quantities on genetically engineered, so-called "Roundup Ready," crops. Such crops are genetically engineered to withstand otherwise lethal applications of the herbicide."

As shocking as these studies are, what's not surprising is who DID NOT fund this research (Monsanto, BASF, Dow). 

When you read or hear something on the news regarding your health and that of the planet and environment, it is always best to research those who would profit from the research's outcome.  And if the outcome seems fishy, like organic is not healthier than non organic, dig a little deeper and find out for yourself what the truth really is. 

Why 'YES' to Proposition 37 is important to all of us

There is something very important coming to a vote this November election, and it isn't which of the two clueless pawns currently in the running will become the next president of the United States.  It's called Proposition 37 'The right to know' and voting yes to this will give consumers the right to know what's in their food, primarily whether or not it contains GM (genetically modified) or GE (genetically engineered) ingredients.

Although this is up for vote in California and not nationwide, a win in the largest state for producing and selling organic products would surely set the tone for the rest of the country.  And even if you're not a California resident you can still donate to the cause.  

It's amazing to me (but not surprising) the amount of money the opposition is spending to blind the consumer.  This isn't a vote as to whether or not GE foods should exist (and they should NOT) but instead it's a vote to ensure proper labeling so we the consumer can have the choice to buy or not to buy.

The top five contributors to the opposition are Monsanto (the industry leader in genetic engineering as well as the maker of the pesticide/herbicide RoundUp), Dupont and DOW (Chemical companies with their dirty hands covered in Agriscience), Bayer (a pharmaceutical company), and BASF (a chemical company), all of which lead the pack with a mind boggling amounts of money being spent in this campaign to blind and poison the consumer. 

Donor	Amount
Monsanto	$7,100,500
E.I. Dupont De Nemours & Co.	$4,900,000
DOW Agrisciences	$2,000,000
Bayer Cropscience	$2,000,000
BASF Plant Science	$2,000,000
Pepsico, Inc.	$1,716,300
Nestle USA	$1,169,400
Coca-Cola North America	$1,164,400
Conagra Foods	$1,076,700
General Mills	$908,200
Syngenta Corporation	$821,300
Del Monte Foods	$674,100
Kellogg Company	$632,500
Hershey Company	$498,006
The J.M. Smucker Company	$388,000
Council for Biotechnology Information	$375,000
Grocery Manufacturers Association	$375,000
Hormel Foods	$374,300
Bumble Bee Foods	$368,500
Ocean Spray Cranberries	$362,100
Sara Lee	$343,600
Bimbo Bakeries	$338,300
Pioneer Hi-Bred International	$310,100
Pinnacle Foods	$266,100
Dean Foods Company	$253,950
Biotechnology Industry Organization	$252,000
Campbell's Soup	$250,000
McCormick & Company	$248,200
Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company	$237,664
Rich Products Corporation	$225,537
Cargill, Inc.	$202,229
Dole Packaged Foods	$171,261
Knouse Foods Cooperative	$135,831
Mars Food North America	$100,242

They are pushing hard with adds trying to convince the consumer that GE foods are no different if not better than their non-GMO counterparts.  But if this were true then why not spend the money educating the public and then trusting that they will make the right choice at the check-out. . .  The reason is the "right choice" is NON-GMO!  And they know it!

When more than 40 other nations around the globe either require labeling of or ban the sale of GE and GM foods, the question you should ask yourself is why in the "land of the free" don't WE have the right to choose?

Unfortunately the opposition doesn't make it easy for the average ill-informed consumer especially when, those at the top of the list who currently control our food industry (a product of factory farming), have such deep pockets and political influence making it easy to sway our government, our medical community, the media, and ultimately our nation in their direction.

Do the research, educate yourself, and make the right HEALTHY choice.  Say 'YES' because you do have the right to know!

I still believe the best way to win the fight against our current food industry (factory farming, industrial pharming, Agriscience, call it what you will) is to support your local organic farmer.  Buy only local sustainably farmed foods when possible; organic produce and pastured meats, dairy, and eggs.  Make sure all packaged goods are organic and specifically say NON-GMO on the label.

Factory farming promotes disease!

In a natural untouched setting you have herbivores, the grazers of the world, tending to our perennial prairie land pastures eating herbs and fertilizing the soil all while miraculously turning cellulose (plant matter) into edible fat and protein for all of the many carnivorous and omnivorous creatures that can't.  You then have nature's cleanup crew, flocks of omnivorous foul, closely tailing the heard scratching through the dung left behind looking for any edible insect that might be on their menu.  And finally you have nature's way of balancing out just the right amount of herbivores per square acre... carnivores.  Without these meat / animal-fat craving creatures of the world (and this includes the omnivorous human), the land would quickly be overrun by plant eaters resulting in a landscape of barren desert waist land due to over grazing, and ultimately leading to many starving animals dependent upon this otherwise healthy fertile soil.

