Food and Life: The World According to Monsanto

Director: Marie-Monique Robin
Cast: David Baker, Ken Cook, David Carpenter
France, 109’, 2008, color
French with Turkish subtitles

Monsanto is the world leader in genetically modified organisms (GMOs), as well as one of the most controversial corporations in industrial history. This century-old empire has created some of the most toxic products ever sold, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and the herbicide Agent Orange. Based on a painstaking investigation, The World According to Monsanto puts together the pieces of the company’s history, calling on hitherto unpublished documents and numerous first-hand accounts. Today, Monsanto likes to style itself as a “life sciences” company. The leader in genetically modified seeds, engineered to resist its herbicide Roundup, claims it wants to solve world hunger while protecting the environment. In the light of its troubling past, can we really believe these noble intentions? Misleading reports, collusion, pressure tactics and attempts at corruption: the history of Monsanto is filled with disturbing episodes. Behind its clean, green image, Monsanto is tightening its grasp on the world seed market, striving for market supremacy to the detriment of food security and the global environment.

Food and Life: Food Beware, The French Organic Revolution

Food and Life: Food Beware, The French Organic Revolution

Food and Life: War and Peace in the Kitchen Garden

Food and Life: War and Peace in the Kitchen Garden

Food and Life: The World According to Monsanto

Food and Life: The World According to Monsanto

Food and Guts: Romantics Anonymous

Food and Guts: Romantics Anonymous

Food and Guts: Entre les Bras

Food and Guts: Entre les Bras

Food and Guts: Inventing Cuisine: Pierre Gagnaire

Food and Guts: Inventing Cuisine: Pierre Gagnaire

Food and Guts: Haute Cuisine

Food and Guts: Haute Cuisine

Food and Guts: A Matter of Taste

Food and Guts: A Matter of Taste

Baby King

Baby King

1638, the year Louis XIV was born –his second name, Dieudonné, alluding to his God-given status– saw the diffusion of a cult of maternity encouraged by the very devout Anne of Austria, in thanks for the miracle by which she had given birth to an heir to the French throne. Simon François de Tours (1606-1671) painted the Queen in the guise of the Virgin Mary, and the young Louis XIV as the infant Jesus, in the allegorical portrait now in the Bishop’s Palace at Sens.

The Vanity of Small Differences

The Vanity of Small Differences

The Vanity of Small Differences is a series of six large scale tapestries, completed in 2012, which explore British fascination with taste and class, and can be seen in the Grayson Perry: Small Differences exhibition. 

Serpent Head

Serpent Head

The Greek god Apollo and his son Asklepios presided over the realm of medicine and healing. Apollo was also the god of light and sun, whose solar symbolism and association with medicine would become linked to Christ the Physician, and the resurrected.