One year ago, thousands of farmers covered the same march route to protest the import of a "gift" of seeds from Monsanto. The farmers burned some of the seeds, calling them a "death plan" for peasant agriculture.
Last spring, in violation of Haitian law, the Minister of Agriculture gave the agribusiness giant Monsanto permission to "donate" 505 tons of seeds to Haiti. The first shipment of 60 tons, reportedly of maize and vegetable seeds, arrived in May 2010. Some of the seeds were coated with a chemical (Thiram)[1] so toxic that the EPA forbids its sale to home gardeners in the U.S.. Monsanto announced its $4 million gift was "to support the reconstruction effort" in Haiti.
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