[Editor's Note: It is absolutely
ridiculous and yet predictable that Forbes Magazine has named
Monsanto the Company of the Year for 2009. Monsanto has been a
bit more high profile in the last year, I'll give them that, but
it's because the public is finally getting educated about
Monsanto's role in ruining our world by its company
contributions to climate change, pollution and injustice.
Monsanto was recently awarded the
Angry Mermaid Award during the Copenhagen climate talks, and
is also currently the subject of a Department of Justice
anti-trust investigation. This just makes Forbes Magazine
love them all the more, though, because now they're the
underdogs! Poor, poor Monsanto! Read more on the
OCA's Millions Against Monsanto Campaign Page.]
Monsanto biochemist Roy Fuchs takes fish oil pills every morning
in hopes of warding off heart disease. He'd much rather get his
omega-3 fatty acids in a granola bar or cup of yogurt. But it is
tricky to add omega-3s to food products without adding unwanted
flavors. After a while on the shelf, omega-3-enriched products
can smell and taste like old fish, he says.
Fuchs hopes that the new genetically engineered soybeans
Monsanto ( MON - news - people ) is working on will solve this
problem. The soybeans contain two new genes to make a tasteless
oil that is converted inside the body into the form of omega-3
thought to be good for the heart. In a 157-patient study
presented at a cardiology conference in November, those
volunteers who had high triglycerides saw their levels drop 26%
after eating 15 grams of the oil daily for three months.
Wouldn't that be a wonderful product to have for sale? Stops
heart disease--and protects the environment, too. People could
get their nutritional supplements without depleting fish stocks.
Monsanto needs crowd-pleasers like this to get past its image
problems. In economic terms, the company is a winner. It has
created many billions of dollars of value for the world with
seeds genetically engineered to ward off insects or make a crop
immune to herbicides: Witness the vast numbers of farmers who
prefer its seeds to competing products, and the resulting $44
billion market value of the company. In its fiscal 2009 Monsanto
sold $7.3 billion of seeds and seed genes, versus $4 billion for
second-place DuPont ( DD - news - people ) and its Pioneer
Hi-Bred unit. Monsanto, of St. Louis, netted $2.1 billion on
revenue of $11.7 billion for fiscal 2009 (ended Aug. 31). Its
sales have increased at an annualized 18% clip over five years;
its annualized return on capital in the period has been 12%.
Those accomplishments earn it the designation as FORBES' Company
of the Year.