Genetically Engineered Foods Archives

How politics affect our health. (Archive in frankenfood.)

Friends,

Is this umbelievable or what?

Walt

Hi everyone...
Though this does not deal with any individuals health, it most
certainly pertains to our global health and universal access to non-
genetically modified food... In that spirit, I hope you find this
article interesting...
Be Well,
Misty L. Trepke
http://www.searching-alternatives.com

Percy Schmeiser's War Against Monsanto
The Institute of Science in Society
8-15-03

What makes a farmer from a small rural community in Saskatchewan
stand up to Monsanto? And possibly, win? Dr. Mae-Wan Ho reports.

Percy Schmeiser, now in his early seventies, a soft-spoken, mild-
mannered Canadian farmer from the small rural community of Bruno
some 80km east of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, never dreamt he would be
catapulted to the status of a contemporary folk-hero. He had been
farming for 40 years when he was taken to court by biotech giant
Monsanto in August 1998. The company claimed he had illegally
planted its genetically engineered Roundup Ready canola without
paying a $37-per-hectare fee for the privilege.

Schmeiser was not alone. Monsanto had accused scores of farmers of
patent infringing on its genetically engineered seed. But, instead
of settling out of court with Monsanto like the others, Schmeiser
fought back. He had been sowing each crop with seeds saved and
selected from the previous harvest for years, and had never
purchased seed from Monsanto. Even so, he found more than 320
hectares of his land contaminated by Monsanto's Roundup Ready
canola.

Schmeiser insisted that any Roundup Ready growing on his land was
spread by wind or by grain trucks travelling on roads adjacent to
his fields.

On 10 August 1999, mediation talks to settle the dispute ended in
failure. The next day, Schmeiser launched a $10 million lawsuit
against Monsanto, accusing the company of a variety of wrongs,
including libel, trespass and contaminating his fields with Roundup
Ready canola. But Schmeiser's lawsuit against Monsanto won't be
dealt with until the original lawsuit has been resolved. Little did
he know what a long, hard battle he has taken on.

It is a battle for the seed, for every farmer's right to save and
resow harvested seed, to freely share and exchange without
restriction, as farmers have been doing for at least 15,000 years
since agriculture began.

The trial was heard in June 2000, in the Federal Court in Saskatoon.
At the trial, Monsanto presented evidence from two dozen witnesses
and samplers that Schmeiser's eight fields were all more than 90%
Roundup Ready. Monsanto had performed no independent tests, however;
the tests were all performed in house or by experts hired by the
company.

In defence, Schmeiser presented his own farm-based evidence, that
the fields ranged from nearly zero to 68% Roundup Ready, which was
confirmed independently by research scientists at the University of
Manitoba, Winnipeg. Schmeiser's defence also contained evidence that
he did not knowingly acquire Monsanto's product, nor did he
segregate the contaminated seeds for future use or spray his canola
crops with Roundup

But the Federal Court ruled against Schmeiser. Justice Andrew McKay
upheld the validity of Monsanto's patented gene. In a key part of
the ruling, the judge agreed a farmer can generally own the seeds or
plants grown on his land if they blow in or are carried there by
pollen; but this is not true in the case of genetically modified
seed.

It didn't matter how the Roundup Ready canola got to his fields. He
was deemed to have infringed Monsanto patent, and was fined $15/acre
x 1030 acres licence fee, plus the value of his entire crop,
$105,000 (including fields that did not have any Roundup Ready
canola), plus $25,000 for punitive and exemplary damages.

"Where does Monsanto's rights end and mine begin?" Percy Schmeiser
asked. He refused to abide by the judgement, and launched an appeal,
which was heard in May 2002 in Saskatoon.

Unfortunately, all three judges ruled against him yet again. By this
time, he and Louise, his wife of 50 years, had already spent $200
000 in legal fees. He had ceased to plant canola, for any canola
crop he planted would belong to Monsanto.

Monsanto had kept up a constant campaign of harassment and
intimidation all through the trial in 1999 and 2000. And in 2001,
Monsanto brought a new case against Schmeiser for $1 million in
court costs -- $750,000 for their lawyers, $250,000 for
disbursements which included travel expenses, payments for expert
witnesses and $15,000 lawyer's night entertainments'.

Undaunted, Percy Schmeiser took his case to the Supreme court, and
in May 2003, when I caught up with him at the Biodevastation 7
meeting held in Monsanto's hometown St. Louis, Missouri, he just got
the good news that he has won his right to be heard in the Supreme
Court. There were loud cheers in the hall.

Percy Schmeiser has been tireless in travelling the world to tell
his story. Everywhere, farmers are fighting for their lives and
livelihoods. Monsanto winning would be the very last straw, not just
for farmers, for everyone. Schmeiser has come to symbolise our
collective struggle against corporate serfdom. Just as independent
scientists are oppressed and victimised, farmers are subject to the
same or worse treatment.

Monsanto's tactics are well known. The company gets farmers to sign
away all their rights in an unbelievable technology contract. The
farmer must not use his or her own seed, must buy seed and chemicals
from Monsanto. Monsanto can send inspectors onto your fields for
three years even if you grow the company's crops for only one year.

Monsanto also openly advertises for people to tell on their
neighbours if they are suspected of having GM crops without licence.
The company's representatives can trespass onto your fields even
when you are not at home, or fly over your field and spray Roundup
to see if the crop dies.

Immediately after Monsanto had obtained its judgement against Percy
Schmeiser, the company had declared war on all Saskatchewan farmers.
Schmeiser received hundreds of phone calls from farmers who have
been contacted by Monsanto representatives and received demand
letters saying that they have unauthorised GM crops growing in their
fields and must pay so many thousands of dollars to avoid lawsuit.
Many of the farmers who called Schmeiser were in the same
circumstances: they never bought any seed from Monsanto or signed
any contract.

But things may be turning Schmeiser's (and our) way at long last.

In June 2002, a report from the Canadian Biotechnology Advisory
Committee said that the Patent Act should be amended to permit
farmers to save and sow seeds from patented plants such as
genetically engineered (GE) crops.

It also said that farmers who find GE plan ts growing in their
fields through "the adventitious spreading of patented seed or
patented genetic material or the insemination of an animal by a
patented animal" should be considered as innocent bystanders and not
be liable to prosecution.

While biotechnology developments are patentable, the report said the
holder does not have "the right to market or even use the invention.
This is because some applications of the technology may pose risks
to human or animal health or to the environment, challenge the
capacity of current approaches to protecting health and the
environment and or raise other serious social and ethical questions
that must be addressed."

The report suggests that the farmer be allowed to use the seed of a
GE crop or the offspring of a GE animal for his or her own use but
not for commercial purposes.

Better yet, in December 2002, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that
the genetically engineered Harvard onco mouse is not patentable
(see "Canada rejects patents on higher forms of life", ISIS Report,
March 2003 ). This opens the door to revoking patents on GM seeds,
such as Monsanto's Roundup Ready canola. This could be the last
nudge to get GM crops off our globe.

Help Percy fight Monsanto and get patents on life revoked for a GM-
Free world. Make a donation on his website:

http://www.percyschmeiser.com http://www.i-sis.org.uk/SLBFTS.php

Re: How politics affect our health. (Archive in frankenfood.)

Re: How politics affect our health. (Archive in frankenfood.)

Re: How politics affect our health. (Archive in frankenfood.)