and what it’s up to. Perhaps the best way to gauge Monsanto’s influence over America’s food supply is to give a pop quiz. See how many answers you get right:
1. Monsanto makes almost all the _____ that’s used to produce high fructose corn syrup.
A. Flint corn
B. Genetically modified corn
C. Corn waste
2. High fructose corn syrup is found in
A. Thomas’s English Muffins
B. Coca Cola
C. Yogurt
D. Cough Syrup
E. All of the above
3. Monsanto controls ________ percent of all genetically modified organisms.
A. 100 percent
B. 90 percent
C. 50 percent
D. 20 percent
4. Monsanto’s GMO products appear in _______ percent of processed American foods.
A. 100 percent
B. 70 percent
C. 40 percent
D. 15 percent
5. Corn genetically modified to withstand Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide caused what in lab rats?
A. Heart disease
B. Birth defects
C. Hair loss
D. Kidney, liver, heart, spleen, adrenal gland, and blood damage
E. All of the above
6. Monsanto cleared _______ in profit from its 2008 operations.
A. $3.5 billion
B. $2 billion
C. $700 million
D. $500 million
7. If you own a farm next to a farm where Monsanto seeds are used, and if pollen from Monsanto’s plants fertilizes your seeds, Monsanto has established the right to _______ you for violation of the copyright on its seeds, and to collect royalties.
A. Sue
B. Blacklist
C. Slander
And regarding that last question, consider the case of Tennessee farmer Kem Ralph who, in 2004, served eight months in jail and was fined $1.3 million for lying about Monsanto cotton seeds he was hiding in his barn, claiming they weren’t even his seeds and that he was saving them for a friend. By the way, Tennessee’s fine for possession of cocaine is $2,500.
The answers are B, E, B, B, D, B, A.