GMO agitator takes Monsanto back to court

[XNavyNuke]

Canadian Farmer Forces GM Giant Back to Court

Schmeiser and his wife, Louise, are suing for the C$600 (£300) it cost to hire contractors to dig up several of Monsanto's GM oilseed rape plants he found growing in a field he was preparing for a mustard crop in 2005. Schmeiser argues the stray plants are pollution, and the polluter should pay. The company refused unless he agreed not to talk about it.

Schmeiser said: "No corporation should have the right to introduce GM seeds or plants into the environment and not be responsible for it. It doesn't matter if it was $600, or $600,000. It has now become a very important case, even though it is small, because if we win then it could cost Monsanto millions and millions of dollars across the world."

XNN

 

[Corydoras]

I have no problem with GMO in principle. However, I think Monsanto should be called Monsatan for the way they market their products and their Terminator technology.

 

[XNavyNuke]

I happen to have problem with both their principle and their practice. If you use a man-made process to create a pollutant that is not found in nature for commercial gain (say Technetium-99m), through inadequate controls spread it onto my property causing my assets to be devalued (radioactive contamination), then claim ownership over all of my devalued assets with any detectable trace of contamination (IP infringement), then their is a significant problem. Sure Tc-99 is a valuable material for those individuals being diagnosed with heart disease.

GMO corn (and others) is valuable to farmers because it reduces the amount of pesticide & herbicide inputs to produce a crop. But I personally maintain two heirloom cultivars of corn that I obtained through Seed Savers Exchange. If GMO pollen drifts onto my plants from a field two miles away, my heirloom cultivar is now contaminated and worthless from a preservation standpoint. Worse yet, if I replant it or sell it unknowingly, the owner of the GMO gene can claim ownership of all my profits plus unspecified damages.

Pollution is pollution and the generator is ultimately responsible for the damages. It doesn't matter whether the pollutant is dioxin, mercury, or genetic material. It doesn't matter whether the process resulting in the pollution is a benefit to the "greater good" or not.

JMHO,
XNN

 

[Dustancostine]

It is pretty crappy that companies like that can claim ownership over your crop if they didn't control their own crop properly. It would seem it would be in their interest to sabotage your crop by secretly spray their pollen on your plants.

 

[Vancouverite90210]

MON-SATAN MUST BE DESTROYED

 

[thuja]

MON-SATAN MUST BE DESTROYED

absolutely right.

more people should be researching what is really going on, and at least read www.gmwatch.org regularl befoe they ignore the dangers, which will be very hard to undo.

pay attention to gmo crops for biofuel as well. we would be very sorry if this were to continue.

this is, in my opinion, the most dangerous thing going on right under people's noses.

 

[DanConway]

this is, in my opinion, the most dangerous thing going on right under people's noses.

I've started reading about GM food and the activities of Monsanto for the first time. I've read very little, but I think you may just be right.