Re: Food for Thought

**"eczekalski" e*@gaias-gift.com**

I don't see how one can take the facts of this case and deduce "that anyone
whose crop is recipient of GM pollen is guilty of "stealing" that
technology"  The discussion that I read talked about the sources of the
_seed_, not pollen and the court didn't really deal with the issue of the
source of the seed, anyway.  

As I said a couple of days ago, my biggest problem is with the contention
that this case proves that pollen drift can contaminate crops.  I can't find
where pollen drift was asserted by Schmeiser.  And quotes attributed to him
that the seeds could have blown from neighboring farms, etc., further weaken
any assumption that he believed pollen drift was involved.

I thought years ago, when this first came up that pollen drift and potential
changes to open pollinated varieties were an issues that should be tested.
It should be tested every time a genetic mechanism is used to change seeds
in a way where the all effects are not fully understood; where there is
risk.  But substituting reliance on some weak theory that since Schmeiser
didn't admit to planting seeds, therefore pollen drift is proven, doesn't
help that cause.  

Esther Czekalski

-----Original Message-----
From: gardenwriters-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org
[g*@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of MARGARET
LAUTERBACH
Sent: Wednesday, February 01, 2006 2:25 PM
To: Garden Writers -- GWL -- The Garden Writers Forum
Subject: [GWL] Food for Thought

http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/genetics_modification/percyschmeiser.html<
http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/genetics_modification/percyschmeiserhtml>

 Five farmers neighbouring Schmeiser used Monsanto seeds, paying the company
a licensing fee of $15 an acre. 

Schmeiser says he did a field test on three acres of his canola crop and
discovered 60 per cent of the canola plants sprayed with Roundup herbicide
survived thickest in the ditch, thinner deeper into his canola crop.
Schmeiser has claimed all along that the Monsanto canola must have blown
onto his field, or fallen from passing trucks.

I was quite surprised that he lost his case, but apparently he had sprayed
Roundup on his canola and then saved seeds from those plants that survived
the spraying.  He then planted those saved seeds the following year.  I
think it was Monsanto's contention that he knew they were GM seeds, even
though acquired by wind or rough road or some other non-human intervention.
And that means that anyone whose crop is recipient of GM pollen is guilty of
"stealing" that technology.  I'd hope that Congress would set up some
protective legislation for farmers, but they're much more interested in
agribusiness.  We could sit back and wait for ADM and Monsanto lawyers to go
at each other, but it's more likely that one snake would swallow the other.
Margaret Lauterbach
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