Sow True Seed joins lawsuit against Monsanto!

By: Katie Saylors

A local seed company is joining a major lawsuit against the huge agriculture corporation Monsanto, in hopes they can protect their company and preserve the future of agriculture.

A federal lawsuit filed by the Public Patent Foundation in March represents 60 plaintiffs including farmers and seed businesses.

Sow True Seed of Asheville, who is one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, creates organic, open-pollinated and heirloom seeds that are not genetically-modified or cross-pollinated like Monsanto's products.

“The seeds are sow true,” said Sow True Seed co-founder Carol Koury. “They reproduce the plant you started out with which is an entirely different thing from a genetically-engineered or modified seed.”

“Monsanto produces seeds that are genetically-modified and Roundup Ready, meaning they can't be killed by the weed controller and allow for more production of plants,” Koury said. The company has been in the public eye for sometime now, especially since appearing in the 2008 documentary Food, Inc.

In a statement released on Monsanto's company blog, Monsanto said that the lawsuit is a publicity stunt and an attempt to confuse facts about agriculture. The statement also said that the lawsuit seeks to reduce funding for higher-yielding seed technologies.

Koury explains Sow True Seed got involved in the case through OSGATA, the Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association.

“We're members of OSGATA and we heard about it from them and they are the lead plaintiffs in the case,” Koury said.

“There are plenty of local farmers who we hear from who are concerned and not all of them are organic farmers,” Koury said. “Lots of folks are concerned about cross-pollination between genetically modified and natural seeds.”

Beth Trigg, co-owner of Red Wing Farm in Swannanoa, said she is concerned about the spread of GMOs and the threat to agriculture, including her own produce.

“The presence of GMOs in the gene pool of food and forage crops is a threat to all organic agriculture,” Trigg said. “For example, we raise dairy goats and we sometimes feed them alfalfa. Monsanto's GMO alfalfa, which was recently approved for broad release, will cross pollinate with other alfalfa, meaning that it will eventually (fairly soon, actually) be hard to guarantee that any alfalfa is GMO free.”

Trigg said she has seen the affects of GMO cross pollination, as some of her own seed suppliers have dropped heirloom varieties due to GMO contamination.

“This means that the selection of heirloom varieties available to farms like ours, home gardeners and everyone else who grows food is shrinking,” Trigg said. “Heirloom varieties have been selected and saved by gardeners and farmers over many generations, and when those varieties are no longer grown, that genetic material is lost forever. So Monsanto's irresponsible release of GMOs into our environment has directly affected our business and the business of the seed companies that supply us, who have a shrinking list of products to offer due to cross-pollination.”

Trigg said she is thrilled courageous companies, like Sow True Seed, are standing up to Monsanto and GMOs.

“In addition to the problems that GMOs can cause in ecosystems, poisoning Monarch butterflies, for instance, and likely many more problems of which we are still unaware, GMOs are a threat to farmers and gardeners seeking to preserve the genetic heritage of plants that humans have cultivated for food for hundreds and in some cases even thousands of years,” Trigg said.

Sophia Hatz, a program coordinator at Just Economics in Asheville, said she chooses Sow True Seed for her garden for multiple reasons.

“I choose Sow True Seeds first and foremost because they are Living Wage Certified, and I try to look for products made by companies that treat their workers right. Second, because they are a local company. Third, because they have the packets at Amazing Savings, and that is convenient for me. Fourth, because they aree involved in this Monsanto suit and Monsanto is evil,” Hatz said.

The preemptive lawsuit is an attempt to try to block future action by Monsanto to sue farmers for patent infringement if a farmer ends up with a Monsanto-contaminated crop on their property.

“If you're downwind, and within a mile or two, then you have a crop that's contaminated,” Koury said.

Another point Koury makes is that labeling of food with genetically-modified organisms needs to start now.

“I think most consumers really want labeling,” Koury said. “We want to be able to look on the label of a prepared food and know for sure if there's any genetically modified product in there.”

GMOs, or genetically-modified organisms, are produced from crops whose genetic makeup has been altered through a process called recombinant DNA, or gene splicing, to give the plant desired traits and were created in the 1970s, according to the Food and Drug Administration.

“We don't know the long-term effects and there appear to be some in some studies, but we just don't know,” Koury said. “Make the FDA label GMOs.”

Hatz said buying local and open-pollinated is the best choice.

“Its important to choose seeds that are as natural as possible,” Hatz said. “Seeds that have adapted naturally over time (not via genetic tampering) to my area will grow better and will need less organic fertilizers, organic pesticides, and water, which saves me time and money and is better for the environment.”

“Corporations like Monsanto are responsible for weapons such as Round-Up Ready crop-seeds that are engineered to be compatible with the toxic herbicide Round-Up,” Hatz said. “Seeds are modified to produce more, which often means stripping the soil of its vital nutrients.”

Despite rising legal issues against Monsanto, the company claims to be loyal to the American farmer, according to the Monsanto blog.

In a statement released on Monsanto's blog, Monsanto says it stands behind the American farmer and remains committed to help meet the agriculture needs of America.