Healthy soil and sustainable growing

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Seed Sovereignty: Whoever Controls the Seed, Controls Food
Organic seed suppliers fight Monsanto seed patents in court
By Michelle Ferrier
"The Case Against Monsanto" January 29, 2012
http://locallygrownnews.com/stories/Seed-Sovereignty-Whoever-Controls-the-Seed-Controls-Food,28494

Mike Faucette, a NC farmer in Brown Summit, says the nation's heirlook and 
organic seed stock is at risk.

Mike Faucette of Faucette Farms is a certified organic farmer. He and his 
family have been farming land in Brown Summit, North Carolina for seven 
generations. But he, along with farmers across the country, have been 
threatened by pollen, winds and the growing encroachment of genetically 
modified seed. And they are fighting back.

Sow True Seed of Asheville, NC, along with 82 other farmers, seed companies 
and advocacy groups will be represented in New York City as the class action 
lawsuit against Monsanto seed patents begins on Tuesday, January 31.

The Organic Seed Grower and Trade Association (OSGATA), et. al. v. Monsanto 
seeks to prevent Monsanto for suing farmers and certified organic growers who 
find their crops cross-contaminated by genetically altered seed. The case 
also challenges Monsanto’s patents on “Roundup Ready” seeds.

“A farmer cannot recoup our own seed, and we’ve been recouping our seed since 
the beginning of time,” Faucette said.

“You take a chance of losing your heirloom seed stock, because of 
contamination,” he said.

Brian Bush of Handance Farm in Reidsville, North Carolina agrees.

“It’s important that farmers have access to seed that they’ve always been 
able to buy that’s not genetically modified,” he said.

Mike Causey, owner of Dodge Lodge Farms in Greensboro said Monsanto claims a 
higher yield based on their Roundup Ready patented seed.

“Monsanto says the yield is not as high on open pollinated varieties. And 
some people say you can’t feed the world on organic – they say the big 
agriculture companies feed the world. They say you’ve got to have economies 
of scale, but I don’t believe it.”

Causey said the case against Monsanto is about small farmers fighting big 
agriculture.

“Monsanto pretty much has a monopoly on the seed business. They are promoting 
their genetically modified seed and I’m not in favor of that. You’ll never 
convince me that the taste is as good as heirloom,” he said.

At the same time Causey observed that Monsanto is one of the key sponsors of 
the agriculture conferences he attends. “But I don’t see them as a fan of the 
little guy,” Causey said.

Daniel Woodham, community supported agriculture farm manager for Goat Lady 
Dairy in Chatham, North Carolina said that it should be illegal for Monsanto 
to own genetic material.

“This is interrupting the lives of many small farmers in America because 
cases will be brought against farmers for stealing the genetic material that 
Monsanto owns,” said Woodham. “The farmers time is taken up and their 
finances are taken up. And the farmers lose because they can’t keep going in 
court.”

At a visit to Greensboro last February, USDA Deputy Secretary Kathleen 
Merrigan took criticism for the agency’s decision to deregulate genetically 
engineered alfalfa seed created by agriculture giant Monsanto. After a full 
environmental analysis, Merrigan said the agency determined that “Round-Up 
Ready” seed could coexist with organic seed stock.

“What didn’t get a lot of media attention was the coexist strategies we 
examined,” Merrigan said after a pointed question from the audience at North 
Carolina A&T University. “We are making sure that we are increasing the 
production of organic seed and changing our protocols. We’re bringing on 
additional protocols so that the seed remains true to site. We’re growing 
alfalfa seed in a valley in Idaho so there is no intrusion into that seed,” 
she said.

However, Causey is concerned that biodiversity is at risk…and that we all 
lose when we have a monocrop.

“It’s astounding to me the varieties of seeds that are no longer in existence 
– companies that are saving these seed varieties are keeping them from 
extinction,” Causey said.

“A farmer cannot recoup our own seed, and we’ve been recouping our seed since 
the beginning of time,” Faucette said.

“You take a chance of losing your heirloom seed stock, because of 
contamination.”