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The agreement on agriculture – which forces countries to start importing food and destroying local markets, to shift agriculture away from staple food crops to growing luxury crops at low prices for consumption in rich countries – was clearly inspired, crafted by Cargill and the US delegation. They wrote a very, very perverse agricultural agreement which was sold to the world as if it would remove subsidies. But the subsidies for corporations like Cargill have doubled in the US since the closure of the Uruguay round in the last 5 years. Rich countries are subsidizing agribusiness by up to $343 billion a year. While in a country like India, agriculture is negatively subsidized up to minus 23 million dollars a year. This is not about competition. This is about monopolies.

– Stolen Harvest: An Interview with Vandana Shiva from CorpWatch, 17 March 2000.

The argument about higher yields on industrial farms is rooted in an industrial mindset that quantifies as a rule and leaves the qualifying for the liberal arts majors. With respect to industrial farming, the logic goes like this: If you're looking to maximize production of a given commodity, like corn, the highest yield per acre will come from planting vast acres of genetically-engineered or hybrid seed, applying chemical fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides, and employing heavy machinery in the planting and harvesting. The yield from an acre of corn produced this way will always beat the yield of an acre of heirloom corn planted by hand and fertilized by healthy soil and compost. Or so we're told.

The longest running study comparing organic and non-organic ("conventional") farming systems, the Rodale Institute Farming Systems Trial, found yields to be comparable. Not only were yields similar with the organic methods, and in some cases higher, the reduction in fossil fuel use and pollution and the increased soil health made organically-managed systems the clear winner. Perhaps the most important finding was that "In the drought years, 1988 to 1998, corn yields in the legume-based system were 22 percent higher than yields in the conventional system." In a world experiencing water shortages and drought, this is good to know.

– You Can't Eat Gasoline: Big Food's Lie About Feeding the World by Bob St. Peter, 09 March 2007.

Main Players

• Dow Chemical: The second largest global chemical corporation, Dow brands itself as a “science and technology” leader committed to sustainable development. But toxic skeletons hang in Dow's closet: it has produced some of the world's most deadly chemicals, including DDT, Agent Orange and dioxin. See also "Most Wanted" Corporate Human Rights Violators of 2005 from Global Exchange.
• Monsanto: Chemical giant Monsanto, producer of such deadly chemicals as Agent Orange and PCBs, has transformed itself into one of the world's biggest promoters of genetically engineered crops. Today, it produces the world's most widely used herbicide, Roundup, which has been linked to birth defects in humans. In 2003 alone, Monsanto sold more than $1.6 billion in genetically engineered seeds. But instead of alleviating poverty and promoting self-sufficiency, Monsanto crops have worsened economic conditions for small farmers. See also "Most Wanted" Corporate Human Rights Violators of 2005 from Global Exchange.
• Cargill: Sometimes it is simply the sheer concentration of ownership that creates the danger for consumers. Cargill, the world's largest private corporation, controls 10 percent of the world's salt production, is the largest U.S. cattle feeder, and holds 30 percent of Europe's glucose and high-fructose corn syrup market. Along with two other companies, Cargill produces 53 percent of the world's orange juice. It is also a major exporter of genetically engineered crops.
• Archer Daniels Midland (ADM): makes sweets its business, but the responsible shopper knows that this company is anything but sweet. With associates like Cargill and Nestle, it is no surprise that ADM has allegations against it for child slave labor, promulgating genetically engineered products, and using its influence to leverage corporate welfare from the federal government. Although the company has recently expanded into fuels and industrials, ADM's main products are cocoa and sweeteners made from corn and wheat. Between 1980 and 1995, ADM cost Americans tens of billions of dollars in taxes to maintain subsidies on 43 percent of its goods. With this advantage, the company still saw the need to conspire with other producers to fix corn fructose prices.

Sources:  Food and Agribusiness Fact Sheet from Corporate Accountability International, November 2004 and Profile: Archer Daniels Midland Company from Co-Op America.