Across the globe healthy, sustainable agriculture has been uprooted and transformed to suit the profit margins of these transnational agribusiness concerns. If we continue to hand over the control of society's most important infrastructure -- food and agriculture -- to these wealthy private interests, what might the future look like? We don't need to imagine: We can see the effects right now.

Nyeleni (global congress for food sovereignty) produced The Declaration of the International Forum for Agroecology. It advocated a model of food production radically opposed to the current corporate-controlled system. The declaration represents a challenge to transnational agribusiness. Rather than wanting to transform society and food and agriculture, these state-corporate interests require business as usual.

Monsanto is now very much embedded in India. It has even been called the 'contemporary East India Company' and says GM food is necessary to feed the world's burgeoning population. Such claims are hidden behind a veil of humanitarian intent, which is easily torn away to expose self-interest. India does not need GM to feed itself and no false argument or regulatory delinquency to force them in can disguise this.

When it comes down to it, it's not really a case of being pro- or anti-GMO. It's a case of being anti-corruption and pro-democratic. When hugely powerful corporations flex their political and financial muscle, they can and do effectively slant science, politics and regulation to suit their own self-interest.