Seed Money: Monsanto's Past and Our Food Future

by Bartow J. Elmore

Winner of the 2022 IACP Award for Food Issues and Matters
Finalist for the 2022 George Perkins Marsh Prize
Finalist for the 2022 Hagley Prize in Business History

An authoritative and eye-opening history that examines how Monsanto came to have outsized influence over our food system. Monsanto, a St. Louis chemical firm that became the world’s largest maker of genetically engineered seeds, merged with German pharma-biotech giant Bayer in 2018―but its Roundup Ready® seeds, introduced twenty-five years ago, are still reshaping the farms that feed us. When researchers found trace amounts of the firm’s blockbuster herbicide in breakfast cereal bowls, Monsanto faced public outcry. Award-winning historian Bartow J. Elmore shows how the Roundup story is just one of the troubling threads of Monsanto’s past, many told here and woven together for the first time. A company employee sitting on potentially explosive information who weighs risking everything to tell his story. A town whose residents are urged to avoid their basements because Monsanto’s radioactive waste laces their homes’ foundations. Factory workers who peel off layers of their skin before accepting cash bonuses to continue dirty jobs. An executive wrestling with the ethics of selling a profitable product he knew was toxic. Incorporating global fieldwork, interviews with company employees, and untapped corporate and government records, Elmore traces Monsanto’s astounding evolution from a scrappy chemical startup to a global agribusiness powerhouse. Monsanto used seed money derived from toxic products―including PCBs and Agent Orange―to build an agricultural empire, promising endless bounty through its genetically engineered technology. Skyrocketing sales of Monsanto’s new Roundup Ready system stunned even those in the seed trade, who marveled at the influx of cash and lavish incentives into their sleepy sector. But as new data emerges about the Roundup system, and as Bayer faces a tide of lawsuits over Monsanto products past and present, Elmore’s urgent history shows how our food future is still very much tethered to the company’s chemical past. 10 illustrations

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Food, Business, History, Economics, Audiobook

400 pages, Hardcover

Published October 12, 2021

About the author

Bartow J. Elmore, an Atlanta native, grew up drinking Coke. He now teaches history at the University of Alabama.

Also writes as Bart Elmore.

Reviews

[Tristan Eagling · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seed money is the second book I’ve read on Monsanto, the first was The World According to Monsanto: Pollution, Corruption, and the Control of the World's Food Supply. This book is better in that it takes a more balanced view of genetic engineering and is more readable in places. It does however completely omit Monsanto’s Foray into Bovine Growth Hormone,but I suspect this was a deliberate choice given the book's title.

It’s probably the best book on Monsanto (now owned by Bayer), but despite the blurb it doesn’t add much to what’s already been written. If you’ve already read the The World According to Monsanto: Pollution, Corruption, and the Control of the World's Food Supply you can give this one a miss.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Summary: This was an incredible look at how the history of a powerful corporation shaped the world we live in today.

I recently read  The Monsanto Papers , a book that primarily focused on the first court case to result in a judgement against Monsanto for selling the carcinogenic herbicide RoundUp. This broader history of Monsanto was a very complementary read. It takes a bigger picture look at the history of the company. We follow the story of Monsanto from founding to acquisition by Bayer. In-between, there's a whole bunch of making chemicals that are useful, but harmful to both humans and the environment. Also lots of shady behavior trying to conceal the harmful bits.

Unsurprisingly, this has many of the same strengths as The Monsanto Papers. It was at least as well written, featuring many individuals who ran Monsanto, worked at Monsanto, or were harmed by Monsanto. These people stories make it easy to get invested in Monsanto's history. The story does also have a true crime element. We learn about several court cases brought against Monsanto following their attempts to hide the harm caused by their products. Unlike in The Monsanto Papers, this isn't a victory lap. The court cases are a mixed bag, with plaintiffs winning some cases and losing others. What was common to both books is that it's clear our court system isn't set up to properly punish corporations or compensate people they harm. Even when found guilty of tremendous harm, Monsanto had to pay amounts that were negligible for the company. When divided among plaintiffs, this translated to amounts that probably weren't life-changing for the plaintiffs either.

