Brazil goes GMO

Legislators gave the green light to a bill that will allow Brazil's soybean farmers to legally plant genetically modified crops. The black market in GMO seeds has been vibrant, as some 20 percent of farmland in Brazil already grows smuggled seeds from Argentina. The decision to push legal GMO crops opens up yet another market for Monsanto's "Roundup-ready" seeds, which are high-yield and can withstand heavy doses of the company's herbicide, Roundup.

(For company literature on Roundup, look here; for EPA reports on the health effects of glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, look here. For a complete history of Monsanto's influence and increasing control of global agriculture, check out Mindfully.org's Monsanto page.)

The company is already fast at work. Monsanto's subsidiary in Brazil plans to invest more than $20 million to develop technology that will make Bt soybeans (soybeans with genes that fight off certain predatory insects) even more bug-resistant.