Where free trade of seeds once existed, there are now patented seeds. Where diverse crops which nourished the soil once flourished, monocrops have sprung up, rendering fields barren and incapable of sustaining future harvests. All of this has occurred under the guise of the ‘Green Revolution’, the saviour that will increase crop yields, and lower prices. This revolution will feed the world, or so we are led to believe.
Meet Monsanto, a multinational agricultural and biotechnology corporation that is one of the five distributers of seeds to the world. Sitting at the top of the seed industry they wield unbelievable power and control as the first link in the food chain. A power they employ daily to propagate and foster myths they use to create public support for their products and goals.
In 2013 the theme for Memefest was Food Democracy. Welcome To Monsanto was my entry into this festival, and saw my work shortlisted and curated.
On the Monsanto website there is a corporate video that presents Monsanto as a humanitarian company that will solve the world’s problems. The reality however is quite the opposite.
The video presentation explains how crowded the earth is getting, and how a new way of growing food is needed. It explains that the Earth is alive and that we need to respect and nurture it. Several cuts to stock images of men, women, and children of varying ethnicity are shown as tired and without hope. Enter Monsanto. The music builds, and the viewer is given a list of ways that Monsanto is going to make everything okay. They boast success in increasing crop yield, reducing the amount of land, water and energy required, and in improving the lives of everyone in the process. The video ends with the Monsanto logo and their tagline of ‘Producing more. Conserving More. Improving Lives.’
This emotionally charged video which is dripping in myth, needs to be corrected. In response a remix of this corporate video was created and distributed. The video portion remained untouched, but a new voiceover was recorded—one that unapologetically speaks the truth. Where the original video’s audience was the citizens of the western world, the new video’s audience spreads across the globe. It presents the facts proudly, and confidently with a personification of the arrogance Monsanto directs to the world every day.
The video will be uploaded to several video hosting sites and spread through several social medias. Each instance will link back to a customised website, bearing the same title as the entire campaign: Welcome to Monsanto. On the website users will find background information on the issue, an explanation of the imaginary futures the campaign aspires to achieve, the remixed video itself, and most importantly the ability to remix the video themselves.
Photos by Tammy Law and George Cassavetis
