Tech | March 30, 2011 | 63 comments

Farmers and seed producers launch preemptive strike against Monsanto

source: http://www.cornucopia.org/2011/03/farmers-and-seed-producers-lunch-preemptive-strike-against...

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JanforGore
On behalf of 60 family farmers, seed businesses and organic agricultural organizations, the Public Patent Foundation (PUBPAT) filed suit today against Monsanto Company challenging the chemical giant’s patents on genetically modified seed. The organic plaintiffs were forced to sue preemptively to protect themselves from being accused of patent infringement should their crops ever become contaminated by Monsanto’s genetically modified seed.

Monsanto has sued farmers in the United States and Canada, in the past, when there are patented genetic material has inadvertently contaminated their crops.
A copy of the lawsuit can be found at:
(http://www.pubpat.org/assets/files/seed/OSGATA-v-Monsanto-Complaint.pdf)

The case, Organic Seed Growers & Trade Association, et al. v. Monsanto, was filed in federal district court in Manhattan and assigned to Judge Naomi Buchwald. Plaintiffs in the suit represent a broad array of family farmers, small businesses and organizations from within the organic agriculture community who are increasingly threatened by genetically modified seed contamination despite using their best efforts to avoid it. The plaintiff organizations have over 270,000 members, including thousands of certified organic family farmers.

“This case asks whether Monsanto has the right to sue organic farmers for patent infringement if Monsanto’s transgenic seed or pollen should land on their property,” said Dan Ravicher, PUBPAT’s Executive Director. “It seems quite perverse that an organic farmer contaminated by transgenic seed could be accused of patent infringement, but Monsanto has made such accusations before and is notorious for having sued hundreds of farmers for patent infringement, so we had to act to protect the interests of our clients.”

Once released into the environment, genetically modified seed can contaminate and destroy organic seed for the same crop. For example, soon after Monsanto introduced genetically modified seed for canola, organic canola became virtually impossible to grow as a result of contamination.

Organic corn, soybeans, cotton, sugar beets and alfalfa also face the same fate, as Monsanto has released genetically modified seed for each of those crops as well.

Monsanto is currently developing genetically modified seed for many other crops, thus putting the future of all food, and indeed all agriculture, at stake.

“Monsanto’s threats and abuse of family farmers stops here. Monsanto’s genetic contamination of organic seed and organic crops ends now,” stated Jim Gerritsen, a family farmer in Maine who raises organic seed and is President of lead plaintiff Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association. “Americans have the right to choice in the marketplace – to decide what kind of food they will feed their families.”

“Family-scale farmers desperately need the judiciary branch of our government to balance the power Monsanto is able to wield in the marketplace and in the courts,” said Mark A. Kastel, Senior Farm Policy Analyst for The Cornucopia Institute, one of the plaintiffs. “Monsanto, and the biotechnology industry, have made great investments in our executive and legislative branches through campaign contributions and powerful lobbyists in Washington.”

In the case, PUBPAT is asking Judge Buchwald to declare that if organic farmers are ever contaminated by Monsanto’s genetically modified seed, they need not fear also being accused of patent infringement. One reason justifying this result is that Monsanto’s patents on genetically modified seed are invalid because they don’t meet the “usefulness” requirement of patent law, according to PUBPAT’s Ravicher, the plaintiffs’ lead attorney in the case.

“Evidence cited by PUBPAT in its opening filing today proves that genetically modified seed has negative economic and health effects, while the promised benefits of genetically modified seed – increased production and decreased herbicide use – are false,” added Ravicher who is also a Lecturer of Law at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York.

Ravicher continued, “Some say transgenic seed can coexist with organic seed, but history tells us that’s not possible, and it’s actually in Monsanto’s financial interest to eliminate organic seed so that they can have a total monopoly over our food supply,” said Ravicher. “Monsanto is the same chemical company that previously brought us Agent Orange, DDT, PCB’s and other toxins, which they said were safe, but we know are not. Now Monsanto says transgenic seed is safe, but evidence clearly shows it is not.”

cont.
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63 comments // Farmers and seed producers launch preemptive strike against Monsanto

  • JanforGore
    • 0
      JanforGore  

    • Dr. Vandana Shiva and Navdanya have joined this suit. There is no giving up, no relenting, no saying it is too late when it involves the biodiversity of this planet and our very lives.

    • 1 year ago
  • JanforGore
  • dariusvons
  • The_Wanderer_KS
  • JanforGore
  • JanforGore
  • ecoalex
    • +1
      ecoalex  

    • There are chemical drift laws,and penalties,yet none for Monsanto's,other companies gmo pollen drift.Sadly Monsanto is another fully embedded corporation in the government.Obama forcing rr alfalfa ,sugar beets,and ethanol corn into legal growing,shows how Monsanto pays off our regulatory system.

