This morning’s Globe and Mail talked some about the possibility that the merger between Bayer and Monsanto might result in the disappearance of the Monsanto name, and quite possibly the baggage that accompanies that name.

Said baggage consists of a history of developing technologies aimed at controlling the seed supply through patents and ownership of gene modifications that have been spread through the food production and distribution systems through heavy doses of lobbying, distraction, bullying and stealth, a litany of sins that doesn’t seem to have developed the least shame on the part of the perpetrators. Among those working for a more equitable and sustainable future, the name Monsanto is emblematic with pretty much all the sins of our current legislative, judicial and regulatory régimes.

The name might disappear, but I doubt, and hope, that the awareness of the deeds will simply be transferred to the new parent company, Bayer, short of a radical turnabout in company policy. This turnabout seems like an unlikely happenstance, given Bayer’s already clouded name over both pharmaceutical marketing and development, and their long record of standing by neonicotinoid pesticides that seem clearly implicated in bee die-offs.

A shift to people-driven small-holding organic and permaculture processes in food production is advocated in a growing number of quarters as a tool in reintroducing a healthy diet and in controlling runaway climate disruption. This is antithetical to Big Ag, but represents the nature of the shifts that need to take place if we are to continue to inhabit this planet.

May we all stay aware and not be distracted by a corporate machination and a change of name while the underlying misdeeds continue.