09.14.10

Lord Sainsbury is Pushing Monsanto’s Agenda in Europe

Posted in Bill Gates, Europe, Intellectual Monopoly, Patents at 11:16 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Summary: The world’s monopolist of food, which also puts people at risk while it acquires this monopoly, is connected closely to Lord Sainsbury

LIKE MANY OTHERS IN THE UK, I REGRET being an almost exclusive client of Sainsbury’s, which is connected to Lord Sainsbury of Turville. Based on the following couple of news items, the Sainsbury family is a big pusher of Monsanto’s GMO agenda (Professor Jonathan Jones, the head of the Sainsbury Laboratory at the John Innes Centre, is also funded by Monsanto to push its agenda). The new items are:

GM FOOD: FACTS NOT CROPS [via Glyn Moody]

The European Commission has recently approved growing genetically modified crops for the first time in 12 years, putting the GM lobby’s profits over public concerns — 60% of Europeans feel we need more information before growing foods that could threaten our health and environment.
Lord Sainsbury calls for new debate on GM crops [via ThistleWeb]

A former science minister has called for the debate on genetically modified crops to be reopened, arguing they are vital for a growing global population.

Ahead of his speech at the British Science Association festival, Lord Sainsbury warned it would be foolish for the UK to rule out the technology.

This led us to looking for some older articles too. Here is what we fished for and netted within minutes:

GM row: Lord Sainsbury in Monsanto talks

His meeting with Monsanto, attended by civil servants, raises fresh concerns about the extent of his role in dealing with GM issues within government and the potential conflict with his private business interests.

The day after the Monsanto meeting, Lord Sainsbury chaired a government- sponsored biotechnology seminar with consumer associations, environmentalists such as Friends of the Earth, and one of the Monsanto officials he had met the day before.
Letter: Sainsbury must go

When we continued to call on him to do the decent thing and resign, Lord Sainsbury continued to insist that he had nothing to do with GM food issues in government. Now The Independent has revealed that, as minister, he met with Monsanto the US GM crop giant, and discussed GM crops and food.
GM crops set to make Sainsbury millions

THE science minister Lord Sainsbury could make millions of pounds from his investments in firms researching genetically modified (GM) crops, including one company closely associated with Monsanto, the controversial American biotechnology company.

[...]

In November 1999 Paradigm signed a deal with Monsanto, which is paying it £30m and up to £9m more in performance bonuses, to work on novel genes. Paradigm will also get royalties if any of the genes are used in commercial products. It is royalties that offer the biggest chance of high returns.
UK Testing GM Potatoes That Offer No Benefit to Farmers or Eaters

The person heading the project is Jonathan Jones, who runs the Sainsbury Laboratory. During none of his promotion of the project have his ties with Monsanto been noted. The Guardian reports that Jonathan Matthews, the spokesman for GM Watch, pointed out:

The frontman for the latest GM push in the UK is being portrayed as a dedicated public servant doing science in the public interest, but it now appears he not only has vested interests in the success of GM but even commercial connections to Monsanto.

It turns out that Jones not only has links to Monsanto, he has direct financial interests. He founded Mendel Biotechnology, whose most significant customer—and also collaborator—is Monsanto. Yet, he didn’t provide that information in a recent tirade against opponents of GM, which he wrote for BBC. He went so far as to call them, “fussy eaters”. When confronted with his lack of transparency, he stated to the Observer that he hadn’t tried to hide his connections.
Sainsbury denies conflict of interest

It is the same gene at the centre of a food scare following tests on rats that were fed GM potatoes. Lord Sainsbury said the virus is owned by Monsanto.

For those who are new to Monsanto, appended below are links to previous posts. The Gates Foundation is also a Monsanto pusher and investor (with an increasing stake). █

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4 Comments

AJKMSTEPH said,

September 14, 2010 at 5:15 pm

What is all this babble….”It is the same gene at the centre of a food scare following tests on rats that were fed GM potatoes. Lord Sainsbury said the virus is owned by Monsanto” what virus? The potati feeding was done 12 years ago and did not include GM potatoes and was investigated and foiund by the journal that reported it to be a faulty report and bad science

Dr. Roy Schestowitz Reply:
September 14th, 2010 at 5:18 pm
Gene patents have nasty consequences.
AJKMSTEPH said,

September 14, 2010 at 5:17 pm

Its funny that any pro GM is pushing their views but anyone anti GM is not? While everyone is fopcused on Monsanto everyone else especially teh Chinese are busy taking over the world of food production spending Billions on GM food technology and buying up land in Africa. If they can produce food in Africa they will help feed the world. We have 45 days of food in storage in the world —just think about that for a moment

Dr. Roy Schestowitz Reply:
September 14th, 2010 at 5:32 pm
The GMO cartel belittles and publicly ridicules its critics. Just because we have shortages doesn’t mean we should help create a food /monopoly/. Soil and sunlight are not private property.