In Our Backyard (A Monsanto Introspective) (2009)

1

The focus of the piece is on a small village just east of St. Louis known as Sauget. Years ago this tiny area was incorporated as Monsanto.

For those who remain unaware Monsanto Company was one of the leading chemical producers of the twentieth century and has been responsible for producing chemicals like DDT, an insecticide known to be carcinogenic. Agent Orange, a dioxin riddled chemical used as a defoliant in the Vietnam war. Still to this day in Vietnam we can see horrible genetic mutations, horrid skin conditions, and cancers attributed to the effects of Agent Orange. Also, Bovine Growth Hormones, which Monsanto continuously tries to keep under wraps, due to the fact it makes cows sick, thus their bacteria and the antibiotics they are pumped full of go right back into American milk. As a result BGH has been banned in Europe and Canada.

Today Monsanto is an agricultural biotechnology company that is known for their genetically altering and patenting of various seed varieties, which are injected with a protein in order make the plants resistant to Roundup Weed Killer, one of Monsanto's best selling products.

Solutia is currently Monsanto's chemical division, a subsidiary made years ago when the Monsanto name became tainted. Monsanto and Solutia have received an array of negative publicity, and we must question why. We also must question what good has Monsanto Company done for this world?

There are two toxic dumping sites in Sauget known as superfund sites, in which Monsanto and Solutia have been found directly attributed to.

While filming Solutia company my crew and I nearly got arrested while on public property, and were coerced into surrendering our ID's only to be placed on a FBI domestic terrorist watch list.

It's important to question what exactly Monsanto and Solutia are afraid of. This film is only a brief introduction into the atrocities occurring at the hands of Monsanto in the areas surrounding St. Louis, and the world.

Trending Videos
Why You Can't Ignore This Far-Right Trend
25 min - In this video, I look at the rise of fossil fascism and ecofascism on the far right. As the world gets warmer and fossil fuels become increasingly untenable there are now glimpses of two trends...
6 Black Men vs 1 Secret White Guy
20 min - WHO IS JUBILEE? We believe in the power of empathy for human good. Ultimately, we aim to inspire people to EMBRACE EMPATHY.
Our Obsession with Economic Growth is Deadly
26 min - We are surrounded by stuff. We buy and buy and buy - it’s the foundation of how our economies run, how they grow. But all this buying, all this economic "growing", is devastating people and our...
TraumaZone (2022)
350 min - An epic documentary by British director Adam Curtis illustrating in seven parts state and decline of the Soviet Union and the development in Russia 1985–1999 using material from the BBC archives.
Emotional Literacy
Patriarchy and the Love We Deserve
Solidarity Theory
Recommended

Films For Action hosts a subscription service that currently offers 55 highly-curated, solutions-oriented feature documentaries to Patron subscribers donating $5 per month. 

Subscribe here. Your support helps grow our 5000+ video library, which is 99% free and contains no ads thanks to our patrons.