Some Farmers Now Protected Against Monsanto Lawsuits

[Guest guest]

Some Farmers Now Protected Against Monsanto Lawsuits

_http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/09/27/some-farmers-no

w-protected-against-monsanto-lawsuits.aspx?source=nl_

(http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/09/27/some-farmers-now-\

protected-against-mons

anto-lawsuits.aspx?source=nl)

 

Farmers with crops that become contaminated by patented genetically

engineered (GE) seeds or pollen have been the target of harassing lawsuits

brought by

biotech patent holders, especially Monsanto.

 

But a landmark piece of legislation protecting California's farmers from

crippling lawsuits has passed through both legislative houses.

 

AB 541 enacts protections against lawsuits brought against California

farmers who have not been able to prevent the inevitable drift of GE pollen or

seed

onto their land. The bill also establishes a mandatory crop sampling

protocol to prevent biotech companies investigating alleged violations from

sampling

crops without the explicit permission of the farmers who own the land.

 

Sources: Organic Consumers Association August 31, 2008

_http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_14436.cfm_

(http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_14436.cfm)

 

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

 

Imagine being a farmer who is trying to grow organic, non-genetically

modified crops. Then imagine those crops being contaminated by a neighbor’s

GM

crops, whose seeds or pollen have blown over onto your land. Then imagine

Monsanto coming in and trying to SUE you for violating the patent they’ve

placed on

those seeds!

 

That is outrageous!

 

Only a desperately evil company like Monsanto would have the unbridled greed

to pull something like that. What is most shocking, though, is that Monsanto’

s practice of targeting farmers for patent infringement is common, and well

planned out.

 

It is not only the farmers whose crops have been contaminated by Monsanto’s

GM seeds that are being investigated, but also farmers accused of saving

Monsanto’s patented seeds to use the next year. Never mind that this is the

way

farmers have operated for generations; saving seeds from one year to the next

makes sense financially and environmentally.

 

Of course Monsanto saw it as a cut in their profits, so they began to patent

their seeds.

 

Since the 1980s, Monsanto has become the world leader in genetic

modification of seeds and has won 674 biotechnology patents, more than any

other

company.

 

But Monsanto is not only patenting their own GMO seeds. They have also

succeeded in slapping patents on a huge number of crop seeds, patenting life

forms

for the first time -- without a vote of the people or Congress.

 

Farmers who buy Monsanto’s Roundup Ready seeds are required to sign an

agreement promising not to save the seeds or sell them to other farmers (What

if

the farmer doesn’t sign one? Not to worry, Monsanto has actually admitted to

forging farmers’ signatures on technology agreements if they didn’t have

one

on file).

 

The end result of the agreements? Farmers must buy new seeds every year, and

they must buy them from Monsanto.

 

Monsanto’s Seed Police

 

How would Monsanto know if farmers were reusing their seeds? They’ve hired

an army of private investigators and agents to do just that. It’s difficult

to

say exactly how extensive this army of “seed police†actually is today, but

as of 2005 Monsanto had 75 employees and a $10 million budget solely to

investigate and prosecute farmers for patent infringement.

 

Let’s just say, for argument’s sake, you were inclined to agree with

Monsanto about their right to monitor their seeds. They have, after all,

invested

millions of dollars into these (typically toxic) genetically modified seeds,

and they need to recover some of that money. Well, can anyone rationally say

that a farmer is responsible for patent infringement if a seed blows onto his

property?

 

Of course not. And this is where the bill AB 541 will protect California’s

farmers from this type of harassment.

 

I don’t believe for one second, though, that Monsanto has any justification

in any of these matters. They are slowly working to take control of the

entire food supply, and this is not an exaggeration.

 

Monsanto is considering using what’s known as terminator technology on a

wide-scale basis. These are seeds that have been genetically modified to “

self-destruct.†In other words, the seeds (and the forthcoming crops) are

sterile,

which means farmers must buy them again each year.

 

This solves their problem of needing “seed police,†but they are obviously

looking the other way when it comes to the implications that terminator seeds

could have on the world’s food supply: the traits from genetically

engineered crops can get passed on to other crops. Once the terminator seeds

are

released into a region, the trait of seed sterility could be passed to other

non-genetically-engineered crops, making most or all of the seeds in the region

sterile.

 

If allowed to continue, every farmer in the world could come to rely on

Monsanto for their seed supply … and this is not a company that you want in

control of your food supply.

 

Why GM Crops are a Threat to Your Health

 

There have been no safety studies conducted that prove GM foods are safe. To

the contrary, dicing and splicing the components of your food supply into

never-before-introduced combinations has been found to:

 

 

-- Cause cancer

_http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2007/03/08/warning----gm-foo\

d-linked-to-cancer.aspx_

(http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2007/03/08/warning----gm-foo\

d-linked-to-cancer.aspx)

-- Contribute to food allergies

-- Possibly cause damage to your immune system

_http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2005/06/11/gmo-effects.aspx_

(http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2005/06/11/gmo-effects.aspx)

-- Create super-viruses

_http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2003/07/02/gm-crops-part-six\

..aspx_

(http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2003/07/02/gm-crops-part-six\

..aspx)

 

 

Why are these products still on the market (and in the United States, making

up the vast majority -- 75 percent -- of processed foods)? Because there’s

money to be made with them, and because it’s difficult to link health

problems

directly to them, in large part because many of the side effects happen over

time.

 

This is not to say that no links have been made. It’s been proven, for

instance, that bacteria in your gut can take up DNA from GM food, that GM peas

caused lung damage in mice, and GM potatoes lead to cancer in rats.

 

Only time will reveal, as Jeffrey Smith, author of Seeds of Deception,

points out in this excellent video

_http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2007/11/06/the-real-reason

s-you-want-to-avoid-genetically-modified-foods.aspx_

(http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2007/11/06/the-real-reasons-\

you-want-to-avoid-genet

ically-modified-foods.aspx) , the extent of the unforeseen and surprising

illnesses caused by GM foods.

 

How to Protect Your Health, and Support Organic Farmers

 

First, I urge you to get informed on the issue by watching The Future of

Food. This in-depth investigation into the disturbing truth behind genetically

modified foods is one of the best documentaries I have ever viewed. It will

help you understand the very real threat that ALL future generations face as a

result of genetic engineering.

 

Please do not be shy about forwarding this video to all of your friends and

family, as it is something that everyone should see.

 

Next, support organic (and local) farmers who do not use Monsanto’s GM seeds

by boycotting all GM foods. The GMO food guide

_http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2007/09/18/the-gmo-food-guid\

e.aspx_

(http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2007/09/18/the-gmo-food-guid\

e.aspx) is an

excellent start to doing this, as you can print it out and take it with you

to the store so you can avoid GM foods like the plague.

 

 

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This Company May Be the Biggest Threat to Your Future Health

_http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/05/01/this-company-ma

y-be-the-biggest-threat-to-your-future-health.aspx?source=nl_

(http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/05/01/this-company-may-\

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_http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2007/08/01/genetically-mod

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(http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2007/08/01/genetically-modif\

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Home Depot: Do the Right Thing and Dump Monsanto!

_http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/09/13/home-depot-do-t

he-right-thing-and-dump-monsanto.aspx_

(http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/09/13/home-depot-do-the\

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