Something I enjoyed about this book slightly more than The Monsanto Papers was the amount of context the book provided. It was fascinating to see how Monsanto evolved with current events and regulation. It was horrifying to see that the value of profit above all else was baked into the company's strategy from the start. The personal details were less the focus as a result, but I thought it was a good trade-off. The balance of the different elements here was perfect for me. If you're only going to pick up this or The Monsanto Papers, personally I'd pick this one, but I do highly recommend both.This review was originally posted on Doing Dewey

[Margie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely infuriating. I come away hating Monsanto even more than I had previously, which is saying something. Decades of refusing to accept responsibility for poisoning workers in their chemical plants, poisoning people with their Agent Orange, for cleaning up Superfund sites, and for creating dependence amongst farmers on toxic herbicides are all presented clearly yet without judgement. An easy read because it's very well-written, but damning. Highly recommended.

[Mark Dalton · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book is very well written and researched. It gives a very detailed history on Monsanto and it’s troubles throughout it’s existence. It’s incredible how much harm a Company can inflict on civilization and face no retribution. It’s interesting to me that Company’s are viewed almost as their own individual however the individuals running the Company’s also face few consequences. It also makes you wonder how has the legal system not changed to allow for Corporations to abuse the system to stall cases to force plaintiffs to drop cases due to lack of funds. There are a lot of issues raised by this book, but it does an incredible job shining the light on those victims and their supporters who fought for change against a major corporation to solve major issues lurking in society’s issues but impact all of us. I would definitely recommend this book.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fascinating book! Elmore chronicles Monsanto's history clearly, exhaustively, and in a compelling way. I was dogearing pages the whole way through. Short version of the story - Monsanto has made a lot of really bad chemicals for a really long time. When workers or people who lived near their factories began presenting with physical ailments, Monsanta played dumb and denied responsibility. Their blockbuster invention was Roundup (glyphosphate), which was sold to farmers as a way to increase yields and decrease their reliance on multiple chemicals to keep their crop fields clean. This was short-sighted, though, as it really resulted in lower yields and problems with Roundup resistant weeds. Monsanto pivots to create seeds - Roundup Ready - that can withstand the application of glyphosate indiscriminately. This allows farmers to spray Roundup directly on the crops without harming them. However, when the fields are sprayed - usually with giant commercial sprayers, as we're talking about large farms - the glyphosate drifts to neighboring farms and can kill their crops if they're not using Roundup Ready seeds. Also, farmers have to pay $$$ for these Roundup Ready seeds and can't reuse them from year to year like is usually done. Monsanto finally gets taken to court and loses, and now owes $11B in damages. Bayer bought Monsanto a few years back, so they're the ones who get to stroke that check.

I read this one concurrently with "Empire of Pain" about the Sackler family and Oxycontin and the similarities are very interesting - same story (almost), different chemical.

Also, some "fun" facts:
* The German chemical firms of Bayer, BASF, and Hoescht were temporarily combined into a cartel called I.G. Farben during WWII and produced many chemicals for the war effort, most notably Zyklon B used at Auschwitz and other concentration camps.
* Monsanto was the largest supplier by volume of Agent Orange for the US military, delivering nearly 30% used during the 60s. The Agent Orange used overseas averaged 13x the recommended concentration of 2, 4, 5-T used in the US
* Earth Day was born of an environmental national teach-in day led by a college professor in Wisconsin after the havoc wreaked by industrial companies (including Monsanto) that led to the Cuyahoga River catching on fire twice (!) among other disasters.
* Glyphosate was originally invented by a chemist trying to use up phosphate stores after they came under attack from the environmental damage they were causing.
* Initially, Roundup was super effective! Farmers usage of glyphosate increased 1600% between 1994 and 2014. By 2014, 94% of all soybeans and 91% of all corn seeds sold in the US were genetically engineered to be glyphosate resistant, up from 0% in 1995 for both commodities. Total herbicide use declined about 15% between 1996 and 2003.
* The patent on Roundup expired in 2000. The company decided to lower the price point of Roundup
to discourage competitors for making a big play in the space while simultaneously increasing sales due to the lower price. The company drove prices from $44/gallon in 1997 to $28/gallon in 2001.

[Greg Hershman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book felt rushed. 280 pages of text. We spent 100+ on the history of Monsanto and Queeny trying desperately to get German materials to make sugar. Boring. What was interesting were the legal cases against modern Monsanto - the attorney who has an entire floor of an office building, no walls, just boxes and his singular desk. Yes, follow this mad lad forever! OR we start with in depth explanation of how the Limbaugh family is local royalty in a town just south of Monsantos HQ. Rush’s cousin is a judge in a Monsanto case. Epic! But we don’t hear about that again for +200 pages until page 275. The most interesting things - all of these legacy issues coming home to roost, don’t get enough exposition. The last 20 pages feel like a desperate attempt to do this, summarize the last 10 years, explain the chaos that is CURRENTLY going on in this space, and then get the book to print.

