Longer Documentary Video and Audio Recordings about Our Lawsuit and the Issues Being Raised Note: Especially when watching the first six films below on YouTube, it may be better to watch them full screen and in higher definition—if the necessary bandwidth is available. That way the screen text will be sharper, bigger, and easier to read. In a small window, some of the text could be cropped out if the full image is not shown full screen. A wheel-shaped button on the menu bar can be used to change the image to high definition and another button on the right end of the YouTube menu bar enables full screen viewing.
Our Own Productions About the Lawsuit, the Issues, and Views of the Co-Plaintiffs:
• “A Brief Review of the Transgenic Food Regulatory and Labeling Mess,” edited elements of a forum discussion at the University of Virginia with Michael Rodemeyer, former Director of the Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology; Eric Hallerman, Department Head, Fish and Wildlife Conservation, Virginia Tech and investigator of the environmental risks posed by transgenic fish; Jean Halloran, Director of Food Policy Initiatives at the Consumers Union, and Ira Wallace, Co-Manager of the Southern Exposure Seed Exchange. Here is a pdf of the film’s screen text.
The forum was sponsored by the University of Virginia Food Collaborative and held on April 23, 2013, but it is not listed amoung the prior events conducted by the Food Collaborative and a promised video of the entire forum has never been posted. This film is listed with the longer films because it could be used as a “short” to show before showing any of the films below, and it is made using the same information dense documentary style employed in the two longer films below. The film is 24 minutes. • “What Do You Know About Monsanto”provides information about Monsanto, the lawsuit against them, the damage and dangers related to transgenic food and agriculture, and also the state of public knowledge about Monsanto and their products. It is aimed toward those wanting more information than a short film can provide. Almost all of the first part of the film was filmed on January 31, 2012, the day of the oral arguments before Judge Naomi Buchwald of the Southern District of New York, and the second part of the film was filmed during the three succeeding months.
Among the most interested audiences will be advocates, activists, and people who want to know more about the need to challenge Monsanto when that is impossible in the Congress and the Executive branch of the government because of the power of corporate money through lobbying, campaign contributions, and insider relations in the U.S. political system. The film is made in two 51-minute parts that can be shown (or viewed) either separately—or together in one sitting.
A supporting track of information is provided as screen text because the Monsanto story is more complex and detailed than most people realize; the text makes more detail available for those who want it. This additional information will be important to everyone wanting broad understanding of the issues surrounding the lawsuit and to be litigated in support of its assertions, but some may not absorb it all in one showing of the film.
Because the film is made using more screen text than many other films, a written copy of the screen text is provided, so it can be read either before or after watching the film—or referred to as needed later. Because of the way screen text is used to provide an addition layer of information, the film becomes a cinema-graphic brochure for those who want to both listen and read at the same time. Preliminary experience with viewers shows that it can take as much as 30 minutes for people to become comfortable handling all three of the information threads at the same time (audio, video, text). The text is provided for the benefit of those wanting to understand more details about a complex topic. For those who would like it for reading or reference, here is a pdf of the movie’s screen text.
Part I of the film frames Monsanto’s corporate history and the issues at stake in the lawsuit. It also develops the motivation and point of view of some of the 83 plaintiffs. Part II of the film explores the attitudes and point of view of the general public, putting a human face on what people do and do not know about Monsanto. A more detailed discussion of the agricultural, health, and environmental grievances against Monsanto’s transgenic farming and food system concludes the film along with a protest against state food libel laws.
The two parts are kept together in one video for the benefit of those who want to watch both parts easily in one sitting. They are complementary and important to the telling of the full story, so watching both parts together is recommended. The End of Part I and the Beginning of Part II is made clear on-screen, so it is easy to separate the showings into two parts, even for the purpose of having at Intermission between them. The total of the two 51 minute parts is 103 minutes.
The above three films altogether together broaden understanding of the history, politics, and public realities within the U.S. democratic system. These dimensions need to be understood and addressed as part of fixing the damage transgenic agriculture has caused. The next film below about Arpad Pusztai and “Making Peace with the Earth” below add additional dimensions to the discussion.