And each individual team (herbivore, carnivore, and omnivore) on this common playing field holds a very important and distinct role dictated by these simple dietary constraints, better yet efficiencies; herbivores eat herbs, carnivores eat herbivorous animal fat and protein, and omnivores consume both.  And despite each players unique role in this game of sustainability, the very thing that sets each apart from the other (their gut) holds one very important commonality spanning them all; a healthy gut dependent upon healthy bacterial environment provides a healthy immune system, and ultimately a healthy relatively disease free existence.  

Despite the resilience of this healthy highly efficient zero-waist system we humans have figured out how to throw a very destructive wrench into this otherwise perfect running machine, and at such a startlingly damaging rate.  Disease is not natural, not at the frequency and efficiency at which it now wreaks havoc on our bodies and our world, and yet we have managed to make life threatening diseases such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and autoimmune diseases a devastating and regular occurrence in our lives. 

The healthy balanced gut of a mammal is paradise for (healthy) bacteria, trillions of them, and the tasks they perform (braking down our food so we can utilize its nutrients) is probably the most important job within the body.  Without balanced and efficient digestion, inflammation wreaks havoc on the stomach lining and intestinal walls changing the gut environment from 'friendly bacteria' to 'harmful bacteria' severely compromising the immune system allowing disease to follow. 

So who would think that among these three very distinct digestive groups of mammals (herbivore, carnivore, omnivore) that one common food would be poisoning them all, but it's true!  Grains are not naturally on the  menu for any of these groups of mammals, and yet with the advent of factory farming it has become a major food source for all.  In this unnatural unsustainable unhealthy farming model (factory farming) we feed cheap GMO grains to cattle (herbivores) as well as pigs and chickens (omnivores), depriving them of what they naturally need to survive a healthy disease free life.  Hence the heavy use of antibiotics within factory farming.  And we (omnivores) as well as our carnivorous pets (cats and dogs) are not immune to this poisoning. In fact we get it from all sides.  For humans, we make whole grains an important part of our diets because that's what we've been told is healthy, and any animal protein we do eat is from unhealthy omega-6 rich (grain fed) meat, dairy, and eggs. And as for our pets just look at the ingredients on the package of food (poison) that your feeding them... not only are grains on there in one way shape or form, if they're not the first ingredient they're almost always in the top 5.  And even if you feed them "grain-free" food, unless the animal protein listed comes from organic pastured meats they're still getting their share of poisoning just as we are. 

Grains are high in omega-6 which promotes inflammation, they spike insulin levels due to their glucose content, and  are very difficult to digest.

There is a solution to this global problem that is factory farming... local organic non-GMO sustainable farming!  When we allow animals to eat what nature intended, the result is a healthy relatively disease free life.  This goes for herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores alike.

Drought is kryptonite to factory farming

I think this year's drought that has hit American Agriculture so hard, with "half of the US counties deemed natural disaster areas", only strengthens the argument that factory farming cannot efficiently feed a nation.

When nearly all of the meat (beef, chicken, turkey, pork, and farm raised fish) produced and sold in the US depends on annual monocrops (GM corn and soy) as the primary feed source, saying we have all our 'non-cage-free' eggs in one basket would be a profound understatement.  With the majority of the hundreds of millions of acres of farm land stretching across our nation unnaturally occupied by one of two crops, our nation's food system is greatly dependent upon four things; good rainfall, chemicals, chemicals, chemicals... 

Nature dictates the rules; diversity (polyculture over monoculture), fertile soil, and rain. A successful organic sustainable farm helps guarantee the first two requirements are met, while factory farming on the other hand requires chemicals and GM seed to accomplish the same feat.  With the soil continuously depleted of all its nutrients due to harmful deep tilling in order to make way for overly dense populations of single crops, any favorable yield requires unnatural help.  Collectively these infertile farm lands require billions of tons of chemicals in the form of fertilizer to add much needed nitrogen, herbicides to prevent the only thing that effortlessly chooses to populate these otherwise barren deserts (weeds), pesticides to kill all of nature's opportunistic insects that effortlessly feed on these helpless nutrient lacking crops, and of course the round-up ready GM seeds. 

