To: President Donald Trump, The California State House, The California State Senate, Governor Gavin Newsom, The United States House of Representatives, and The United States Senate
New CFS Report Exposes Devastating Impact of Monsanto Practices on U.S. Farmers
Today, one week before the Supreme Court hears arguments in Bowman v. Monsanto Co., the Center for Food Safety (CFS) and Save our Seeds (SOS) launched our new report, Seed Giants vs. U.S. Farmers.
The report investigates how the current seed patent regime has led to a radical shift to consolidation and control of global seed supply and how these patents have abetted corporations, such as Monsanto, to sue U.S. farmers for alleged seed patent infringement.
Seed Giants vs. U.S. Farmers also examines broader socio-economic consequences of the present patent system including links to loss of seed innovation, rising seed prices, reduction of independent scientific inquiry, and environmental issues.
Among the report’s discoveries are several alarming statistics:
•As of January 2013, Monsanto, alleging seed patent infringement, had filed 144 lawsuits involving 410 farmers and 56 small farm businesses in at least 27 different states.
•Today, three corporations control 53 percent of the global commercial seed market
•Seed consolidation has led to market control resulting in dramatic increases in the price of seeds. From 1995-2011, the average cost to plant one acre of soybeans has risen 325 percent; for cotton prices spiked 516 percent and corn seed prices are up by 259 percent.
Additionally, Seed Giants vs. U.S. Farmers reports a precipitous drop in seed diversity that has been cultivated for millennia. As the report notes: 86% of corn, 88% of cotton, and 93% of soybeans farmed in the U.S. are now genetically-engineered (GE) varieties, making the option of farming non-GE crops increasingly difficult.
While agrichemical corporations also claim that their patented seeds are leading to environmental improvements, the report notes that upward of 26 percent more chemicals per acre were used on GE crops than on non-GE crops, according to USDA data.
At the launch of the report via teleconference today, experts from the Center for Food Safety and Save our Seeds were joined by Mr. Vernon Hugh Bowman, the 75-year-old Indiana soybean farmer who, next week, will come up against Monsanto in the Supreme Court Case. When asked about the numerous comparisons being drawn between his case and the story of David and Goliath, Mr. Bowman responded, “I really don’t consider it as David and Goliath. I don’t think of it in those terms. I think of it in terms of right and wrong.”
In December of 2012, the Center for Food Safety and Save Our Seeds submitted an amicus brief to the Supreme Court on behalf of Mr. Bowman, which supports the right of farmers to re-plant saved seed. Arguments in the case are scheduled for February 19th.
Download the report here: http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Seed-Giants_final.pdf
To All that are making decisions for We, THE PEOPLE , and FUTURE GENERATIONS :
THINK , THINK very hard about the consequences of NOT doing an about face NOW , CORRECTING our mistakes , and be ready to feed the World good , healthy , food , that will actually help the planet instead of destroy it ! It is criminal to make someone pay for something that is spread by nature (bird poop) and to take poor peoples rights to seed gathering (such as they have for thousands of years) so they have to buy from rich companies they cannot dream to buy from. Do you honestly think you are feeding more around the world , or starving more people that used to be able to feed themselves before their neighbors pesticides sterilized their seeds ? Is Monsanto going to offer to feed them ? Are our Courts going to Reward damages to Organic Farms because their pesticides carried on the wind and destroyed their rights to purer foods ? That would be more fair and correct. Shame on our system and what is being allowed!
The report investigates how the current seed patent regime has led to a radical shift to consolidation and control of global seed supply and how these patents have abetted corporations, such as Monsanto, to sue U.S. farmers for alleged seed patent infringement.
Seed Giants vs. U.S. Farmers also examines broader socio-economic consequences of the present patent system including links to loss of seed innovation, rising seed prices, reduction of independent scientific inquiry, and environmental issues.
Among the report’s discoveries are several alarming statistics:
•As of January 2013, Monsanto, alleging seed patent infringement, had filed 144 lawsuits involving 410 farmers and 56 small farm businesses in at least 27 different states.
•Today, three corporations control 53 percent of the global commercial seed market
•Seed consolidation has led to market control resulting in dramatic increases in the price of seeds. From 1995-2011, the average cost to plant one acre of soybeans has risen 325 percent; for cotton prices spiked 516 percent and corn seed prices are up by 259 percent.
Additionally, Seed Giants vs. U.S. Farmers reports a precipitous drop in seed diversity that has been cultivated for millennia. As the report notes: 86% of corn, 88% of cotton, and 93% of soybeans farmed in the U.S. are now genetically-engineered (GE) varieties, making the option of farming non-GE crops increasingly difficult.
While agrichemical corporations also claim that their patented seeds are leading to environmental improvements, the report notes that upward of 26 percent more chemicals per acre were used on GE crops than on non-GE crops, according to USDA data.
At the launch of the report via teleconference today, experts from the Center for Food Safety and Save our Seeds were joined by Mr. Vernon Hugh Bowman, the 75-year-old Indiana soybean farmer who, next week, will come up against Monsanto in the Supreme Court Case. When asked about the numerous comparisons being drawn between his case and the story of David and Goliath, Mr. Bowman responded, “I really don’t consider it as David and Goliath. I don’t think of it in those terms. I think of it in terms of right and wrong.”
In December of 2012, the Center for Food Safety and Save Our Seeds submitted an amicus brief to the Supreme Court on behalf of Mr. Bowman, which supports the right of farmers to re-plant saved seed. Arguments in the case are scheduled for February 19th.
Download the report here: http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Seed-Giants_final.pdf
To All that are making decisions for We, THE PEOPLE , and FUTURE GENERATIONS :
THINK , THINK very hard about the consequences of NOT doing an about face NOW , CORRECTING our mistakes , and be ready to feed the World good , healthy , food , that will actually help the planet instead of destroy it ! It is criminal to make someone pay for something that is spread by nature (bird poop) and to take poor peoples rights to seed gathering (such as they have for thousands of years) so they have to buy from rich companies they cannot dream to buy from. Do you honestly think you are feeding more around the world , or starving more people that used to be able to feed themselves before their neighbors pesticides sterilized their seeds ? Is Monsanto going to offer to feed them ? Are our Courts going to Reward damages to Organic Farms because their pesticides carried on the wind and destroyed their rights to purer foods ? That would be more fair and correct. Shame on our system and what is being allowed!
Why is this important?
I believe many of my health issues and those of a huge amount of Americans can be traced back to when the crops started to be put in and our food started to be sold as a boutique product - instead of good healthy food by the Greedy Corporations ... Then everyone wants to blame the fat Americans and their health problems and cut costs...Vicious Cycle...