Originally published June 6 2012
Health freedom victory: Organic farmers file appeal vs. Monsanto
by Ethan A. Huff, staff writer
(NaturalNews) The freedom to grow uncontaminated, non-genetically-modified (non-GMO) food in America today is under continual threat by corporate agriculture and biotechnology companies whose unscrupulous business models include suing farmers whose crops become inadvertently contaminated with patented, GMO technologies. But a band of organic farmers and food freedom advocates is moving forward, despite opposition, with a lawsuit of their own that seeks permanent, injunctive protection against this predatory practice that is driving many farmers out of business.
As we reported last year (http://www.naturalnews.com/031922_Monsanto_lawsuit.html), a group of family farmers, seed companies, organic advocacy organizations, and health freedom activists decided to file a preemptive lawsuit against Monsanto seeking protection for farmers against potential lawsuits involving GMO contamination of their crops. The lawsuit seeks no monetary compensation, and is purely focused on establishing reasonable protections for farmers against corporate bullies that would seek to drive them out of business using supposed patent violations as their weapon of choice.
Since Monsanto has already reportedly filed some 144 lawsuits or more against family farmers in previous years for alleged patent violations, there is no guarantee that other organic and non-GMO farmers will not one day encounter the same legal battle. So to ensure that they themselves are not blamed for Monsanto's genetic trespassing, these farmers and farm advocacy groups are pushing for a legal precedent to be set that prohibits biotech giants from filing phony patent lawsuits.
"Absurd as it is, farmers can be sued for patent infringement should they come to 'possess' Monsanto technology as a result of 'trespass and contamination' of their crops by Monsanto seed -- even though common sense tells us that if anyone is trespassing here, it's Monsanto," writes Jack Adam Weber, a contributing writer for Wake Up World, in a recent piece about the issue.
"After watching their fellow farmers get sued and financially broken by Monsanto, the remaining mostly organic farmers and seed groups in the USA banded together to proactively fight back against the biotech bullies before they got rounded up by Monsanto's patent infringement gestapo. All the farmers are asking for now is that they be protected from lawsuits if GE plants are found growing inadvertently on their property."
Groups file appeal after case is dismissed by Judge Naomi Buchwald
Unfortunately, U.S. District Court Judge Naomi Buchwald recently dismissed the case, Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association et al. vs. Monsanto, claiming that it attempts to "create a controversy where none exists" (http://www.naturalnews.com). But that has not stopped OSGATA and its supporters.
According to Wake Up World, the plaintiffs have filed an appeal, which will soon be heard by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Manhattan, New York. And author of the announcement, Jack Adam Weber, has created a new petition of support for the case that he is asking all health freedom advocates to sign as a demonstration of solidarity: http://www.thepetitionsite.com
Also, be sure to check out the GMO Eradication Movement, also known as "GEM," which has an 11-step plan for eliminating GMOs worldwide: http://www.facebook.com
You can also help financially support OSGATA's legal efforts to protect organic and non-GMO farmers by visiting: http://www.osgata.org/support-osgata
The Just Label It! campaign is also working to push the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to require mandatory labeling of GMOs. You can support these efforts by visiting: http://justlabelit.org/
If your state is among those that are currently pushing for statewide GMO labeling laws -- these include California (http://www.labelgmos.org/), Vermont (http://vtdigger.org), Washington (http://events.r20.constantcontact.com), and Connecticut (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/22/gmo-labeling_n_1371260.html) -- be sure to support these efforts by joining their campaigns and calling your legislators to express support.
Sources for this article include:
http://wakeup-world.com
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