Making It in America: The Almost Impossible Quest to Manufacture in the U.S.A. (And How It Got That Way)

by Rachel Slade

With 88 percent of Indian farmers hooked on the GM seeds, Monsanto now collects more than $200 million from them for seeds and pesticides each year. When advocates for India’s farmers claimed that Monsanto’s seed patents violated Indian law, the company went straight to the WTO, which ruled in favor of the multinational. Over a few generations, the GM seeds in India lost their resistance to pink bollworm, which led to poor yields and higher pesticide use. Some advocates claim that the seeds may also have caused widespread livestock death. Countless Indians incurred astronomical debt and loss of livelihood, which, as of 2019, has been linked to an estimated 300,000 farmer suicides in the country. Farmer suicides in the U.S. have also gone up 40 percent in less than two decades, a phenomenon linked to mounting debt, social isolation, and climate change.