The boogeyman of US Supreme Court Cases is going on right now and very few are paying attention to the case. The outcome of this case could adversely affect food as we know it.
With giant oil spills and Arizona lawmakers making the headlines every night who has time to pay any attention to a teeny Supreme Court Case? Well you should be. Monsanto Co. vs. Geertson could be the scariest case in Supreme Court history. The Court is hearing arguments this week.
It seems obscure. Monolith seed patenteer Monsanto legally battling some little old organic seed company right? A ruling in Monsanto’s favor could tip the scales and remake farms as we know it. Already Monsanto is well known for bullying farmers by claiming their crops are contaminated with their patented seeds. Now they may be able to push out all private seed companies and have a monopoly on all seed stock sold.
It gets to be a little too much like science fiction in this at this point. You see Monsanto’s patented plants are grown near farms with non-GMO plants. Monsanto stalks about the other farms and collects samples of their plants and seeds. If the Monsanto seed has crossed over to another farmer’s field or a bee that doesn’t respect private property boundaries cross pollinates plants the farmer is taken to court and cleaned out by one of the wealthiest corporations on the planet.
This all started when Monsanto started growing a new type of Alfalfa called RRA or Roundup Ready Alfalfa. Geertson Seed Company is an organic alfalfa grower. If their seed stock is contaminated by nearby Monsanto alfalfa fields they will be unable to label their alfalfa as organic and Monsanto can sue them for growing their patented plants.
Then there are the farmers who feed their livestock on all organic feed and label the meat as organic when it goest to market. If their feed is contaminated by Monsanto’s patented GM plants the farmer’s animals cannot go to market as organic.
This is nothing less than a shake down. Monsanto is practicing corporate cronyism at its worst. Can you imagine what the world will be like if they are able to own patents on nearly all seed stock in the world? They can’t put giant bubbles over fields to contain their plants. Eventually all seed stock will be contaminated with Monsanto’s patented Frankenseeds and they could potentially have a full Monopoly on all food grown on the planet.
Because of the recent Supreme Court favor shown towards corporations Monsanto is probably frothing at the mouth over what a ruling in their favor might mean for their profits.
Helpful Links:
http://truefoodnow.org/...
http://www.supremecourt.gov/...