• “Arpad Pusztai and an Aphid-Killing Transgenic Potato” about Arpad Pusztai’s work developing the protocols for investigating the safety of transgenic crops and the political troubles that resulted for him after he said he would not eat the transgenic potatoes being studied. Featured are Pusztai and his wife, Susan Bardocz, who was also his research colleague during the project. They both worked at Rowett Institute in Aberdeen, Scotland, a major European nutritional research institution, and they led the transgenic potato project together. The film is 40 minutes. Here is pdf copy of the film’s screen text.
• “Fixing Monsanto’s Damage” discussing the basics of the lawsuit and the underlying issues. It features co-plaintiff Don Patterson speaking at Rebecca’s Natural Foods in Charlottesville, Virginia in April, 2012 and includes a segment with Alex Baden-Mayer, political director of the Organic Consumers Association. The film is 30 minutes.
• “Making Peace with the Earth” featuring Vandana Shiva, founder of plaintiff Navdanya, speaking at the University of Virginia in March, 2012. The film is 53 minutes.
• “Food Democracy,” a second talk by Vandana Shiva at the University of Virginia in March 2012, this one as an audio recording. This event was a day earlier than the above presentation, “Making Peace with the Earth,” speaking to a smaller group of especially interested people. The recording is one hour.
Longer Films by Others that Include Discussion of the Initial Lawsuit Organized Against Monsanto:
“Open Sesame—The Story of Seeds,”directed by Sean Kaminsky. “In this film you will meet a diverse range of individuals whose lives center around seeds. Farmers. Renegade gardeners. Passionate seed savers. Artists. Seed activists. This film tells the story of seeds by following their challenges and triumphs as they work to save this precious resource.” Co-plaintiffs in the OSGATA et al. v. Monsanto lawsuit are prominent in this film. Scroll down to the bottom of the above linked page to view the two minute trailer.
Three Programs by “Meet the Farmer TV” interviewing Virginia Co-Plaintiff Don Patterson and Ira Wallace, Co-Manager of Co-Plaintiff Southern Exposure Seed Exchange. Each of the programs is 30 minutes, so they are 90 minutes total. They were broadcast starting in September 2013 on Free Speech Television and other channels around the United States. Episode One—Introducing the Issues Episode Two—Discussing the Lawsuit Episode Three—What Consumers Can Do To watch other episodes of “Meet The Farmer TV,” now over 95 of them, go to:http://watch.meetthefarmer.tv
Discussion About the Health Issues Caused or Made Worse by Monsanto’s Technology:
Autism the State of the Unionby Tim Kelly is an excellent and detailed film released in 2017 illuminating the relationship between Monsanto’s products and Autism. The science of the problem is well and efficiently explained. 80 minutes.
“Genetic Roulette” about the health issues related to transgenic food by Jeffrey Smith. Watch on-line for $3.00 or buy the DVD. To provide additional information, here is: An interview conducted by Jeffrey Smith with Dr. Stephanie Seneff of MIT. This video can be treated as a 65 minute adjunct to “Genetic Roulette,” and it is even more important, because it makes clear the links between Monsanto’s system of agriculture and all the major diseases and afflictions raising health costs in the United States. These health issues include: Autism, Diabetes, heart disease, inflammatory bowel, Multiple Sclerosis, Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinsonism, Anorexia Nervosa, obesity, leaky gut, and Tryptophan-Serotonin deprivation, Crohn’s Disease, cancer, ALS, cachexia, colitis, chronic diarrhea, and more. The interview is based on research reported in the journal Entropy. The article is here.
Additional Longer Films by Others Are Also Centrally Valuable in Explaining the Issues Being Raised in the Lawsuit:
“Communities Rising”A Story of Courage, Creativity, and Contribution. Across America, citizens are rising up, taking action and protecting their families from GMOs and toxins. Meet just some of the amazing people Zen Honeycutt and family met when traveling across our nation on the National Toxin Free Tour. See the global impact of the actions of individuals in partnership with their community. To find out more, support or get involved go to www.momsacrossamerica.org
“Food, Inc.” by Robert Kenner. Free on-line (with Spanish sub-titles). “Bitter Seeds” by Micha Peled about the farmer suicides in India. View for free on-line.
“Scientists Under Attack” by Bertram Verhaag of Denkmal Films in Germany is available for viewing on Vimeo, but this is a 59 minute version of the full original 88 minute film. For more information, see the Denkmal Films Web site.
