-Caveat Lector- Better Fascist Living through chemistry. Monsanto, that wonderful corporation that brought you Bovine Growth Hormone (banned in Canada as a cancer risk and cow udder infections) calls out the Gene Police. Hmm. Did I read that Al Gore's cousin was a corporate counsel for Monsanto and helped push through B.G.H. acceptance with the F.D.A.? flw 'Gene Police' Raise Farmers Fears "Farmers here are calling it a reign of terror," says Percy Schmeiser, of Saskatchewan. "Everyone's looking at each other and asking, 'Did my neighbor say something?'" (By Rick Weiss – The Washington Post) By Rick Weiss Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, February 3, 1999; Page A1 BRUNO, Saskatchewan – On a cold January morning in central Canada, Percy Schmeiser looks over his frozen fields. "Here's where all the trouble began," he says, pointing to where private investigators last year arrived uninvited and snipped samples of his crops for DNA tests. Schmeiser, 68, has been farming these fertile acres all his life, growing canola for the valuable oil in its seeds. And as farmers have done for thousands of years, he has saved some seeds from each year's harvest to replant his fields the following season. Now, he says, "for doing what I've always done," he is being sued by agribusiness giant Monsanto Co. in a landmark "seed piracy" case. The outcome could influence how much control biotechnology companies will have over the world's food supply in the next millennium, and is highlighting a major source of friction as the genetic revolution spills into the world of agriculture. Schmeiser is one of hundreds of farmers in the United States and Canada who stand accused by Monsanto of replanting the company's patented, gene-altered seeds in violation of a three-year-old company rule requiring that farmers buy the seeds fresh every year. He vehemently denies having bought Monsanto's seeds, saying pollen or seeds must have blown onto his farm, possibly from a neighbor's land. It's the company, Schmeiser says, that ought to be rebuked for its pattern of "harassment." Besides sending Pinkerton detectives into farmers' fields, the company sponsors a toll-free "tip line" to help farmers blow the whistle on their neighbors and has placed radio ads broadcasting the names of noncompliant growers caught planting the company's genes. Critics say those tactics are fraying the social fabric that holds farming communities together. "Farmers here are calling it a reign of terror," Schmeiser says. "Everyone's looking at each other and asking, 'Did my neighbor say something?' " Cases like Schmeiser's are also raising alarms within organizations that deal with global food security. That's because three-quarters of the world's growers are subsistence farmers who rely on saved seed. "This is a very alien and threatening concept to farmers in most of the world," said Hope Shand, research director of Rural Advancement Foundation International, an international farm advocacy group based in Pittsboro, N.C. "Our rural communities are being turned into corporate police states and farmers are being turned into criminals." Monsanto representatives say the company must strictly enforce the "no replant" policy to recoup the millions of dollars spent developing the seeds and to continue providing even better seeds for farmers. Already, they say, the new varieties are improving farmers' yields and profits and allowing them to abandon extremely toxic chemicals in favor of more environmentally friendly ones. A newer generation of engineered seeds, now under development, promises to produce food with enhanced nutritional value, providing a potential boon for the world's malnourished masses. "This is part of the agricultural revolution, and any revolution is painful. But the technology is good technology," said Karen Marshall, a spokeswoman for Monsanto in St. Louis. DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
