Throughout the film The Future of Food, several lawsuits were mentioned. These
lawsuits were all from biotech companies such as Monsanto, filed against small farmers
throughout the United States; the one farmer in the film who fought back was Percy Schmeiser.
Although, the farmers can fight back against these large biotech companies, the majority of them
didn't fight back at all, they all chose to settle with Monsanto out of court, with the agreement
that none of these farmers are allowed to disclose any information about these settlement. The
main reasons that these farmers didn't chose to fight like Percy is simple, they felt that it is in
their best interest and in the long run that don't act on this like Percy: “The idea that each person
ought to pursue their self interests exclusively” (Farias, 2012). In the film during an interview
with Percy, it was revealed that by the time Percy was able to go to court, the lawyer fees and as
well as court dues were well over two hundred thousand dollars already. Although, the point of
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views of Percy and these other farmers may differ, they all acted out of self interest, what they
felt was best for them in the long run.
Biotech companies
insisted that they are good for counties that are in need for food, that
may be true, however it is not a long term solutions for these countries. Although these seeds are
helping places like India as a short term solution, it is somewhat like a trap. Because of
Monsanto’s seed monopolies, and biotech company's destruction of alternatives, "the collection
of super profits in the form of royalties, and the increasing vulnerability of monocultures has
created a context for debt, suicides and agrarian distress which is driving the farmers’ suicide
epidemic in India." (Global Research, Web) So what does this mean when it comes to the seeds
of suicide? Money for the biotech companies.
From an ethical egoism point of view, it is not wrong for companies like Monsanto to
make billions of dollars in profit on what they are doing. Regardless of what anyone say, these
biotech companies are multi-billion dollar businesses, and any business is about profit. No matter
what a company do or sell, it all comes down to profit at the end, that is the whole point of
business. It is to maximize their return on investment really, it's a basic rule in the business
world, survival of the fittest: “Lookout for #1...and there is no #2” (Farias, 2012). Because if a
company does not do this, they could potentially go out of business, and that is not what any
business or their investors would want in the long run. Unfortunately, this is the sad truth of the
reality of how this world works, a company could have the best intentions, but at the end of the
day, it comes down to how much money the company have made.
Utilitarianism
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The concept of seed hunters is finding and collecting seeds that may help save the world
from its greatest ever crisis, a global food shortage brought upon by the people themselves. In the
film GMO OMG, this was briefly mentioned, these seeds are stored and protected in a vault
somewhere deep the mountains of Norway. The reason behind this was that it will be served as a
contingency plan for the worst case scenario. The purpose of this is to attempt to make the world
