Got milk?
If so, maybe you also got hormones and antibiotics you didn’t know about or want. For several years now, consumer groups and Monsanto have been waging information wars. Consumer groups said that the growth hormone Posilec, made by Monsanto to increase milk production in cows, caused more illness in cows and necessitated the use of antibiotics. Henny Penny, the sky is not falling, said Monsanto. This is much ado about nothing.
But it turns out that quite a few consumers don’t like the idea of giving their tots, not to mention themselves, milk laced with growth hormones (rBGH). Following the lead of Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and all 27 countries in the European Union, all of which ban rBGH, they began insisting on buying milk labeled rBGH free.
“Oh you think you can mess with us?” said Monsanto, and it found legislators in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, New Jersey … and Missouri, wouldn’t you know … to introduce bills banning milk producers from labeling their products as rBGH free. “We’ll fix you–with adhesive tape wrapped around the mouths of those who produce hormone free milk.”
I can’t say what party the legislators in those other four states might have been, but in Missouri, the sponsor, Mike Cunningham, and all 29 co-sponsors were Republican. Odd coincidence, that. Nevertheless, in the wake of vociferous public complaints and despite the Republican majority in the House, the bill didn’t get a hearing.
Last week, Monsanto announced that it is looking for a buyer for its Posilec division. Could this be because major retailers such as Wal-Mart, Kroger, and Publix, heeding consumer insistence on milk without growth hormones, are selling house-brand milk from untreated cows? Or maybe it’s because in all five of the states where a ban on truth in labeling was tried, it failed. (Sometimes those mouthy activists get their way.)
Neither of the above, Monsanto assures us. Selling Posilec “will allow Monsanto to focus on the growth of its core seeds and traits business while ensuring that loyal dairy farmers continue to receive the value of Posilac in their operations,” they insist. Sales are still brisk, they purr.
Monsanto is not willing to share those sales records with reporters, but … so? Would Monsanto lie to you? My guess is that they’re giving up Posilec because they understand the need for some company to buy the Brooklyn Bridge.