Dr Sears (alsearsmd.com/GMOfoods)
Reveals the Shocking Truth About GMO Seeds and Food: by Sara, The Healthy Home
Economist.
***
Seed catalogs are
starting to arrive in mailboxes across the Northern Hemisphere with home
gardeners everywhere starting to plan which seeds they will sow in their spring
gardens.
A positive trend in
recent years is the growing number of gardening enthusiasts choosing to plant
gardens using organic and/or heirloom seeds.
What most of these
home gardeners don’t realize is that corporate behemoth and GMO titan Monsanto
has been gobbling up the seed market faster than a caterpillar can munch a
tomato plant! With one fell swoop in 2005, Monsanto
grabbed approximately 40% of the US vegetable seed market with its acquisition of Seminis.
This means that a
home gardener could unknowingly be supporting the development and proliferation
of genetically modified crops if the seeds used are from Seminis. In
addition, Monsanto
now apparently owns many of the names of the seed varieties themselves!
Planting a
sustainable home garden is much more than just choosing certified organic seeds
and seedlings because Monsanto has cleverly positioned itself to make money off
the home gardening trend.
Does this mean that
even if you buy organic or heirloom seeds from a completely independent company
some of your purchase might be supporting the bad guys?
Yes, it does.
Surprise!
Home gardeners
would do well to bone up on where to purchase their seeds so they
aren’t inadvertently doing business with companies that maintain a working
relationship with Monsanto-Seminis or were acquired by them.
My friend Beth in
Minnesota, an avid food researcher, has been digging around to figure out the
best ways to buy seeds and seedlings for your home garden without one red cent
going to Monsanto.
Buying
Organic or Heirloom Seeds Without Supporting Monsanto
Beth has done her
very best to make sure the information she has uncovered is current and
pertinent with updated listings for the 2013 growing season. Here are the
steps she recommends for those who want to truly strike a blow for
sustainability in every way with their home gardens:
1.
Avoid buying from
the seed companies affiliated with Monsanto. Here’s a list of these seed companies (click under “Where to
Buy” and select your location for a list of dealers to avoid): http://www.seminis.com/global/us/Pages/default.aspx
2. Buy from this list of companies Monsanto HASN’T bought and are
not affiliated or do business with Seminis. http://www.seedsave.org/
3. Avoid certain heirloom varieties
because Monsanto now apparently owns the names. This article lists the seed varieties to
avoid:
http://againstthewall.info/2013/04/09/monsanto-owned-heirloom-seednames-to-watch-out-for/
Unfortunately the foregoing site has been shut
down.
4. Ask seed
companies if they have taken the Safe Seed Pledge. Here’s a list of companies that have done so:
More Background on Monsanto’s Quest for World Seed Domination
Monsanto’s corporate quest is clearly to make money on each and every
one of us whether we choose to eat supermarket frankenfoods produced with abominable,
patented GM crops or carefully plant and tend an organic garden at home.
Here’s some background information on the subject you may find
interesting as well as enlightening:
-http://www.agardenforthehouse.com/2012/02/forewarned-is-forearmed-veggie-varieties-owned-by-monsanto/
-http://www.agardenforthehouse.com/2012/02/keep-monsanto-out-of-your-veggie-patch/
-http://www.treehugger.com/green-food/keep-monsanto-out-of-your-garden-this-spring.html
Please spread the word via gardening forums you may
participate in that folks need to be very careful when seed sourcing for their
spring gardens this year else they might be unknowingly supporting Monsanto.
Let’s make this the year when Monsanto’s grip on the worldwide
seed market loosens and the movement to seed sustainability gains momentum!
**Update: The
day after this article was published, the CEO of a large soybean seed company
in the Midwest emailed me complaining that the article was short sighted and
insisting that Monsanto is helping feed the starving people of the world.
He even went so far as to say that GMO crops are “proven safe”. Click here
for the text of this CEO’s entire email plus my written reply.
I have also received email complaints from two other seed companies,
one in Canada and one in Arkansas, that do business with Monsanto-Seminis and
were offended by what they viewed as inaccuracies in the post. In
response, I have adjusted the text slightly and moved linked sources to within
the text rather than only listed at the end to make the message of the post as
clear and precise as possible so as to not result in any consumer confusion
over the information.
I have received no complaints about this article from
seed companies completely independent of any affiliation or ties to
Monsanto-Seminis.
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
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