Essay on Monsanto Ethical Dilemma

Introduction

The Monsanto Company was an American agrochemical and agricultural biology corporation which existed from 1901 until 2018. In 2008 Monsanto was acquired by Bayer as a part of the crop science division. “Monsanto scientists have spent the past few decades modifying crops-often by inserting new genes or adapting existing genes within plant seeds-to meet certain aims, such as higher crop yields or insect resistance.” (Ferrell, 2017, p. 382) By doing this Monsanto would be able to generate plants through weeks of droughts and kill insects. The positive outcomes Monsanto had were they produced herbicides for plants such as corn. Monsanto also invested strongly in other countries. On the negative side parts of the business practice were in the early stages of investigation. The public has disagreed about the increase in regulations in certain countries.

Efficacy of Monsanto’s Ethical Culture

Businesses start with having strong leadership values. They also help their customers understand what their business entails. Monsanto’s Ethical Culture has consequences such as producing and selling products without the physical consequences of its products. Monsanto claims that all their products are safe to be consumed by customers and are not harmful to plants and animals. “Monsanto, one of the most well-known biotechnology companies in the world.” (Charleboisa & Van Ackerb, 2016) The Monsanto company produces assorted crops that have been accepted and approved by multiple farms at an astonishing rate. It is very important to customers that they can trust the Ethical leadership within the business. “Differences in public reaction in the EU and the US to agricultural biotechnology are largely the result of moral concerns that reflect the history, traditions, experiences, and values of people of diverse citizenship.” (Knowles, 2001) When businesses begin to expand, they can not just expand their business to a country without knowing more about the country. Monsanto started in St. Louis, Missouri, and expanded to Europe in 1919. Before expanding a business, research, and visiting are required. A company will not want to expand where their business is going to fail. Europe is a great country for Monsanto to expand to. The reason is Europe is a healthy country, they take great care with farming and feed their animals only plant-based products.

Costs and Benefits of Growing GMO Seed

When cost is controversial GM seeds are more expensive. GM seeds are more cost-efficient relating to the valuable traits. Some of these traits include being resistant to weeds, pests, and diseases. There are many advantages Genetically modified (GM) crops have in terms of improving farming productivity and decreasing the need for pesticides. An important benefit is having control of farms that pollute water systems. There is reduced mechanical weeding that prevents the loss of topsoil. “The GMO panel regularly reviews the available publications on food allergy to cottonseed.” (Naegeli H, 2017) Using cottonseed can help reduce the risks of cardiovascular disease. Cottonseed can improve your blood pressure and reduce heart problems. Many people take health very seriously and are willing to spend more on eating healthy. Eating healthy doesn’t necessarily cost more, people just need to know how to shop. “Monsanto produced most of its caffeine from what was called ‘waste tea leaves’ – broken and damaged tea leaves that we unwanted by tea traders.” (ELMORE, 2018) Monsanto recycled waste and took out the caffeine. Tea has caffeine within it, but it is healthy caffeine. The caffeine in tea can detox your body, whereas coffee can raise your blood pressure. “The GMO Panel assessed all the scientific publications selected by the consent holder and considers that these were adequately discussed and up into the context of the overall safety assessment of maize.” The outcome of the testing on the GMO Panels was inclusive. Meaning the Panel didn’t contain any food, safety, or environmental concerns. GM crops are more profitable where there are increased costs of seeds that are offset from the farmer’s producing a better crop which has incest resistance and decreases diseases.

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Management of Harm to Plants and Animals

The moral and safety of Monsanto's implications of GM foods are a huge concern to the stakeholders. Monsanto’s primary focus is to be able to regulate its system smoothly. Monsanto does this by evaluating and handling any risks of harmful products and activities. With this being the primary goal for Monsanto, the public can gain their trust with good quality products. This has high importance for the market. “However, time put everything into perspective. Slowly, authorities, the industry, and stakeholders are coming to understand the strong interaction between biotech and chemical.” (Varela, 2016) Monsanto along with others dealt with legal issues regarding practices down within the business. Like any other business, everyone comes upon many concerns or problems. The only way businesses grow is by learning from the mistakes made in life. The more mistakes made the more we learn from the mistake that was made. “Monsanto company has developed insect-protected cotton event MON 88702, which produces a modified BtCry51Aa2 insecticidal crystal protein that protects against feeding damage caused by certain hemipteran and Thysanoptera an insect pest in cotton.” (Bachman, 2017) This was a protein that was put on the plants to prevent insects from destroying the plants. After putting the protein on the plants, it not only protected the plants but made the plants safe to eat. The first GE food animal to be profit-oriented is salmon. The GE animals are new and are still being researched. With the salmon, they noticed it grew faster. The Food and Drug Administration is currently working on other animals for this testing. The benefits of genetic engineering increasing health, growing food production, and reducing environmental impact. Which all leads to a healthier lifestyle for humans and animals.

