Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

livingontheland - Re: [Livingontheland] Many sources for non-gmo

livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Healthy soil and sustainable growing

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Pat Meadows <pat@meadows.pair.com>
  • To: "self-reliance, networking, and simple living, for small farm sustainability, rural independence and security." <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Many sources for non-gmo
  • Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2005 13:36:47 -0500

On Fri, 28 Jan 2005 10:56:17 -0700, you wrote:

>
>Some extensive listings
>
>http://www.gene-watch.org/programs/safeseed/sourcebook.html
>http://www.non-gmosource.com/
>
>But a loophole I see in the Safe Seed Pledge is "not knowingly". The
>negative isn't as reliable as a positive statement that would say "we know
>our seed is all non-gmo".

Right. And many small sellers - like us - realistically
cannot take measures to ensure that our suppliers are
telling the truth. I certainly can't, for example.
BUT... the fact that my suppliers state that they don't buy
or sell GMO is an indication that they believe this is a
good idea.

I cannot guarantee that a seed is open-pollinated either: I
have to take the word of my suppliers for that. (Plus the
fact that OP seeds are generally considerably cheaper than
hybrid seeds.)

I think that - at the moment - the GMO crops are more in the
grains and field crop area than in veggies and herbs.


>Sellers could state the precautions they take to
>insure their own suppliers take the needed precautions, and to ensure their
>own fields can't get contaminated. What sellers use the most reliable
>sources and then grow in remote areas that can't get contaminated? If this
>seems too picky, consider how much of our home grown can get messed up in
>ten more years by just a few gmos here and there. We've seen that
>individuals and whole countries can completely reject gmos and still end up
>with them in their crops and food supply. In the future, tested non-gmo
>seeds may be so scarce they'll be priceless.
>

I agree with you but this is all that I (a very small fish
in a very big pond) can do about it:

(a) Not buying or selling GMO seeds myself (We do this.)

(b) Trying my best not to deal with those who do (i.e., in
other words, if you sell GMO seeds, I will not knowingly buy
*any* seed from you if I have an alternative supplier) (We
do this.)

(c) Buying organic seeds whenever I can. (We do this.)

Realistically, there's not much else I personally (or
ContainerSeeds.com as a tiny, tiny seed company) can do
about it at this time.

I personally can, and do, speak out about it on various
mailing lists as is appropriate.

Pat
--
ContainerSeeds.com - vegetable, herb, fruit and edible
flower seeds for successful container growing.
http://www.containerseeds.com





Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page