The Open Source Seed Pledge Has Launched!

As far as I'm concerned, this is the most brilliant attempt at fighting Monsanto I've seen to date.

I have written many threads on Monsanto and have watched them grow into the Monster that they are. We are basically being poisoned slowly by this company that is so intertwined in Govt. that it's impossible to not only avoid but to detect.

Every single one of us is at risk as they are gaining more ground Globally in their attempt to basically own the World's food. And they seem to be winning because Govt. is right there with them.

So what can be done on a small scale to avoid them? Your own garden is a start with heirloom seeds that you can grow and harvest your seed for the next year. But that isn't as safe as we would wish it to be.

Remember that if your garden somehow gets cross pollinated with Monsanto seed, you are breaking the law and they have the ability to come after you for using their seed. Even if a bird or the wind was the cause of the cross pollination.

Remember this?

Supreme Court Hands Monsanto Victory Over Farmers on GMO Seed Patents and Ability to Sue
www.globalresearch.ca...

The US Supreme Court upheld biotech giant Monsanto’s claims on genetically-engineered seed patents and the company’s ability to sue farmers whose fields are inadvertently contaminated with Monsanto materials.

So where does this leave us as humans on a planet that people want to basically own for themselves and a Govt. that helps them to do so? How is it possible to own ALL the food? To patent it? Contaminate your land and sue for it?

It makes me wonder how easy it would be to do land grabs. Cross contaminate a farm, sue the farmer into bankruptcy and pick up that land for pennies on the dollar. Nice set-up huh?

oops...forgot the point in my rant...

We have some heroes coming out to stand against the monster and we can all play a part...

OPEN SOURCE SEEDS!

Novel Open Source Seed Pledge aims to keep new vegetable and grain varieties free for all

This week, scientists, farmers and sustainable food systems advocates will gather on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus to celebrate an unusual group of honored guests: 29 new varieties of broccoli, celery, kale, quinoa and other vegetables and grains that are being publicly released using a novel form of ownership agreement known as the Open Source Seed Pledge.


The pledge, which was developed through a UW-Madison-led effort known as the Open Source Seed Initiative, is designed to keep the new seeds free for all people to grow, breed and share for perpetuity, with the goal of protecting the plants from patents and other restrictions down the line.

The Open Source Seed Initiative (OSSI) was established in 2011 by public plant breeders, farmers, non-governmental organization staff and sustainable food systems advocates from around the nation concerned about the decreasing availability of plant germplasm-seeds-for public plant breeders and farmer-breeders to work with.


Many of the seeds for our nation's big crop plants – field corn and soybeans – are already restricted through patents, licenses and other forms of intellectual property protection. Increasingly, this is happening to vegetable, fruit and small grain seeds.

You can gather more info and order from The Open Source Initiative here:
www.opensourceseedinitiative.org...

So does this sound confusing? Too much effort to make a pledge? Nope....Here's how it's done:

Unlike the comprehensive open source licenses the OSSI group originally tried to develop, the pledge is very concise. It's so short it will be printed on all OSSI seed packets. "It's almost like a haiku," says Goldman. "It basically says these seeds are free to use in any way you want. They can't be legally protected. Enjoy them."


By opening the packet, a person signals their commitment to keep those seeds-and any future plant derivatives bred using them-in the public domain.

How easy is that?

Why do they do it? What's the point?

"This is the birth of a movement," says Kloppenburg. "Open source means sharing, and shared seed can be the foundation of a more sustainable and more just food system."

I don't know about you but I'm absolutely on board with this. If nothing is done you and your children will not be able to escape GMO on your plate. Even Russia has banned Monsanto.

Here’s a list of countries (and U.S. counties) that have banned genetically modified crops in one way or another. You will also find the Countries that have embraced it? Notice a pattern?
naturalrevolution.org...

We have to ask ourselves, if GMO is as good as they want you to believe why are so many Nations banning it? Why is the West embracing it?

Money.

I know this will never turn around because things like this never do and it becomes part of our lives so much that eventually it's just the norm. But individually you have a choice and here's a good start. The Open Source Seed idea is a great start to that independence and the greatest part is the spreading of the idea in a quiet but effective way.

Peace