How can you know for any processed food? Also, for many crops, the pollen travels so far that it is almost impossible to not grow some GM food. The follow extract from Steal This Idea illustrates this problem, as well as the abhorrent behavior of Monsanto -- After, Jim's question.
On Sat, Jul 22, 2006 at 04:59:28PM -0700, Jim Devine wrote: > here in the US, the main thing is that we want to be told if what > we're eating is GM or not. We haven't the slightest idea in most > cases. > Similarly, when Monsanto sells seeds to a farmer, the corporation makes the farmer agree to a stringent set of conditions about how the seed will be used. In fact, the company even denies that it has sold the seeds to the farmer, claiming that it has merely rented the rights to its intellectual property. If the company suspects that the farmer has violated the conditions of the "purchase," it brings the legal system down heavily on the farmer. Monsanto just won a case against a Canadian farmer who insisted that the genetically engineered characteristics of the plants that he grew were the result of pollen that had drifted from neighbors' fields. The case was even more curious because Monsanto engineered its seeds to have one particular characteristic: the plants were resistant to Monsanto's Roundup, Monsanto's best-selling herbicide, so that farmers could spray large quantities of herbicide without damaging the crop. This particular farmer, Percy Schmeiser, did not farm in such a way that this herbicide resistance would be of any use to him. The decision ruled that "the source ... is really not significant." The judge also decided: ##In my opinion, whether or not that crop was sprayed with Roundup during its growing period is not important. Growth of the seed, reproducing the patented gene and cell, and sale of the harvested crop constitutes taking the essence of the plaintiffs' invention, using it, without permission. In so doing the defendants infringed upon the patent interests of the plaintiffs. [McKay 2001] The farmer had the responsibility to call Monsanto and tell them that they should reclaim their intellectual property by removing the plants from his fields (McKay 2001). Roger Hughes, the Monsanto attorney, even argued, "Whether Mr. Schmeiser knew of the matter or not matters not at all" (White 2000). The judge did not say whether he was willing to go that far. Monsanto had 475 seed piracy cases nationwide as of 1998 (Anon. 1998). After its heavy-handed tactics came under criticism, it shrouded its legal activity in secrecy. I telephoned Monsanto's public relations office, but the representative refused to release any information to me. None of the people who follow the company closely have had any success in finding recent information about the extent of this activity. What is common in all these cases is that the control of the intellectual property goes to the most powerful party, whether it be the purchaser of a story or the seller of software or seeds. -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail michael at ecst.csuchico.edu
