News in brief:
– Author Seamus Bruner alleges that Bill Gates is acquiring US farmlands, ostensibly for environmental purposes but, in reality, to enrich himself.
– He claims billionaires are investing in fertilisers, alternative proteins, and land acquisitions to control the food industry.
Author Seamus Bruner claimed in an interview with Fox News that Bill Gates is buying up farmlands in the United States under the guise of saving the planet, but is reality ‘enriching himself.’
The author was discussing his new book titled Controligarchs, where he also accused the co-founder of Microsoft of threatening small America farm owners.
Bruner claims that Gates invested billions of dollars into fertilisers, fake meats, and land acquisition. He further claimed that the billionaire’s latest business venture is inflating his net worth and not eliminating carbon emissions.
Bruner’s grouse lies with the fact that billionaires were being allowed to patent seeds, fertilisers, and even meat alternatives. He opined that banning cattle, to reduce greenhouse emissions, would give monopolies companies already making alternative protein. He namedropped not just Bill Gates but also others like Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg and BlackRock as the investors behind these companies.
In what he referred to as a ‘war on farmers’, the writer argues that billionaires are secretly working to monopolise the US future food supply. He also alleges that Gates seeks to control the intellectual property of food production.
A news coverage of the interview mentioned that Bill Gates owns an estimated 242,000 acres of farmland across the United States. He is the largest private farmland owner in the country.
Bruner’s claims have been met with skepticism by some, but they have also sparked concern among farmers and food advocates. The National Farmers Union, for example, has expressed concern about the growing concentration of ownership in the agriculture industry.
Gates has defended his investments in farmland, saying that they are necessary to help meet the growing demand for food. He has also said that he is committed to supporting sustainable agriculture practices.
