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  • From: "Tradingpost" <tradingpost@lobo.net>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org, OWL-OldWaysLiving@yahoogroups.com
  • Subject: [Livingontheland] Organic seed suppliers fight Monsanto seed patents in court
  • Date: Mon, 30 Jan 2012 07:46:23 -0700


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.”




  • [Livingontheland] Organic seed suppliers fight Monsanto seed patents in court, Tradingpost, 01/30/2012

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