Maybe I’m being overly harsh, but there is so much current intrigue here the author could’ve spent 50 more pages on that, made me feel like I have a genuine grasp on it - other than a few towns and cases and “everyone suing” - so I can follow along going forward. I’d be hooked on his blog for life. Just a missed opportunity.

Maybe it was an editing issue. More chapters. Chapter titles are the court case or town. Rather than these *** for breaks. It all got muddled. For example, this sentence: “But Donald Stewart, like Stuart Calwell in the Nitro case, was going nowhere” (p200). Stew Stuart who now huh?

[Sam Fleagle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good quick history of Monsanto and their impact on genetic engineering, the chemical industry, and the lasting impacts on farming and the environment. The swindle of repaying Vietnamese people for the damages caused by Agent Orange with Monsanto/Round Up seeds is absolutely vile

[jillian krinsky:) · Rating 4 out of 5]

monsanto book done! lots of hard words aka new great words for me. this book has 100+ pages of references and is a true research wonder—everyone needs to read fr.

[nas jab · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn’t finish this book. Not because it was not great in terms of the details or well researched but simply because Monsanto has been using tactics that I have research enough to kill any investigation about their products and evilness. One story stuck with me was how they sued the employees who were hurt for legal fees and took liens on their homes. That’s evil shit

Also interestingly enough. The founders sons echos the same racism we hear today about immigrants and the eco cide in Vietnam was definitely a hair rising read

Boom should be made into a documentary

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well researched. While the author wanted this book to be a condemnation of Monsanto, all giant corporations take advantage of consumers, so I just couldn’t get worked into stage against Monsanto. The major issue seemed to be Monsanto’s unwillingness to properly dispose of phosphate slag, a byproduct of making RoundUp. These chemicals had been improperly disposed of in multiple communities in the US, and folks are still dealing with the aftermath. From what I could tell, RoundUp has never been scientifically proven to be harmful to humans. The question is still out there. My main takeaways were:
1. If you think the government is our savior and should solve these problems (overuse of pesticides, seed monopolies, dicamba drift; environmental clean up) (which I felt the author kept focusing on govt as our source of help for each issue) you’ll be waiting a long time. They cannot and will not help average citizens fight a corporate giant like Monsanto. The govt is just as corrupt as big corporations.
2. If you try to play god by manipulating science in immoral ways for personal fame or profit motivation, there will be negative consequences. We do not have control over the things we can make in a lab, and nature will fight back. (this is why the novel Frankenstein is required reading; see also Wuhan lab)
Interesting book. A little tough to read since some reads like a textbook, but glad I did.

[Katy Nimmons · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started this book knowing nothing about the history of Monsanto, and now I can talk in broad sketches about the business' history, its profit model, and relationship to GMO foods and farming. Elmore rightfully calls out corporate misdeeds and criminal activities (i.e., poisoning people and the environment). The book also presents the promises of genetic engineering for agricultural production, and then outlines how Monsanto has failed to delivered on that potential. I felt super Midwestern reading this.

[Daniel Haas · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you are interested in the history of Monsanto then this is a good book for you. Pretty unbelievable how this company escaped so much legal liability over the years but I guess not surprising. I would have liked to have learned more about what went into Bayer’s acquisition of Monsanto, it seemed like this was covered pretty light at the end of the book.

[Lisa Wells · Rating 1 out of 5]

It was an accidental purchase and just too detailed for me. Made it 10 hours in before I wanted to commit suicide and quit for my mental health

[Jeremy Garber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bart Elmore, associate professor of history and environmentalism at The Ohio State University, provides a level-headed, painstakingly researched, and searingly devastating indictment of Monsanto's search for profit at the expense of farmers and the global public's health. Elmore provides hundreds of pages of proof through Monsanto's own documents, interviews, and archives. He traces the global giant's origins in the American search for local alternatives to the German dominance of the newly burgeoning chemical industry - an especially ironic birth given main rival Bayer's purchase of Monsanto in 2019.

