Monsanto was given the classic Italian boot this week when three Italian ministers moved to altogether ban GMO [genetically modified organisms] seeds and GE [genetically engineered] products in Italy.
There is little love for GMOs in Italy or the European Union, for that matter. Only two GMO crops have been approved by the EU. And the public push-back has been fierce, prompting EU governments to force the hand of U.S. State Department GMO-pandering officials by implementing their own national GMO bans, specifically against chemical giants Monsanto and BASF. This has had the effect of forcing Monsanto to pull its GMO market from some EU countries.
In Italy, historically strong public-backed agricultural clout has resulted in the ban of all Monsanto and BASF GMO seeds and products with one exception, the corn GMO Mon810 maize. Now it too is threatened with extinction if the Italian measure is approved by the EU's watchdog European Food and Safety Authority.
To gauge public sentiment in Italy, we tuned into NetBase for our social media barometric case study. NetBase offers analysis of the emotional trend and public sentiment on the issue in Italian social media.
And just what are the Italians venting about online?
Monsanto and their lack of transparency. Italians feel tricked by the company, and are vocal in their stance against eating GMO products:
"Monsanto is the one who should be arrested and tried, because it wants people to buy their garbage without knowing what they are eating. Who would buy GM food if it was labeled as such?"
"Italy exports almost everything. In Europe and in the world people don't want GMO products. What convenience is there in producing something that people then don't want to buy?"
"Does anyone remember that many 'scientists' who said that the greenhouse effect didn't exist, that it wasn't provable, were paid directly or indirectly by multinational oil companies? And we continue to trust the 'proof' that companies like Monsanto provide to show the goodness of their products??? A proverb says: 'Don't ask the landlord if the wine is good.'"
As I have blogged in recent months, the GMO and Monsanto issue is a global controversy spurred largely by global netizens conjoined by kindred interests in food safety and environmental protection. An ironic twist in Italy's Monsanto ban is the boon to U.S. consumers, who constitute a huge Italian consumables market-U.S. imports from Italy overall last year totaled nearly $37 billion, 25% of which ($4.1 billion) are agricultural products, according to U.S. Department of Commerce statistics. Americans may now be able to find more non-GMO products on the shelves, even if their U.S.-manufactured counterparts still contain GMOs.
Even Italians who take a more neutral stance on whether GMOs should be allowed still lean towards non-modified foods:
"When GMOs are declared, don't we have a brain in our head to choose them or not? Even in the supermarket it's better to get seasonal stuff-clearly tomatoes are imported now and taste like nothing."
The uproar regarding Monsanto and GMOs has opened up the discussion of food and ethics among Italians. Now there are questions not just about the use of GMOs but also energy, labor, and the environment, as shown in our NetBase brands and industry category word cloud.
"In fact, it's necessary to be self-regulating. I'm not biased against GMOs, but I certainly have not enjoyed cooking a steak that reduces to half in the pan. [CANDIDA-does steak shrinkage have something to do with gmos?] I try to eat the healthiest food possible and I try to pay attention to what comes from the exploitation of human labor. (After all, many so-called environmentalists frequently forget who is gathering those nice Italian tomatoes)."
"You must calculate the total energy expenditure per unit of weight of produced food. And GMOs, from this point of view, are disastrous. "
Meanwhile, the story continues indefatigably in the Italian twitterverse:
It behooves food manufacturers, agricultural concerns, as well as local, state and federal officials to heed what the consuming and voting public are saying. In a world of transparency afforded by social media, information and opinions are spread in real time and can be quantified on social intelligence platforms like NetBase.
The scientific test results and associated health risks of GMO products cannot be cloaked forever in the dark secrecy of Monsanto's seed silos. Thanks to the global netisphere, the truth will see daylight soon enough.