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I read all the emails you guys are sending. I have very little time to respond, but I do try. Some readers have sent me some very good information about Monsanto that I hope to get added to that page before too much more time passes. Just so y’all know I’m not ignoring you!

March 7th, 2010 | Category: Blog, Safe Seed | Leave a comment

Seed Industry Structure

Philip Howard is an Assistant Professor at Michigan State University. His page at MSU says

I teach undergraduate and graduate courses in Community, Food and Agriculture, as well as a graduate course in Research Methods.

My research focuses on the ‘food system.’ The food system involves all of the steps required to produce food and get it to our plates–from farming and processing to distribution and consumption. My work is unified by three main questions:

* What changes are occurring?

* What are the impacts of these changes on communities?

* What can communities do to respond positively to these changes?

I currently have three main projects:

* characterizing consolidation in the food system, particularly in the rapidly growing organic sector

* exploring inequalities in ‘food environments’ and their potential relationships with health outcomes

* studying consumer interest in ‘ecolabels’ as a potential strategy for improving the livelihoods of small- and medium-scale farmers

I earned a PhD in Rural Sociology from the University of Missouri in 2002, and conducted postdoctoral research at the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems at the University of California, Santa Cruz until 2006.

View his page at MSU here.

I stumbled on an interesting chart done by the same man, showing the structure of the seed industry. Check this out.

This image is linked to a pdf file that is much easier to read.

More info on this page, including a video animation of the changes in the seed industry over time.

January 27th, 2010 | Category: Safe Seed | Leave a comment

Forbes and Monsanto

Speaking from a financial standpoint, Forbes is probably right to name Monsanto as company of the year (they’re weathering the recession quite well, imagine that), but from a “we don’t want your round up and genetically modified seed” standpoint, I mentally flipped Forbes off this morning when I saw this article at the dentist office. The article opens in a new window.

Keep in mind when they talk about the farmers having a choice, they are lying. Just like Walmart runs small businesses out of every town they come to, Monsanto has nearly run small seed companies into the ground. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to find old fashioned seed. Also keep in mind all their talk about crops planted with their genetically modified seed that are resistant to their own Round Up mean that those same crops are getting sprayed with Round Up and you’re eating it.

You might not care. I do. So I share what I find in an effort to give my readers the knowledge to make an informed choice.

January 26th, 2010 | Category: Safe Seed | 2 comments

Safe seed

Just a quick note, the Monsanto page has been updated. Make an effort to stay away from Lowes and Home Depot this year (at least for their seeds, I love Lowes otherwise).

And while you’re here, why not become a fan on Facebook?

January 25th, 2010 | Category: Blog, Safe Seed | Leave a comment

‘Superweed’ explosion threatens Monsanto heartlands

DoubleDanger sent this link through Twitter. It looks like Monsanto’s efforts are rewarding them in a similar manner to overuse of antibiotics creating superbugs.

The gospel of high-tech genetically modified (GM) crops is not sounding quite so sweet in the land of the converted. A new pest, the evil pigweed, is hitting headlines and chomping its way across Sun Belt states, threatening to transform cotton and soybean plots into weed battlefields.

In late 2004, “superweeds” that resisted Monsanto’s iconic “Roundup” herbicide, popped up in GM crops in the county of Macon, Georgia. Monsanto, the US multinational biotech corporation, is the world’s leading producer of Roundup, as well as genetically engineered seeds. Company figures show that nine out of 10 US farmers produce Roundup Ready seeds for their soybean crops.

Superweeds have since alarmingly appeared in other parts of Georgia, as well as South Carolina, North Carolina, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky and Missouri, according to media reports. Roundup contains the active ingredient glyphosate, which is the most used herbicide in the USA.

How has this happened? Farmers over-relied on Monsanto’s revolutionary and controversial combination of a single “round up” herbicide and a high-tech seed with a built-in resistance to glyphosate, scientists say.

(read more)

Please see the “How to avoid Monsanto” page to the right!

April 24th, 2009 | Category: Green Living, Safe Seed | One comment

Campbells is offering free seeds?

I’m not linking it directly, but a Google search for “campbells tomato seeds” should help you see what I mean. A basic internet search is coming up with very limited information, but what I am finding is Campbells grows their own tomatoes and Campbells soups are made with GE (genetically modified) tomatoes, so it would be safe to assume that the seeds they are providing are GE seeds. Help me out here folks! Should I start a list of foods and food companies to avoid?

March 19th, 2009 | Category: Safe Seed | 2 comments
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