From its beginning, Monsanto was a sales company that accidentally happened to sell chemicals, with few knowledgeable scientists on board. They sold caffeine to Coca-Cola and phosphates mined from radioactive ore for fertilizer and sodas. The founder's son, Edgar Queeny, was a devoted disciple of Ayn Rand and capitalist individualism against ordinary people. Under his leadership, Monsanto moved into chemical fertilizers that caused vicious skin growths ("chloracne") and cancer in its low-paid (often black) employees. When the coal tar petroleum byproducts that fed its chemicals began to run out, Monsanto switched to weedkillers for American farms and lawns that also happened to be the main ingredients in Agent Orange, sprayed on Vietnamese farmers and American GIs alike. It then moved to genetic engineering, producing modified foods that could not reproduce themselves and had to be purchased every year from Monsanto. These golden promises of ease and crop yield empirically produced no additional yield, but plenty of Roundup-resistant weeds. So Monsanto turned back to dicambin, the very chloracne producing pesticide of the 1950s - and is marketing it all over the globe today.

Defenders (and even critics) of global capitalism often say, "Corporations aren't evil. They're just trying to make money." It is far past time to question whether the motive to just make money, especially for publicly traded corporations, is itself an immoral and evil motive. Elmore is careful not to make this claim broadly, but I'm not afraid to. His history does show that when we are more interesting in making money than caring for humans, animals, and the earth, death, ruin, lying and greed inevitably follow. As well as a host of problems of which we are only now becoming dimly and grimly aware.

[Yanis · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the vein of the excellent "Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty" by Patrick Radden Keefe, Bartow J. Elmore in "Seed Money," offers us a detailed chronicle of the economic development and tumultuous journey of the American giant Monsanto. Initially a modest local chemical enterprise situated on the banks of the Mississippi River at the turn of the 20th century, Monsanto has evolved into a global agrochemical multinational. Throughout this book, the vicissitudes of Monsanto and its leaders (and workers) emerge as the crucial element for understanding the intricacies of the purported current fourth agricultural revolution.

This meticulous journalistic inquiry, grounded in archival resources, internal memos, and interviews, serves to highlights the capitalist logic, inherently present in every business but taken to its extremes here. Since its inception, and even to this day, the company has continually navigated between ecological disasters and legal battles, predominantly confronting American rural communities. The logic of maximizing short-term profits, pushed to the extreme, has often led the company to neglect the dramatic consequences of its entrepreneurial choices and strategies. However, this logic began haunting Monsanto in the 1970s, at the dawn of environmental awareness, and more markedly since the 2000s, resulting in multiple financial settlements reaching hundreds of millions of dollars.

The term "controversy" today best encapsulates this company that, over a century, has completely transformed our food production systems, mostly to their detriment. The investigation reveals that the fundamental motivation behind Monsanto's practices and decisions over the years has been the (diabolical) desire to create a problem, often through lies, lobbying, and marketing, to later make farmers dependent on their "innovations" and sell them not just one solution but several, often ineffective in the medium and long term.

This is the essence of Monsanto's Roundup Ready seed system, and it is crucial, in these times, to unravel its mechanisms and impacts on the foods we consume daily and on our planet. Understanding how we have come to an era where many farmers and consumers worldwide feel compelled to buy "solutions" from the same company that contributed to creating the problems they now struggle to resolve constitutes the core of this complex and controversial history.

[Pat Druid · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like many people, I had formed an idea that Monsanto was not a benevolent corporation. I had half-understood news stories about them and their terminator technology stopping farmers saving seeds, etc... This book gave me a much more detailed understanding of how this corporation has damaged and continues to damage both the health of individuals and the ecology of the planet. It's intelligent, avoiding easy outrage in favour of clear and detailed explanations. It will debunk some of what you think you know about Monsanto and replace it with facts which are actually even more shocking. To borrow a phrase from Hannah Arendt, "the banality of evil" is staggering, as the business proceedings of this company, which have led to horrible environmental impacts, are set forth clearly and without hysteria.
This is a necessary book. The more people read it, the more Monsanto will understand it's time to change their ways because WE ARE ON TO THEM!

[Antoni Heba · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book about a subject I was ignorant about.

Learned about how Monsanto successfully mastered organic chemistry, petrochemistry, and finally biotechnology. It constantly reinvented itself, gaining power and revenue in the process. Its product range through history included: saccharin, caffeine, chlorine, rubber, plastics, war gases, PCBs, DDT, chlorinated herbicides, phosphates, jungle-killer agent orange (the biggest producer), and of course the one and only glyphosate, followed by an array of GE crops that go with it.

