Monsanto C
1. Explore the influence of big business on American agriculture.
a. Monsanto Corporation is an American company that has been engulfed in a series of controversies, particularly the ones related to GMO seeds. While the company is portrayed as the most successful, the seeds it produces attract controversies due to the issue of GMO. Additionally, the fact that farmers keep purchasing the company seeds compounds this issue. Even though the company remains successful in almost every part of the world, its success is significantly attributable to the monopoly tendencies it employs. Currently, the US has only three other companies including Dow Agro Sciences, Syngenta, and DuPont/Pioneer but Monsanto remains dominant due to the clever …show more content…
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is responsible for the creation and subsequent regulation of rules pertaining to organic foods in farms. To produce such foods, a company or individual needs to adhere to some legal requirements. For instance, the farmers or organizations have to observe the production and certification procedures. According to USDA (n. d.), a farmer has to ensure that the practices do not interfere with or weaken the fertility of the soil. Similarly, individuals or companies that seek to export or import their organic products need to ensure they adhere to the stipulated rules. Specifically, one has to submit a comprehensive description of the seed accompanied with the history of at least three years as well as the list of the organic products. Also, one has to submit a plan outlining the substances one uses for this activity. Typically, a representative of USDA is mandated with ensuring that a farmer, upon being approved to undertake this activity, follows all the …show more content…
While the term ‘Conviviality’ had been coined long before the rise of the Slow Food movement, its popularity was facilitated by this group. In a nutshell, conviviality refers to the joy and pleasure that people have when preparing, cooking, and eating meals together. It is meant to show that the cooking process need not be a tedious one as it is often portrayed by fast-food companies. Typically, many fast-foods show the cooking process as complicated and strenuous but the Slow Food movement sought to challenge this narrative by advancing this concept of conviviality. In fact, Phillips and Wharton (2015) noted that the Slow Food Movement retains this concept and that it forms the core value of the group whereby the whole process of food preparation and sharing is popularized in many places. Apparently, the group requires its local leaders in every region where it is represented to promote local traditional foods and recognize such