The story of how I came to be touring Monsanto starts back in late April and a blog post where I questioned the current tenor of the GMO debate. It caught the attention of Janice Person, a Social Media Director for Monsanto, who commented, “if you ever want to see what we do at Monsanto, I would love to arrange a visit.” As luck would have it, I passed through St. Louis on the first of August, and Janice was true to her word, arranging for a personal guided tour of their research facility.
It’s probably fair to say that both Janice and I experienced some trepidation as the date approached. Having completed Ontario’s Advanced Agricultural Leadership Program with existing and future employees of Monsanto, I didn’t see Monsanto as the devil incarnate, but I certainly wasn’t above criticizing them, and I do have a history of butting heads with certain of their employees. On the other hand, Janice and I had interacted over Twitter with civility, and in the weeks leading up to the visit, it seemed I was mostly raising ire from the radical anti-GMO side for refusing to buy into their fear-mongering.
I’d say that I arrived open-minded but skeptical. I expected that we’d be coming from radically different perspectives, and I was prepared to listen to theirs (how else could I expect anyone to listen to mine?). I was also prepared for the “hard sell” — lots of promotional propaganda. What I ended up getting was quite different, and four months later, I’m still digesting it.
…To hear the rest of the story, check out my guest post on RealAgriculture.com!
The Fanning Mill 
Helen McMenamin
December 13, 2013
Great piece, glad you enjoyed your visit to Monsanto. I first met Monsanto senior people in early ’90s, as they made their big change. They called it “becoming a life company,” and they were thrilled to be leading a company that aligned with their values.
Re different outlook and focus on soil health among organic farmers. In western Canada, Monsanto has played a huge part in reducing erosion, that used to be a serious problem for people on the roads etc, and hugely increasing farmers’ attention to and interest in soil health. At the same time, farmers have increased yields, efficiency and returns. Technology and soil health, agronomy, husbandry can all be integrated.
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