    • 1 year ago
  • hoosierdaddy
  • EmileZ
    • +1
      EmileZ [removed]  
    • Image

    • http://www.democracynow.org/2010/9/17/percy_schmeiser_vs_monsanto_the_story

      Thanks for the post!!!

      I hope and pray that these wise organic farmers win the lawsuit. It would only be a small victory, as it would not prevent the genetically modified material from spreading, but at least it would stop the outrageous campaign of litigious and financial terrorism and intimidation being carried out by the big agriculture mafia against anyone who does not buy their products (in the U.S.).

      The link I have posted above tells the story of one brave Canadian farmer who stood up to Monsanto's harassment against all odds.

    • 1 year ago
  • jubal
  • bailey78
  • cmc101
    • +1
      cmc101  
    • bailey78:

      Monsanto has the patent rights and cannot be sued tor the mismanagement of the sharecropper that planted their product. Have you ever heard of any recalls lately ?

    • 1 year ago
  • August_K
    • +2
      August_K  
    • cmc101:

      Monsanto's frankenstein plants are destroying natural crops by cross-pollination and turning them into toxic mutants.
      Farmers have every right to sue!

    • 1 year ago
  • cmc101
    • 0
      cmc101  
    • August_K:

      Yes but ,You have to have a lot of money and time on your side their method of operation is to Stop your line of credit, your suppliers and your customers by using fear that you are selling tainted products remember they are not responsible for misinformation news the news media published

    • 1 year ago
  • Jennifer_Guinn
    • +1
      Jennifer_Guinn  
    • bailey78:

      Absolutely!!!! That is very similiar to stories of teenage girls and women being stoned to death in the Middle East for adultery after being raped by a married man... and on a lighter thought - happy day after anniversary to you and you dream girl!

    • 1 year ago
  • Jennifer_Guinn
  • bailey78
  • bailey78
    • 0
      bailey78  
    • cmc101:

      They have yet to be sued because they have the courts bought and paid for. A Good lawyer is going to find that loophole and Get them good in the long run.

    • 1 year ago
  • cmc101
  • cmc101
  • bailey78
  • NC54
  • cmc101
  • bailey78
  • NC54
  • GwenSam
  • Jennifer_Guinn
    • 0
      Jennifer_Guinn  
    • GwenSam:

      I tried to donate $10 through Google Checkout and it had errors. I don't do Paypal (and urge everyone else to boycott them as well). There was a donate by mail option. Guess I'll see if that pans out. Thanks for the info gwensam.

    • 1 year ago
  • lil_RASKAL
  • bklynkid
    • +4
      bklynkid  

    • If everyone that was against this chipped in a dollar towards this cause these farmers wouldn't get ran over by high powered lawyers. I'm tired of seeing big corporations bully us around and get what they want because they can pay off the right people.

    • 1 year ago
  • August_K
    • +3
      August_K  

    • It's not just the plants and crops we need to worry about.

      Glyphosate, the pesticide that Monsanto is famous for in products like Roundup and what is sprayed heavily on large commercial agri-farms.....it's been shown to produce sterility in lab animals.
      If it does that kind of genetic damage in animals it is probably safe to assume that it's also doing damage to human genes as well.

    • 1 year ago
  • artemis6
  • gump
    • +5
      gump  

    • Bless you Jan. I used to farm. Glad in my heart to see someone organized and moveing forward on this. Monsanto is a terrorist organ. Should not exist on earth . Beyond redemption.

    • 1 year ago
  • JanforGore
  • iowawashington
    • +6
      iowawashington  

    • About damn time. It's ridiculous that farmers can be sued for saving seeds from their own crops. If Monsanto wants to sue farmers that signed a licensing agreement, that's fine, but suing the guy just because his field is down wind is horse shit.

    • 1 year ago
  • cmc101
  • COMMONSENSEFORCOMMONGOOD_COM
  • CalgarC
  • August_K
  • CalgarC
  • cmc101
    • 0
      cmc101  
    • CalgarC:

      I'm not trying to knock the wind out your sails, but We don't have the internet what you can see they see also therefore they hire Brains that like to play games and for a price will sell you down the road to nowhere with your family blessing

    • 1 year ago
  • CalgarC
  • Milieu
    • +4
      Milieu  

    • Has study been done on what effect this will have on bees?

      They're already in enough trouble as it is, if anything else clobbers the bees, we're in a world of hurt.

    • 1 year ago
  • JanforGore
    • +6
      JanforGore  
    • Milieu:

      http://www.nature.ca/genome/06/062/0623/0623_14_e.cfm

      I think it is in part related to the BT pesticide in the plants which they try to pollinate. That is just my theory.

      Excerpt;

      "The new sections of DNA in a genetically modified plant affect more than the way the plant grows and tastes. They also change the way the GMO interacts with its environment.

