The signs of spring have
arrived, even in the frozen north. I’ve seen glimpses of gravel in my
snow-covered driveway. I have my first leak in the ceiling from the ice
dam caused by alternate hours of thawing and freezing on my metal roof.
And, best of all, the seed catalogues have been arriving in droves.
I’ve
been a gardener for years, interested in moderately healthy eating but
certainly not a purist. The first catalogue I received was from Gurney’s…
one of the old-name companies that I turned to years ago when my children
were small. Because I’ve gotten more passionate about my longtime
interest in organic and sustainable agriculture, I also now receive such
catalogues as Seeds of Change and Abundant Life Seeds. Like any good
homesteader, I start reading them on my way back up to the house from the
mailbox. For a few glorious moments, my natural optimism outshines the
snowflakes, and I sit down with a cup of coffee and a yellow pad to plan
the garden of my dreams. Enter reality...
The
first hint of a problem came from The Safe Seed Pledge in the Johnny’s
Selected Seeds catalogue. It reads, in part, “We pledge that we do not
knowingly buy or sell genetically engineered or modified seed or
plants.” (Does that imply that they unknowingly buy or sell them?
How could that happen?) At Johnny’s invitation, I checked out The Safe
Seed Initiative through the Council for Responsible Genetics. One thing
led to another, and my dreaming turned to a nightmare. The mental
headlines were frightening: While politics, war and economic collapse
regularly top the news, a much more sinister problem looms on the horizon…
Genetically Modified Organisms. What are the issues around GMOs and how
is the court responding? Could I really be sued for growing my organic
crops? Putting my overactive imagination on hold, I decided to delve into
further research before digging any dirt.
Now
maybe I’m the only person who’s like this, but I’ve never been one to
worry about patent numbers on vegetables or flowers. I pick out things I
like that are appropriate for my climate and soil, and send in the order.
As a former dairy and crop farmer, I knew about breeding lines in cattle,
hybrid corn and pesticides. But we had a small family farm before the
days of genetic engineering, and the vegetable garden was a separate part
of life anyway. We shared garden seed and tools, and saved seed from year
to year. Occasionally, we’d have field corn cross pollinate the sweet
corn, but it wasn’t a big deal. And the closest we ever came to worrying
about a lawsuit was when our cows got out in the road.
Last
year… with the purchase of a new homestead and a return to serious
gardening after a two-decade detour… I committed to focusing on organic
seeds. But I still functioned in a bit of a bubble. As I started
analyzing this year’s catalogues, that bubble burst. I found obvious
patent numbers, patents pending, things marked PVP, and items with special
code numbers to decipher. My reading skills and college education were
little help in finding explanations for all of these within some of the
catalogues themselves. That led me back to the Internet and deeper into
the Pandora’s box known as GMOs. Now, my garden planning has turned into
a social cause.
In
the interest of fairness – or the closest I can come on this issue – let’s
start with the arguments generally given in favor of GMOs. Farmers have
always sought to improve their crops and livestock. Historically that was
done through fairly natural processes: seed saving, selective breeding,
and, later, hybridization. It made good business sense for some of
those folks to seek patents or plant variety protection on their best
products.
Now
science has made it possible to take the next step… to mechanically
transfer genetic material between genera, families and kingdoms.
Advocates promise that the ever-increasing number of GMOs will increase
the world food supply, decrease the use of pesticides, create products
with increased health benefits, and allow successful agriculture in areas
of the world plagued by drought and other environmental challenges. And
the folks developing and marketing those GMOs have, understandably, sought
patent protection for their work. It sounds pretty noble on the surface,
particularly to anyone who truly cares about world hunger and the future
of our planet.
So
what are the concerns and the implications for those of us who choose to
homestead? The first concern, in my mind, is who is in control. “With
the purchase of Seminis in January of 2005, Monsanto is now estimated to
control between 85 and 90 percent of the U.S.
nursery market.” (Countryside & Small Stock Journal, The Gardening Game by
Jerri Cook.) This same corporate giant is the leading producer of
genetically engineered seed, generally holding over 75% of the market
share. What is their motivation? I am, by nature, a trusting person,
but I’m also old enough to remember saccharin, Agent Orange and PCBs.
I’ve read the lists of Monsanto’s corporate spin-offs and mergers and
international legal cases. Does winning cases prove altruism, or
innocence? Hmm.
