Open Sesame- The Story of Seeds, from Open Pollinated Productions, is a groundbreaking film with a mission: to raise awareness about the issues affecting seed on a global scale and how these issues, in turn, impact our food supply. Open Sesame poignantly argues that seed is the basis not only of agriculture, but also
Read more →The Silent Spring by Donald Sutherland There is a beautiful old towering Chestnut tree on the land we lease to farm. One day in May I was commenting on how beautiful the flowering Chestnut tree was to Dick, the retired farmer whose land we lease. “That
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North Dakota seed and grain farmers, David, Ginger, Dan and Theresa Podoll of OSGATA member Prairie Road Organic Seed were named the Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service (MOSES) 2014 Organic Farmers of the Year at the 25th MOSES Organic Farming Conference. Based in Fullerton, ND, Prairie Road Organic Seed, is dedicated
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Results from a recent survey of organic grain growers, pertaining to GE contamination avoidance and economic losses associated with contamination, highlight the risks and effects of GE contamination on organic farmers. Data collected and compiled by Food & Water Watch, in partnership with the Organic Farmers’ Agency for Relationship Marketing (OFARM), is
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OSGATA is excited to announce the launch of a new book, Protecting Organic Seed Integrity, defining best practices for avoiding genetically engineered (GE) contamination in organic seed. Just weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court failed American farmers who had sought protection and their right to self-defense from GE contamination in the
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The biennial Organic Seed Growers Conference, hosted by the Organic Seed Alliance, is heralded as one of a kind. Held on January 31-February 1st in Corvallis, OR, this year’s conference promises to bring together hundreds of farmers, plant breeders, researchers, university extension, certifiers, food companies, seed production and distribution companies, and other organic stakeholders for two full
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The U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision, on January 13, 2014, in the landmark federal lawsuit, Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association et al v. Monsanto. The U.S. Supreme Court dismissed the case, denying family farmers their right to argue on behalf of gaining protection from patent litigation abuse by Monsanto. The high court decision further dashes
Read more →Ira Wallace shares her growing know-how in the recently published Timber Press Guide to Vegetable Gardening in the Southeast. Wallace is Southern Exposure Seed Exchange’s home garden expert, and serves on the board of OSGATA and of the Organic Seed Alliance. In the latest edition of the radio show, “A Way to Garden,” Wallace spoke with
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The Public Patent Foundation recently filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in the landmark case, Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association et al v. Monsanto, in the hopes that the court would hear and reinstate the case of 73 American organic and conventional family farmers, seed businesses and
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Why Help OSGATA? Because Organic Begins with Seed. The Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association (OSGATA) is the one national membership organization run by organic farmers and dedicated to protecting organic seed− and therefore your right of access to good organic food. Help us continue our important seed work by
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By The Cornucopia Institute, In the blink of the past 50 years, chemical corporations have come to control over 50% of the global seed supply. It’s a sharp departure from human history: farmers and individuals had saved local seeds for 14,000 years. “There is a global systemic crisis in how
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“The Post GMO Economy,” written by Elizabeth Royte and recently published in Modern Farmer, tells the tale of a paradigm shift from conventional farming to the widespread adoption of genetically engineered (GE) seeds and back again. Chris Huegerich, inherited the family calling in stewarding 2,800 acres of farmland in central Iowa. Huegerich’s
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OSGATA President and Maine organic farmer Jim Gerritsen recently spoke about the landmark OSGATA et al. v. Monsanto lawsuit, as well as Maine’s GMO Labeling bill, as part of the University of Maine at Machias’s Food and Community lecture series. A video [1:31:12] of the November 13, 2013, panel discussion on
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A new report, Transgene Escape: Global atlas of uncontrolled spread of genetically engineered plants, was released in November 2013 by Testbiotech (Institute for Independent Impact Assessment in Biotechnology). This comprehensive resource provides a general overview of the spread of genetically engineered (GE) plants while outlining the properties of transgenic plants
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OSGATA President and Maine organic farmer Jim Gerritsen will speak this Wednesday, November 13, at the University of Maine at Machias, in a panel session exploring the topics of genetically-engineered crops and food. Part of the discussion will focus on the landmark OSGATA et al v. Monsanto lawsuit, which challenges Monsanto’s genetically engineered
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Please add your voice to support Oregon family farmers from a poorly written seed preemption bill, SB 633 – which is being called Oregon’s Monsanto Protection Act. A Special Session will be held in the Oregon Legislature today (September 26 at 2:30 pm PST) and if SB 633 passes it
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On September 5, 2013, a group of 73 American organic and conventional family farmers, seed businesses and public advocacy groups asked the U.S. Supreme Court today to hear their case, known as OSGATA et al. v. Monsanto. The case challenges Monsanto’s patents on genetically engineered seed. It also acts to preemptively to protect the plaintiff-farmers from
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Unable to attend the Justice Begins With Seeds Conference in Seattle, OSGATA President and organic seed farmer Jim Gerritsen wrote a letter which was read to conference participants. In it, Gerritsen discusses the recent ruling in the OSGATA et al. v. Monsanto lawsuit and its implications for American farmers. Gerritsen
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Filmmaker Mathieu Asselin recently interviewed OSGATA President Jim Gerritsen at his organic Wood Prairie Farm in Bridgewater, Maine. The brief video interview [5:50] splices excellent footage of organic seed potato planting with Gerritsen’s commentary on the landmark lawsuit, OSGATA et al. v. Monsanto. Commercial introduction of genetically engineered (GE) crops, commonly referred to as GMOs, in 1996
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Today a decision was reached in the OSGATA et al. v. Monsanto lawsuit by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C. The three-judge panel ruled that a group of organic- and otherwise non-GMO- farmer and seed company plaintiffs are not entitled to bring a lawsuit to protect themselves from Monsanto’s transgenic
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