mmmoongoddess writes:

Monsanto Wins GMO Pollution Case In Canadian Supreme Court

Dear Friends,

It is a sad day for farmers, lovers of the earth and pure, unadulterated organic foods.

This morning the Canadian Supreme Court ruled AGAINST Percy Schmeiser in his suit against Monsanto.

Percy Schmeiser is a canola farmer of over 50 years from Saskatchewan who meticulously farmed, sorted, and saved his seed over many years. Several years ago his canola field was contaminated by pollen from Monsanto's Genetically Modified (GMO) Roundup Resistant canola plants being grown by neighboring farmers.

Canola is a seed that is about the size of, or a little smaller than, a mustard seed. It is very small, round, and has the consistency of water when you gather a lot of it together. This means that it is very easy to spill, leak and spread. In addition, the seed pods literally explode when touched, sending their seeds all about. A very effective means of propogation; that's nature!

Percy's field was contaminated, either by pollen-drift or by seed that spilled out of a neighbor's truck and collected at the edges of his field. Monsanto sued Percy for STEALING their patented Roundup Ready seeds and for not paying a fee for using their seed.

The Canadian Supreme court just ruled against Percy. This now sends a message to corporate agri-chemical GMO giants that they can spread their frankenfood seeds with impunity, at least in Canada; and I'm sure it won't be long until it is the same here in the U.S. But, it doesn't have to be this way!

For those in Vermont this is why it's IMPERATIVE that the Legislature pass the FARMER LIABILITY ACT which protects organic and conventional farmers from suits such as this. GMO corn is already being grown here in Vermont and it is a prolific pollinator. Organic corn farmers are at great risk from pollen drift from these GMO monsters. Contamination means the loss of their organic certification and, obviously, the loss of their income.

The legislative session is about over, and the Farmer Liability Bill was prevented from making it to the floor of the Vermont House of representatives. This summer is the time to **hold your representatives accountable** for their action on this issue (or inaction, if appropriate). Now is the time to continue the pressure by sending letters to the editor of your local papers and to inform your friends and neighbors of the dangers posed by GMO foods. You would be amazed at how uninformed people are about the presence of GMOs in processed foods.

For those of you not in Vermont, it's even more important for you to contact your legislators to introduce legislation protecting farmers from lawsuits such as this. Also, you can cite the GMO seed labeling law just passed in Vermont as an example of ways we can protect our food supply from unwanted GMOs. Mendocino county in California just passed a ban on GMOs in their county; Vermont is trying to do the same through a "Time Out on GMOs" bill. 78 Vermont towns have passed non-binding resolutions in opposition to GMOs being grown.

Strongly encourage your local health food stores and coops to begin food labeling systems. Since there are libel/liability concerns with explicitly labeling GM foods, what one coop has done is to label foods as "NON-GMO" or "GM (ingredient) FREE" and those that are questionable or proven to have Genetically modified ingredients are left *unlabeled*.

For more information:

Percy Schmeiser
www.percyschmeiser.com

GEFREE Vermont
www.gefreevt.org

Organic Consumers Association
www.purefoods.org

Jeffrey Smith's Seeds of Deception
(discusses in depth the food safety issues/dangers posed by GMOs)
www.seedsofdeception.com

Thank you, on behalf of the earth, farmers, and local control of our food supply,

Melissa Moon
mmmoongoddess@yahoo.com"