Farmers Sue Monsanto Over GMO Seeds

[marmar]

from Civil Eats:





Not April Fools: Farmers Sue Monsanto Over GMO Seeds
April 1st, 2011

By Tom Laskawy


Genetically modified seed giant Monsanto is notorious for suing farmers in defense of its patent claims. But now, a group of dozens of organic farmers and food activists have, with the help of the not-for-profit law center The Public Patent Foundation, sued Monsanto in a case that could forever alter the way genetically modified crops are grown in this country. But before you can understand why, it’s worth reviewing an important, but underreported aspect of the fight over GMOs.

One of the many downsides to genetically engineered food is the fact that modified genes are patented by the companies that isolate them. This is not typically part of the story that gets much attention when you read about all those great (but nonexistent) magic seeds that will grow faster, better, cheaper, etc. and seem to forever remain “just around the corner.”

As any music or movie lover knows from experience, patent and copyright law in this country is a mess. You only need to look at the music industry’s successful campaign to sue random consumers over file-sharing to know that. Fun fact: no fiction copyright granted after 1929 — whether a movie, television show, or book — will ever be allowed to expire because that was the year of Mickey Mouse’s “birth” and Disney has convinced Congress that Mickey should never fall into the public domain. That’s one screwed up way to go about protecting the interests of authors. And forget about the folks over at the U.S. Patent Office — it’s clear that they have no idea what they’re doing anymore.

In my recent Common Ground cover story on GMOs, I referred to the fact that the federal government “insists the food revolution will be genetically modified.” Well, what biotech companies want more than anything is for the food revolution to be patented. Why is that? Because, unlike pharmaceuticals, patented genes will never go “generic” after some number of years. Monsanto and its biotech buddies can keep milking that transgenetic cow for decade after decade. ..............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://civileats.com/2011/04/01/not-april-fools-farmers-sue-monsanto-over-gmo-seeds/

[ixion]

1. It's about time. Monsanto needs to be sued out of existence

in my opinion. They are single-handedly destroying our food supply.

[LiberalEsto]

4. +10,000

[Maine_Nurse]

6. I could get behind a bombing and invasion of them...

no wait...then we'd pay billions to rebuild them, damn.

[fasttense]

2. I've always found it amazing that Monsanto could win a suit when

their GMO monster seeds contaminate our organic and naturally grown fields. Though our fascist legislative and executive branches have no problem letting lose wildly contagious monster seeds into our environment, the judiciary has quietly allowed organic growers to pursue their claims of contamination.

I honestly think the judiciary doesn't want to eat those untested, monster foods anymore than organic farmers want to grow it.

[SpiralHawk]

3. Don't want no steenkin mutant crapola facsimile food (R)

Ptoooey...

[JohnyCanuck]

5. Yay, I hope they win. n/t

[Sanity Claws]

7. I never understood Monsanto won the lawsuits they did

Their seeds are a nuisance. They travel through the air and infect fields whose farmers don't want GMO seeds.

[bvar22]

8. Thats what I'm talking about!

Monsanto had one of their employees appointed to the Obama cabinet as the Secretary of Agriculture!!!

Google "Tom Vilsack ties to Monsanto".