“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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By Anna Mueller, Guest Blogger Genetically engineered (GE) wheat was recently discovered in an Oregon field despite the fact that all GE wheat trials ended in 2005. According to NPR, this particular type of wheat- which was engineered to resist the herbicide glyphosate (aka “Roundup Ready”)- was never approved for commercial planting. One Oregon wheat farmer found the strain
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The upcoming Slow Money 4th National Gathering includes a plenary session on OSGATA et al. v. Monsanto. OSGATA President and Maine organic seed farmer Jim Gerritsen will deliver his special address on family farmers seeking justice at the Boulder Theater, in Boulder, CO, on April 29. Slow Money is a national network, which includes local chapters, organized around a
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According to environmental journalist Simran Sethi , the buried foundations of food and future-food are slowly disappearing. Of course, she’s talking about seeds: the memory of life and the wellspring of both food security and seed sovereignty. In a recent Tedx Talk from February 2013, Stethi leads her audience exploration
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The National Organic Standards Board (NOSB)’s spring meeting is Tuesday, April 9, to Thursday, April 11, in Portland, OR. During meetings, the NOSB listens to public comments, discusses their agenda items, and then votes in a public forum. In 2012, the NOSB established the GMO Ad hoc Subcommittee for discussion among organic stakeholders
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Late last week Congress succeeded in passing Section 735, aka the Monsanto Protection Act or the Monsanto Rider, in the Continuing Resolution spending bill – HR 933. By sneaking Section 735 into a federal appropriations bills, Monsanto has successfully planted a dangerous provision in US law. Essentially, the provision would create
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OSGATA President Jim Gerritsen’s recent keynote address at the 31st Annual Public Interest Environmental Law Conference (PIELC), at the University of Oregon School of Law in Eugene, OR, is now available for online streaming. The address gives background information on the US patent system in relation to seed before moving into the
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Stephen Thomas’s “Fixing Food: Seed Solution Models for a New Agricultural Paradigm“-recently published in Acres USA- discusses the importance of regional small-scale organic seed in overhauling the industrial agriculture system. Cited seed solutions include the work of several OSGATA members, including Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, the
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The US Food Sovereignty Alliance, in collaboration with Other Worlds, recently launched a 140-page compendium, and parallel blog series, examining the building of a just and environmentally sustainable food system. Harvesting Justice: Transforming Food, Land, and Agriculture in the Americas, researched and written by Tory Field and Beverly Bell, is ”dedicated to peasant, indigenous, landless,and small farmers around the
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OSGATA President Jim Gerritsen will be presenting a keynote speech on the OSGATA et al. v. Monsanto lawsuit at the 31st Annual Public Interest Environmental Law Conference (PIELC), at the University of Oregon School of Law in Eugene, OR. This year’s conference theme “Earth Too Big to Fail” speaks to how the premiere gathering for
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On February 19, 2013, the US Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Bowman vs. Monsanto- a case which holds the potential to affect patent law as we know it, seed and otherwise. Vernon Hugh Bowman is a 75-year-old soybean farmer from Sandborn, Indiana, who is challenging the concept of patent exhaustion on
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Transcript of Oral Argument in OSGATA et al. vs. Monsanto, January 10, 2013 at the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit Featuring: Judge Wm. C. Bryson Judge Timothy B. Dyk Judge Kimberly A. Moore Attorney Daniel Ravicher, for Plaintiffs Attorney Seth Waxman, for Monsanto
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