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« THE PRESERVATION FRONT | Main | I’M PICKLED »

September 25, 2008

By Anais | email author

Monsanto Takeover Targets Fruits & Vegetables

Fact: 40% of seed varieties sold in the United States are owned by Monsanto.

Noted for its aggressive advocacy of genetically modified crops and its dominance in biotechnology, Monsanto will now have a major presence in the vegetable seed business for the first time.

We aren’t talking genetically modified seeds here were are talking about who is supplying the seeds.  Even if you purchase non gmo seeds from a seed company who touts a ‘Safe Seed Pledge’ that variety may still be OWNED by Monsanto.  Sorry to break the bad news to you, but that’s the facts folks.  We, yes even PTF, is supporting the big M by purchasing seeds from our favorite seed companies and you probably are too.

Out of the 2,500 varieties that Monsanto has acquired from the Seminis takeover, here are a few of the published veg varieties that we know that Monsanto owns:

Beans: EZ Gold, Eureka, Goldrush, Kentucky King, Lynx, Bush Blue Lake 94

Carrot: Nutri-Red, Sweet Sunshine, Karina, Chantenay #1, Chantilly, Lariat

Cucumber: Dasher II, Daytona, Turbo, Speedway, Sweet Slice, Yellow Submarine, Sweeter Yet

Lettuce: Esmeralda, Lolla Rossa (and derivatives), Red Sails, Red Tide, Blackjack, Summer time, Monet, Baby Star, Red Butterworth

Melons: Alaska, Bush Whopper, Casablanca, Dixie Jumbo, Early Crisp

Onion: Arsenal, Hamlet, Red Zeppelin, Mars, Superstar, Candy

Peppers: Valencia, Camelot, King Arthur, Red Knight, Aristotle, Northstar, Biscane, Caribbean Red, Serrano del Sol, Early Sunsation, Fat and Sassy

Spinach: Melody, Unipack 151Spinach, Bolero, Cypress

Squash: Autumn Delight, Bush Delicata (producer-vendor), Really Big Butternut, Early Butternut, Buckskin Pumpkin (AAS), Seneca Autumn, Table ace

Tomato: Big Beef, Beefmaster, First Lady I and II, Early Girl, Pink Girl, Golden Girl, Sunguard, Sun Chief Sweet, Baby Girl, Sweet Million

Watermelon: Royal Flush, Royal Star (pet), Stargazer, Starbright, Stars and Stripes, Yellow doll, Tiger

Zucchini/Summer Squash: Blackjack, Daisy, Fancycrook, Sunny Delight, Lolita, Sungreen

They aren’t not done yet!  Recently Monsanto purchased one of the largest Internationa Eurpoean based Seed Company.

Monsanto is now the largest supplier of vegetables seeds.

So what to do?  Start saving fazing out listed Monsanto owned varieties, reach where your seeds come from and or save your own.

Taking Back Our Food Supply

Before agriculture became an industry, every gardener, farmer was responsible for the availability of seed for next years crop.  With this recent merger and marketing tactics that has allow a certain “M”-onopoly to take over over the majority of the seed population. Seed-saving is one among many tactics of reclaiming our power (and freedom) to grow our own food, and an indispensable step towards fully sustainable and secure future.

The shift from public to private seed systems

Monsanto Purchases World’s Largest Vegetable Seed Company

The seeds of vegetable diversity

How to Save (y)Our Seeds

Seed Save

S.O.S Campaign & use our sister site Freedom Gardens to connect, meetup and swap seeds with local homegrown revolutionaries

(10 votes)  Loading ...

Topics: Posts by Anais, Save Our Seeds | Tags: monsanto, save our seeds, seed diversity

RELATED POSTS:

• DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR SEED COMES FROM?
• SEEDS OF DEATH
• THE ATTACK OF GM VEGGIES
• READER’S INPUT
• FREEDOM IN JEOPARDY

19 Responses to “S.O.S”

1. 1916home.net Says:
   September 25th, 2008 at 11:11 am

   I am EXTREMELY proud you are outting Monsanto! They are crooks! There are plenty of good videos out on the internet about them (search for them on google video)…

   -The Future of Food
   -The World According to Monsanto

   and a new one I havent seen yet called…

   -Monsanto: Patent For A Pig

   There is also another company similar to Monsanto called “Syngenta”… keep an I out for them too!

2. Bill McDorman Says:
   September 25th, 2008 at 11:55 am

   The real answer is for us all to return to the 10,000 year-old ritual that made civilization possible. Everyone needs to grow and save some of their own seeds from the plants doing best in their own environments. Bring the seeds you save to an annual pot luck seed saving dinner organized in your area every fall. Trade for the other seeds you need. This is a simple system that will save us. Don’t have a dinner to go to yet? Organize one. Use Meetup.com. You can find detailed seed saving information on the website of this 20 year-old non-profit dedicated to seed saving:

   http://www.seedsave.org/issi/issi_904.html

3. gerry medland Says:
   September 25th, 2008 at 12:16 pm

   Will spread the ‘M’ word news this side of the pond!These guys are without decency and morally without a ‘conscience’.
   Thanx for the wonderful articles!
   blessings,
   gerry m x
   UK

4. Matt Says:
   September 25th, 2008 at 12:18 pm

   I still can’t believe that a company is allowed to own a seed variety. It boggles the mind.

