Moving on from Bowman v. Monsanto: Are Courts the Right Place for the Battle Over Seed Patents?

Vernon Bowman, photo courtesy of New York Times. Early last week, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of Monsanto in a case that pitted Indiana farmer Vernon Hough Bowman against the agribusiness giant. The Court unanimously held that Bowman violated Monsanto’s patent on genetically modified soybeans when he procured seeds from a grain elevator and used them to plant and select out Roundup resistant seeds for future plantings. In saving... Read More

Updates from DC: Victories on Conservation, Action Needed Today on Loans, GMO’s, and Meat

Thank you all so much for making calls over the past week regarding the Senate vote on funding farmer programs!  We have some news to report, and one more thing to ask of you, so read on: A Senate Agriculture hearing The proposed Continuing Resolution (the government’s 6-month budget plan) that was announced on Monday did indeed fix the funding problem for the Conservation Stewardship Program and for two other programs, the Farm and Ranch Land... Read More

Take a Stand in DC to Challenge Monsanto’s Aggression Against Family Farmers

Farmers Against Monsanto, courtesy of fooddemocracynow.org If you’re able to be in Washington, DC tomorrow (Thursday, January 10th), please come out to stand in solidarity with the 30 farmers fighting to defend American agriculture.  They will will be appealing their landmark court case challenging Monsanto’s abusive patent infringement lawsuits and could use your support! The assembly will take place at 10 AM at Lafayette Square (H Street... Read More

California’s Prop 37, a primer

With the defeat of Prop 37 in last week’s election, a long campaign battle in California has drawn to a close—for now.  According to Ballotpedia, the proposition’s outline is as follows: “If Proposition 37 has been approved, it would have: Required labeling on raw or processed food offered for sale to consumers if the food is made from plants or animals with genetic material changed in specified ways. Prohibited labeling or advertising such... Read More

New Campaign Urges Labeling of Genetically Modified Foods

A new campaign, Just Label It, has been launched to require that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) label foods from genetically modified organisms (GMOs).  An accompanying video, Labels Matter, was also just released to educate people about the risks of eating genetically modified foods and to encourage people to fight to know what’s in their food.   Produced through a collaboration between the Just Label It campaign and Food, Inc.... Read More