“David Versus Monsanto,” the story about Percy Schmeiser by Bertram Verhaag of Denkmal Films in Germany. The DVD can be purchased and the film can be viewed for one British Pound.
“The Big Fix - BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Cover up”by producers Rebecca Harrel Tickell and Josh Tickell, directed by Josh Tickell. This film looks at the way the politico-economic system works in relation to another industry, the oil industry. It is included for the sake of the offered comparatives.
“Seed Hunter,” a National Geographic Documentary about the search for and preservation of ancient landrace and wild seed varieties. This movie helps to give historical perspective to the rampant yield-pursuing hybridization of seeds over recent decades and the even more dangerous transgenic corruption and misuse of seeds by Monsanto. The trouble with the recent work on hybrid and transgenic seeds by Monsanto and others is that it pays virtually no heed to the need for nutrition or to the other health impacts. These have been left unstudied, but they need long-term, multi-generational study before the seeds are put on the market. Years ago, the nutrtion in field corn was sufficient to nourish a hog, about now the hyrid corn varieties do not provide enough. Soy needs to be added to provide enough protein, but there are other nutritional issues as well, and those do not get the attention they should get.
“Mad Cowboy,”the story about Howard Lyman’s campaign to convince people to eat safe, healthful food and avoid the dangers related to the way modern food is raised in the United States and elsewhere. The story includes a discussion of the food disparagement (food libel) lawsuit brought against Lyman and Oprah Winfrey in Texas. In the talk (in Hawaii) provided at the end of the movie, Lyman comments about his view on transgenic food, but the issue with BSE in cattle and CJD in humans is caused by errant protein, and errant proteins are also created by transgenic technology. These are proteins that have not been found in nature and the human body has no ability to healthfully digest or utilize. BSE and CJD take varying numbers of years to germinate in cattle and humans (sometimes as much as 30-40 years), and in the case of transgenic food, the impacts seem to be greater in successive generations than they are in the first generation, even when they do cause serious health issues in the first generation. More studies are needed on this, but in the United States the studies have been blocked through the assertion of patent rights by companies like Monsanto that own the patents and therefore seek to prevent the people from knowing the truth. Their internal studies and their sponsored studies are limited to 90 days, and that is not enough time for the needed information to be revealed.
“GMO OMG”Director and concerned father Jeremy Seifert is in search of answers. How do GMOs affect our children, the health of our planet, and our freedom of choice? And perhaps the ultimate question, which Seifert tests himself: is it even possible to reject the food system currently in place, or have we lost something we can’t gain back? These and other questions take Seifert on a journey from his family’s table to Haiti, Paris, Norway, and the lobby of agra-giant Monsanto, from which he is unceremoniously ejected. Along the way we gain insight into a question that is of growing concern to citizens the world over: what's on your plate?
“A Chemical Reaction,”(www.pfzmedia.com) tells the true story of how much of Canada banned Roundup, weed 'n feed and other pesticides from public and private property — and how SafeLawns founder Paul Tukey is steadfastly attempting to bring that movement to the United States.
“The Symphony of the Soil” by Deborah Koons Garcia and Lily Films. A story about the essential link between soil health and the preservation of life.
“Origins” Reclaiming Health and Life through Connection with the World and Respect for Nature. A film by Dr. Pedram Shojal.
“Poison on the Platter”Bollywood filmmaker superstar Mahesh Bhatt launches a scathing attack on biotech multinational companies and compliant government regulators, showing how their dangerous genetically engineered foods and crops comprise one of the greatest dangers on earth. Released in February 2008, the hard-hitting Poison on the Platter is generating unprecedented fervor against genetically modified organisms (GMOs) throughout India. It is probably the most talked about film in the country.
Mahesh Bhatt says, “in their mad rush to capture the multi-billion dollar Indian agricultural and food industry, the biotech multinational companies are bulldozing warnings by scientists about the adverse impact of GM foods on health and environment, and hurtling the mankind toward a disaster, which will be far more destructive than anything the world has seen so far, simply because it will affect every single person living on this planet”.
Bhatt’s film makes a mockery of Government of India’s claim of not allowing import of any GM foods in the country as it conclusively demonstrates that supermarkets in India are flooded with harmful food stuff and biotech MNCs are cashing on the ignorance of unsuspecting consumers in India.