      Mark Winston says environmental effects of GMOs worry him much more than their potential harm to human health. He cites the impact on insect populations as one example.

      Perhaps the insect that has received the most attention for interacting with GMOs is the monarch butterfly. Monarchs feed on milkweed, which grows near cornfields. Corn pollen, which could be genetically modified, blows onto the milkweed. If monarchs feed on large quantities of the GM pollen it could harm them because the plant has a built-in pesticide.

      Winston concedes that the risk to monarchs has probably been overblown. "That aspect has undergone very extensive study both here in Canada and elsewhere and it's proven to be not negligible, but a relatively minor risk."

      He says a greater problem is that GMOs tend to reduce the biodiversity of surrounding fields. This happens when herbicide-resistant GM crops are treated with weed-killer that efficiently attacks surrounding plants. "Genetically modified crops are very good at eliminating weeds. This turns out to reduce the biodiversity of beneficial organisms as well." His studies have shown GMOs reduce bee biodiversity."

    • 1 year ago
  • Varex_Sythe
  • JanforGore
  • August_K
    • +4
      August_K  
    • JanforGore:

      Seriously?
      That's one more reason that judge needs to be removed from the bench.

      It's insane! The organic farmers should be the ones to SUE Monsanto because it's
      their Frankenstein crops that are destroying the good healthy natural crops and plants.

      Monsanto also tampers with their GM seeds so seeds become STERILE.
      That means that you can not harvest fertile seed from their crops. Pollen from their GM plants travels to other stuff and could make everything sterile. The end result would be no more natural reproduction of ANY living plant.

      The whole world will eventually depend on Monsanto for seeds.......Toxic Frankenstein seeds
      that will eventually kill off everything that has grown naturally for thousands of years.

      Thank you Jan for reminding everyone how very important this is.
      We can't put the Genie back in the bottle so Monsanto has to be stopped from spreading this
      Frankenstein nonsense before it's too late ....not just in the USA but in every country they currently planting GM crops and trees.

    • 1 year ago
  • August_K
    • +3
      August_K  
    • Varex_Sythe:

      That's not the half of it. In some video's that Jan posted yesterday? it showed Monsanto suing a farmer who had their crops contaminated by Monsanto pollens and Monsanto claimed that those were NOW the property of Monsanto! They could legally just take away the farmers crops!!

      How sick and outrageous is that?

    • 1 year ago
  • JanforGore
  • Varex_Sythe
    • +1
      Varex_Sythe  
    • August_K:

      Wait a minute, does this mean that I can contaminate my neighbors lawn with my own grass and then claim that his lawn is now my property because it contains grass that was legally mine beforehand?

      Hmmm... I wonder if my neighbor would find that funny...

    • 1 year ago
  • Jennifer_Guinn
  • OrchidBlack
  • CalgarC
  • echelgreen
    • +6
      echelgreen  

    • Excellent post Jan and thanks again for all of the agricultural articles you relay to this site. I hope with all of my heart that this lawsuit succeeds.

    • 1 year ago
  • JanforGore
  • JanforGore
    • +5
      JanforGore  

    • http://www.truth-out.org/farmers-sue-usda-over-monsanto-alfalfa-again68656

      Adding this as well because we cannot relent regarding the deregulation of GM alfalfa. Alfalfa is a mainstay crop and once GM alfalfa is out in the open it will contaminate more than just crops, but animals, milk, and also effect bees. This will have an effect on our environment, our biodiversity and the livelihoods of many farmers who depend on alfalfa to raise their cattle.This is for sure an attack on our ability to grow the food we want and though I know I sound like a broken record, without food freedom and access to water they control us. That is something we must never allow to happen. Monsanto keeps appealing these decisions and using the USDA as their cover, so we must follow suit in holding them accountable.

      Excerpt:

      "A coalition of farmers and environmental groups filed a lawsuit against the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) on March 18 to challenge the agency's recent decision to fully deregulate Monsanto's Roundup Ready alfalfa.

      This is the second time the USDA has been sued over its approval of Roundup Ready alfalfa, which is genetically engineered (GE) to tolerate glyphosate, a popular herbicide commonly sold under the Monsanto brand name Roundup. The latest lawsuit, filed by groups like the Center for Food Safety (CFS) and the National Family Farm Coalition, opens a new chapter in the five-year battle over the GE alfalfa seed developed by Monsanto and Forage Genetics.

      Industry watchdogs and farmers say that Roundup Ready alfalfa will increase reliance on already overused herbicides like Roundup, encourage the spread of herbicide-resistant "superweeds" and contaminate organic and conventional alfalfa with Monsanto transgenes through cross-pollination.

      About 93 percent of the alfalfa planted in the US is grown without herbicides, but up to 23 million more pounds of herbicide could be sprayed annually following the introduction of Roundup Ready alfalfa into America's fields, according to USDA estimates.

