September | 2011 | A Berry Cool Blog

Suppose a tornado picks up your neighbour’s car and throws it onto your driveway. Your neighbour then sues you for stealing and crashing his car and you have to pay for damages as well as serve jail time.

Monsanto, a Missouri based agricultural company which spends around $3 million a day on product development, conducts itself in almost this exact manner; however, instead of cars being tossed around, genetically modified seeds travel various ways from testing areas into nearby farmers’ fields where they grow and spread—just as regular plants do. To ensure no one is stealing its GMOs Monsanto sends its “seed police” to neighbouring farms where tests are conducted regularly to determine whether or not the seeds belong to it. If they do, Monsanto proceeds to carry out a legal case against the farmer on the grounds of patent infringement. Absurd isn’t it?

Ethics in business are huge, and Monsanto’s number one priority should be attracting more customers and maximizing its profits. It could get rid of its patents, or else it could figure out a fool proof way of protecting its seeds. Ultimately, to attract more business and make more money it should become less intimidating and more sympathetic.