Trials of GM foods on lab animals across the world have repeatedly shown that they cause bleeding stomachs, and adversely affect brain, lungs, liver, kidney, pancreas and intestine. They have been even linked to higher offspring mortality and causing infertility.
“GMO — Ticking Time Bomb” by Gary Null with information from a wide variety of people involved in the effort to inform people about Monsanto’s transgenic food. Included among those interviewed is Attorney Dan Ravicher, Executive Director of the Public Patent Foundation and the leaders of two co-plaintiff organizations in the OSGATA et al. v. Monsanto lawsuit.
The Original “Fed Up” Movie from 2002by Wholesome Goodness Productions (not to be confused with the 2014 “Fed Up” movie about the obesity issue and dietary habits causing it made by Katie Couric and Laurie David). It is still relevant much as if it was made yesterday and as if nothing has happened since 2002. That is because the problems identified in the film since exist the same as they did back in 2002. This fact is depressing, but it cannot be allowed to be immobilizing or tolerable. Below is a paragraph from the original discussion about the film:
“FED UP! answers many questions regarding genetic engineering, the Green Revolution, genetic pollution and modern pesticides through interviews with Marc Lappé and Britt Bailey from the Center for Ethics and Toxics, Peter Rosset and Anuradha Mittal from Food First, Vandana Shiva from the Research Center for Science, Technology and Ecology, Ignacio Chapela from UC Berkeley's Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, Martina McGloughlin, Director of UC Davis' Biotechnology Program and many others.FED UP! also introduces us to local Bay Area organic farmers from Purisima Greens Farm and Live Power Community Farm, presenting community supported agriculture and small- scale organic farming as real alternatives to agribusiness and industrial food.”
The 2014 “Fed Up” Movie.This film was billed as the film the food industry does not want people to see, but they probably would not want people to see any of the movies on this site.
“The Real Dirt on Farmer John” by John Peterson. The story of a multi-generational family farm transformed into an organic and then biodynamic consumer supported farm (CSA).
“Our Daily Poison” by Marie-Monique Robin about chemicals in food and in the lives of people everywhere, but more in some nations and cultures than in others.
“How Big Oil Conquered the World” by James Corbett of the Corbett Report with the manipulative impact it has had on education, medicine, and agriculture, 70 minutes.
“Consumed” is a dramatic thriller that explores the complex world of genetically modified food. The story is anchored by a working-class, signal mother on a hunt to uncover the cause of her son’s mysterious illness. Interwoven are the stories of an organic farmer, the CEO of a biotechnology corporation, two scientists on the verge of a major discovery, and an ex-cop caught in the middle of it all.
“Transgenic Wars” by French investigative journalist Paul Moreira examines the relationship between the birth defects in pigs fed transgenic soy and the the many children with birth defects in Argentina where the soy fed to the pigs is grown. 52 minutes.
Films and Discussions by Others About Restorative Agriculture and Soil Health:
“Soil Matters” Presented by the Berry Good Food Foundation and Kiss the Ground (University of California Television) Soil really does matter! Find out how soil’s ability to absorb carbon from the atmosphere may hold the key to solving the massive environmental problems caused by climate change. Panelists include: Ryland Engelhart and Calla Rose Ostrander of Kiss the Ground; Scott Murray, organic farmer and resource conservationist; Pablo Rojas, rancher,El Mogor Ranch, Valle de Guadalupe, Baja California; Keith Pezzoli, Director of Urban Studies and Planning, UC San Diego; David Bronner, CEO, Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps; Justine Owen, soil scientist, UC Berkeley; and Michelle Lerach, Founder of the Berry Good Food Foundation.
“The Soil Solution to Climate Change Film”by SustainableWorld What If A Solution To Climate Change Was Beneath Your Feet? Soil is a living universe beneath our feet. As important to our lives as clean air and water, soil also holds a potential solution to the global climate crisis. Increasing numbers of scientists, farmers and ranchers are implementing innovative land use practices that build fertile soil and sequester atmospheric carbon These methods of land management have the potential to provide us with nutritious food, improved human health, cleaner water, and a healthier planet for all. World wide, most soils are depleted of carbon. The atmosphere contains an excess of carbon in the form of CO2, a climate change causing gas. What if that CO2 could be removed and stored in our carbon-hungry soil through land management practices? Find out how in The Soil Solution.