And even with all this chemical warfare on the side of factory farming, all can easily be lost if the winds of change choose to blow the rain clouds away.  Sure, sustainable farming requires water just as factory farming does, but in a sustainable farming model you have smaller, local organic farms with more pasture than monocrop. You creatively use the landscape given to you and gently mold it into something that favors your sustainable farming needs.  Instead of knocking down and plowing over all standing trees to make room for fields of corn or soy, you leave a nice thick perimeter encircling your pastures (sustainable = pastured), promoting refuge for smaller animals that can feed the predators that would otherwise prey on your livestock.  The trees and brush also do a good job of feeding the soil as well as soaking up any pollutants that may be in the ground.  Utilize low lying areas to create ponds instead of tilling and seeding.  Use livestock (pigs and chickens) to till for gardens instead of heavy equipment.  Plant only enough grains to feed those omnivorous animals that can consume them as part of the diet, like chickens and pigs.  Let Pasture dependent animals (cattle) graze, feeding them hey in the winter months not grain.  Use proper pasture rotation methods as practiced by successful organic sustainable farmers such as Joel Salatin, and make it your goal to build topsoil not deplete it.

What can be more natural then feeding fish soy...

Since 1995 when Monsanto, the maker of Round-up, introduced their latest and possibly most deadly creation; GM (round-up ready) soy beans, they have been slowly and quite effectively taking over (infecting) our food industry.

With help from the US government and their desire to be at the "leading edge" of biogenetics research, the United States has become the biggest advocate for this man made cancer, accounting for well over 50% of all GM crops worldwide.  Rivaled by only GM corn, genetically modified soy is used in some way shape or form in all non-organic processed foods, and is nearly unavoidable when shopping at your local grocer.  All non-organic non-pastured meats (beef, chicken, pork, turkey) as well as dairy produced and sold in this country, are fed GM soy (as well as corn) as the majority of their diets.  So from packaged goods to fresh produce to packaged and fresh meats and dairy, you just can't escape this hidden cancer.

So what could possibly make things worse?

How about if Monsanto, the leading maker of GMO's, and agricultural factory-farmed food conglomerate Cargill put their evil strengths together in a push to make GM soy the primary feed for factory farmed fish...

And that's just what they're doing!  As if we needed more of a reason not to buy factory farmed fish, with its overly crowded overly populated disease infested conditions, the last thing this unhealthy population of fish need is GM soy added to their diets.  Not only would it be detrimental to the health of those fish fed this poisonous  unnatural diet, but it would be devastating to wild marine life and ecosystems due to run-off of both uneaten food as well as the abundance of waist produced by these fish, not to mention the pesticides within the GMO itself.

Don't give the last piece of the food puzzle to these profit, greed, and world-domination driven corporations.

Say no to Factory Pharming!

Support your local organic sustainable farmer!

Bill Gates, philanthropist or chauvinist?

Bill Gates has been credited for his enormous generosity when it comes to helping those "less fortunate" and impoverished countries.  His list of "selfless deeds" includes investing nearly $30 million into Monsanto for biogenetic research and the use of GM crops to "save" these starving nations.

A documentary that I recently watched, The world according to Monsanto, opened my eyes even further to the mass destruction on a global level that this multinational company causes.  How they basically force their way into countries with their seemingly unlimited funds and political influence in order to enter (infect) a given country agriculturally with their GM seed, ultimately rendering the country dependent upon Monsanto for their crops. 

To these 3rd world countries, agriculture is not big industry but rather a deeply rooted way of life.  These are often small family farms that produce just enough for survival.  And for countries like Mexico who pride themselves for their many verities of  heirloom maize, many from seeds passed down generation to generation, which now due to cross contamination with Monsanto's GM seeds by way of the United States, their very way of life is being threatened.  

This push for control over a nation's agriculture (food) and ultimately the nation itself, is inevitable once Monsanto has entered the market.  When Monsanto's GM round-up ready seed is used, the farmer becomes dependent upon Monsanto for the chemical fertilizer and herbicide (weed killer) required in order for the crops to ever grow.  As they quickly become the only game in town, putting an end to the family farm, they can charge whatever ridiculous price they want for their patented seed.  And patented is the key word, because since they own the seed the farmer is forbidden to recover any of their seed for subsequent year's crops.  This makes farmers totally dependent upon Monsanto, turning farmers into indentured servants. 

This "philanthropic" approach of "donating" GM seed to 3rd world countries in order to end the worlds hunger problems is by no means a good deed.  It is simply a way for Monsanto to get their foot in the door, and once in, absolute control! 

"It's an undisputed fact at this point that the introduction of genetically engineered crops lead to diminished biodiversity, which is the direct opposite of what the world needs. Truly, in order to save the planet and ourselves, small-scale organic and sustainable farming must not only prevail but flourish, and GM crops do not help, but rather threaten their existence. Seeds have always been sold and swapped freely between farmers, preserving biodiversity, and without that basis, you cannot have food sovereignty. And with fewer farmers, "feeding the hungry with GM crops" is nothing but a pipe dream." 
Mercola.com March 4th 2012

My advise to Mr. Gates... If world domination is still in your blood then go back to torturing billions with your operating systems!  At least with computers there is an off switch...