A disturbing article in The Huffington Post highlights the campaign by a Haitian group that has committed to burning some 60,000 sacks of vegetable and corn seeds that Monsanto plans to donate to impoverished farming communities.
In mid-May, the Peasant Movement of Papay (MPP) issued an open letter calling Monsanto s plans to donate seeds to Haitian farmers a very strong attack on small agriculture, on farmers, on biodiversity, on Creole seeds ... and on what is left our environment in Haiti. In the letter, the MPP expresses special concern about the import of genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
However, Monsanto in an effort to keep the contribution clear of politics, isn't donating genetically modified seeds, but instead hybrid seeds.
"But because they are hybrid, or more likely because they are simply from Monsanto, MPP plans to burn them anyway," explains ACSH's Jeff Stier.
People are obviously starving in Haiti, but a small number of radicals do not want Monsanto s donation. Now, these farmers are being encouraged to reject badly needed food by groups that receive funding from a wide array of anti-capitalist activists, including the shadowy Tides Foundation."