Biblical Concept

The verse I find that is fitting for this case assignment on Ethical Decision Making and Cases is Isaiah 17:11(NIV). “Though on the day you set them out, you make them grow, and on the morning when you plant them, you bring them to bud, yet the harvest will be as nothing in the day of disease and incurable plan.” (BibleGateway, 2019) The reason this verse was chosen was because this is how our life is. Life is taken one day at a time. Challenges are faced such as blocks in the road. We must keep going when that block is reached. Think of a way to solve the problem and continue. As in this verse talks about, the day the seed is planted, growth is expected right away leaving disappointment when nothing is there. Plants take time to grow leading to perfectionism, just as life. Goals and purposes are not given to us, research is required to have goals and purposes.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this case study ‘Monsanto Attempts to Balance Stakeholder Interests’ is about genetically modified. The Monsanto Company tries to show that being genetically modified is a better way of life. The healthier companies get the world will turn around and look at the positive outcome of genetically modified. The efficacy of Monsanto’s Ethical Culture: is being able to have other people believe in the product that your company is producing. Once Monsanto can convince the business or person to believe in the business, the faster your business will grow. Ethical Culture is about the respect each person is given and the trust. Cost and Benefit of Growing GMO Seed: this can be costly but the benefits in the outcome are great. The cost of a cottonseed with protein on it costs more than a plain seed. The Benefit of a more cost-effective seed is that there is no incest on the plants. The plants are healthier for both people and animals. Management of Harm to Plants and Animals: there is no harm being done to either plants or animals. The food and safety department has done many tests on the plants to make sure that they are not harmful. Genetic engineering is still being tested on animals, but so far have been successful. Overall people and animals will be able to live longer and healthier lives.

References

1. Bachman, P. M. (2017). Characterization of the Activity Spectrum of MON 88702 and the Plant-Incorporated Protectant Cry51Aa2.834_16. PLoS ONE, 12(1), e0169409. Retrieved February 8, 2019, from http://link.galegroup.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/apps/doc/A477004687/AONE?u=vic_liberty&sid=AONE&xid=6d0e1518
2. BibleGateway. (2019, February 6). Retrieved from https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isa+17%3A11&version=NIV
3. Charleboisa, S., & Van Ackerb, R. (2016). In the belly of the “beast”: A look at Monsanto’s public engagement awakening. Science Direct, 42(1), 223-225. Retrieved February 8, 2019, from https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2015.09.005
4. ELMORE, B. (2018). The Commercial Ecology of Scavenger Capitalism: Monsanto, Fossil Fuels, and the Remaking of a Chemical Giant. Enterprise & Society, 19(1), 153–178. doi: 10.1017/eso.2017.22
5. Ferrell, O. C. (2017). Business ethics. Boston, MA, USA: Cengage Learning.
6. Knowles, L. (2001). Bridging the (Agri)Cultural Divide: Public Perceptions of Agricultural Biotechnology in Europe and North America. Food Safety, Food Quality and Food Ethics, 67-73. doi:10.1.1.472.3810
7. Naegeli H, B. A.‐M. (2017). Scientific opinion on an application by Monsanto (EFSA‐GMO‐NL‐2013‐114) for the placing on the market of a herbicide‐tolerant genetically modified cotton MON 88701 for food and feed uses, import and processing under Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003. EFSA Journal, 15(3), 4746, 20 pp. doi:10.2903/j.efsa.2017.4746
8. Varela, J. C. (2016). Will chemical packages be the only future for biotechnology? why the Bayer-Monsanto merger could be a good opportunity to put things in the right place. European Journal of Risk Regulation, 7(4), 782-783. Retrieved February 8, 2019, from http://ezproxy.liberty.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/docview/1863563673?accountid=12085