Also discovered the ugly side of Monsanto. A company that has disseminated a lot of highly-profitable, useful, and at the same time deadly poisons. It has polluted the environment at a huge scale, while at the same time pretending they all is unharmful and "sell[ing] the hell out of them as long as we can", as written by one of its employees. And yet its products, now under Bayer's logo, are pervasive in today's agriculture. It's the largest seed seller in the world.

[Natalya Delsante · Rating 4 out of 5]

Certainly an interesting read! I would agree that these larger agricultural companies seem to create problems only to complicate farming techniques and label it as development. It was also jarring that Monsanto paid their way into mislead statistics to cover the damages of production and usage of their products. I wish this book had spoken more about our "food futures". Are these technological developments, such as precision agriculture, just bandaids to a greater systemic problem? To what extent should we consider these companies to have sustainability in mind if it is not as economically viable? Also made me think of how we are on the precipice of a huge land transfer with an aging farmer population- I think this could be relevant in thinking about the influence of these companies.

[Tia Lawrence · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating book on the history of Monsanto, up until the present day. I had vaguely known about the production of Agent Orange in Vietnam, but had no idea how far reaching the chemical consequences were, even domestically. Also interesting to compare this authors perspective on Roundup Ready Xtend / current genetic engineering and weed resistance to what I've heard in schools. Makes me question a lot of things about the relationship between academia, industry, and extension.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Readable/listenable book. I liked the aspect of American history telling of a man with a vision “ pulling himself up by his bootstraps”. However, same man created a company that prioritized profit over safety and although the products changed the world, it’s unclear if for the better. What can be said is the chemical industry is in every part of our modern life. Shows how the American government favors big businesses. A bit long, but good.

[Terzah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This business history chronicles chemical giant Monsanto's rise from humble chemical enterprise to the powerful conglomerate it's known as today. It documents lawsuits centering on worker health that date back decades as well as better-known EPA investigations. The main theme is how (as with many companies) the profit motive trumped everything else.

[Giulio Gilardi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very thorough research project. Elmore dives into Monsanto’s history and the externalities that its chemical operations have produced over the years.
Although it’s an interesting read, it reads more like a research project, than a history book (it talks extensively about many chemicals and their effects, which could feel dry). If you’re ok with that, then it’s going to be a fun read.

[Taina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally, a nuanced and scientifically sound conversation of genetic engineering technology that clearly aims at "Well, wtf do we do now?" instead of idealizing a past or overindulging in granola. Fascinating history, scary too in ways that are far more human and recognizable, also in ourselves (greed, individualism, etc), than the often used MonSatan tropes.

[Mackynzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

appreciated the extensive research of Monsanto’s history. a book of this nature is risk because you never know if it will drag on and become boring or overkill. This was so well written that I was captivated for the entirety of the book. Such a relevant and important issue that we all need to become more aware of!

[Benjamin Pierce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-researched and written, I was glued to this book and got through it in a weekend. Would have been 5 stars, but going into this book I kind of knew how things would go; after all, we're talking about a 100 year old chemical company turned GMO company, so not the same kind of shock and surprise that you'd get from a book like Bad Blood (Theranos).

[Kristine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't often rate non-fiction as I don't think reducing it to a scale ultimately about enjoyment makes any sense. But this is unquestionably the best non-fiction book I've read in some time. Unrelatedly, I hated the experience of reading it and had to pause every 30 minutes of the audiobook or so to scream.

[Elena · Rating 4 out of 5]

What you thought about Monsanto chemical company was true

The book was good, but the message more than confirmed my belief (as an organic gardener) that much evil has come as the result of this one company. It was not shocking to read that all this came from greed.

[Lisa Sundeen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing work by Bartow Elmore, revealing the important history of one of the most influential companies in history. Might not recommend audiobook as the author discusses quite a bit of technical background (chemical names, laws, etc). Overall, very grateful for this research!

[Matthew Nelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good read, coming from a Monsanto employee.

That said, Bartow is other willfully ignorant of some basics of agriculture or is just naturally ignorant. To suggest the GE Revolution is a scheme to sell chemicals is misguided at best and downright insidious at worst.

[Ted Haussman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent account of the history on Monsanto, how it’s toxic game changing chemicals came back to haunt the company, the panacea that Monsanto peddled about the GE revolution was ephemeral, and the tragic consequences of its chemicals. Balanced and well researched. Very informative.