5. Lori from Michigan Says:
   September 25th, 2008 at 1:01 pm

   Monsanto continues to metastisize like a cancer - slowly, insideously, and with bad intent.

   It makes me shudder. Thanks for keeping a watchful eye on this evil and for keeping us informed.

6. jason Says:
   September 25th, 2008 at 3:30 pm

   So, will all of their varieties, regardless of source, require royalty payments, like they’ve done with gm grains? Sounds like vintage seeds and saving our own is moving up in priority!

   Thanks for the post.

7. Tracy from Kansas Says:
   September 26th, 2008 at 7:46 am

   We already save almost all our own seed. We enjoy having control of the variety and trying to improve it over the generations.

8. Janice Says:
   September 26th, 2008 at 1:57 pm

   I’ve been saving seeds this season. I hope they sprout next spring! I’ve purchased from Seeds of Change before, but you told me they were bought out by Mars(candybars!) I will be joining Seed Savers Exchange next.

   I wonder what a candybar company wants with seeds anyhow…?

9. Nuno Says:
   September 26th, 2008 at 2:38 pm

   Apparently if you save seed from a particular variety that Monsanto has patented you may be sued for copyright infringment.

   http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02.....ref=slogin

   Because they can now patent life itself you now have to hide one of the most ancient human rituals- saving seed.

   It would have sounded sci-fi 10 years ago but it is the reality we have to deal with in 2008.

10. Paulo and Pamela Says:
    September 27th, 2008 at 8:27 am

    Here, after we buy seeds (organic or not) we save them always thereafter.

    In Portugal we have a low-profile NGO that gathers traditional varieties from our country, from different places/climates, and distributes these for free to their affiliates!

11. Julie Young Says:
    September 27th, 2008 at 5:56 pm

    But surely, these seed varieties whose names you’ve published are HYBRID seeds - the product of industrialised seed production which was and continues to be designed for the purpose of creating dependence on the provider of those seeds.

    Anyone who is truly concerned about global food security and the independence of the citizen will only purchase OPEN-POLLINATED seed which cannot be patented etc.

12. Judy Says:
    September 28th, 2008 at 1:31 am

    I just read this in one of the articles:

    ” In 1997, Monsanto began to insert its Roundup resistant gene into one of Seminis’ lettuces”

    I had no idea that there was also RoundUp ready lettuce!

13. Nuno Says:
    September 28th, 2008 at 3:49 pm

    Thank you for the information Julie, I had no idea and am looking into it right now!

    Olá Paulo,

    Can you send me a link or your NGO contact in Portugal?

    De um conterrâneo!

14. Sinfonian Says:
    September 29th, 2008 at 9:52 pm

    GRRRR, I’m both mad and dissapointed. Territorial Seed Co, where I got all my seeds this year, signed the GMO free pledge but still sells Monsanto seeds. Heck, two of the names on the list are in my garden… Red Sails lettuce (I hope it’s not the Round-up Ready one!) and Early Girl tomatoes. Heck, even our local newspaper recommended Early Girls as one of the few good producers for my climate.

    Anyone know a good producing early variety tomato that works in the PNW that ISN’T owned by the big M? Shoot me an email or post on my blog. Thanks!

    I will have to mention my displeasure with Territorial next time I talk to them… not that the clerks care. BTW, I discussed it in my blog a bit tonight I was so mad, and linked folks here. Hope you don’t mind.

15. Renee Says:
    September 30th, 2008 at 12:37 pm

    Thanks for posting this! Should serve as a great reference for me to cross check things when I order my seeds this year. Every year I seem to save more and more of the varieties I grow, but I always get “seed fever” and end up buying a bunch as well.

16. Julianna Says:
    October 22nd, 2008 at 1:08 am

    Baker’s Creek still is monsanto free! I have almost exclusively bought from them for this next season… Thank you for making Monsanto more publically exposed than before.

17. Theresa Says:
    November 17th, 2008 at 7:58 am

    I had heard about this. Fedco published information on their site and how they had dropped some of their best sellers because of the Evil M taking over those varieties.

    This is truly scary!

18. NEW BEGINNINGS | Little Homestead in the City Says:
    January 2nd, 2009 at 4:59 pm

    [...] few months later, we added the Harvest Keeper Challenge and Save Our Seeds.  LHITC blog exposed the underside of the seed industry; encouraged people to ‘Say Ahhhh’; Liberate their Lawns, be a ‘Conscientious [...]

19. THE ATTACK OF GM VEGGIES | Little Homestead in the City Says:
    November 13th, 2009 at 10:21 am

    [...] Here at LHITC we’ve talked countless times about seed sovereignty issues and saving seeds. [...]

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