      Alfalfa is not just grown for human consumption. Alfalfa seed and hay feed dairy cows and other livestock, and the growing organic food industry is concerned that cross-contamination of transgenes could threaten the production of organic meat and milk. The USDA, however, recently concluded that Roundup Ready alfalfa does not pose a significant "plant pest risk" despite evidence that transgenes from the alfalfa have contaminated conventional alfalfa in the past.

      The USDA first deregulated Roundup Ready alfalfa in 2005. Internal emails recently obtained by Truthout show that Monsanto worked closely with regulators to edit its original petition to deregulate the alfalfa. One regulator accepted Monsanto's help in conducting the USDA's original environmental assessment of the alfalfa.

      Farmers and biotech opponents soon filed a lawsuit against the USDA to challenge the initial deregulation. In 2007, a federal court ruled that the USDA did not consider the full environmental impacts of Roundup Ready alfalfa and vacated the agency's decision to deregulate the alfalfa. Monsanto and its allies appealed the decision, and last year, the Supreme Court reversed the lower court's ruling, but ordered the USDA to produce an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the alfalfa before allowing it back into America's fields.

      The USDA released a final EIS on Roundup Ready alfalfa in late 2010, and the GE alfalfa was fully deregulated on January 27. The USDA went on to approve two more GE seeds within weeks of the alfalfa decision.

      Roundup Ready alfalfa was deregulated just weeks after USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack was pressed by Republican Congressmen, some of whom recently received campaign contributions from Monsanto and the biotech industry, to dump a proposal to geographically isolate Roundup Ready alfalfa from organic and conventional alfalfa and, instead, legalize the GE seed without any government oversight."

      cont.

      _____
      And reread that last paragraph. " Without any government oversight." And people wonder why environmentalists and farmers are up in arms about S510? Monsanto greasing the palms of greasy Republican congressmen in order for them to just look the other way? Tom Vilsack should be booted as Secretary of the USDA.

    • 1 year ago
  • Jennifer_Guinn
  • unimatrix0
    • +7
      unimatrix0  

    • Great post Jan.

      Politicians need to do a much better job regulating Monsanto and GMO's. Science is a good thing, and we should welcome scientific advances. However, we should not risk the future of humanity so that a few multi-nationals can increase their bottom line.

    • 1 year ago
  • Schnookums
    • +6
      Schnookums  

    • They should seek to have any planter of GM Monsanto seed to be required to quarantine the plants in a double air-locked enclosure to prevent environmental contamination. Don't tell them they can't be sold, or can't be grown.......just make it impractical to do so.

    • 1 year ago
  • echelgreen
  • JanforGore
    • +2
      JanforGore  
    • Schnookums:

      Yes, but then their plan to control it all won't be able to be completed. That is what is so insidious about this. They wish to control the food market by making all else irrelevant and contaminated. They don't want harmony, they want it all. And I would not doubt that the money they have extorted from famers who gave into their intimidation tactics is used to bring out more GM seeds to continue this cycle.

    • 1 year ago
  • floydyboy
  • JanforGore
    • +6
      JanforGore  
    • Image

    • http://www.theatlantic.com/life/archive/2011/03/the-battle-for-biodiversity-mons...

      The Battle For Biodiversity: Monsanto and Farmers Clash

      Farmers of America: Monsanto Is NOT your friend. We need a seed satyagraha in America. We can march on Dc until we are blue, but if you continue to be mesmerized by their smoke and mirrors show, it won't matter. We need you to stand up with us for biodiversity, for the health of this planet, for agriculture as we know it and for all of our children and their health.

      Tear up your contracts and grow your own seed, SAVE your seed, work YOUR land, save your soil and refuse to be part of the murky monoculture world of a company that would in the past poison you with war chemicals while now smiling at you as you buy the same chemicals to spray on your food to make them profit. It is insidious, and it is time to end it.

    • 1 year ago
  • JanforGore
    • +7
      JanforGore  

    • Yes, a preemptive lawsuit. Keep them coming. Monsanto has done all in its power as have other biotech seed companies ( like Bayer) to cover their a***s for THEIR contamination of organic crops by hiding behind fake terms like "substanital equivalence" and their patenting of these organisms, which in my view actually negates substantial equivalence. Why would you need to patent a seed that you say is the same as all others?

      It is good to see more and more farmers waking up to the deception and scheme perpetrated by this company in using organic farmers to make profit while claiming to be their friend. They patent the seeds, don't allow farmers to save them, raise the price of them and then sue the farmer for what the wind does. It is absurd and criminal. I am really hoping to see a lawsuit that defies their bogus substantial equivalence claim, because if we can work to get that label taken away then that is the key to labelling, and perhaps even banning these organisms in our food.

    • 1 year ago
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