You may or may not have heard about this case. Steve Marsh is a Western Australian farmer who lost his organic certification when his neighbour planted genetically modified canola (Monsanto). The seeds blew from the neighbours farm onto Steve’s property and contaminated his farm. Organic certification has zero tolerance for GMO and through no fault of his own, Steve’s livelihood has gone up in smoke. The Organic certifiers are working with Steve and doing their best to help him but even so. Steve has had one choice left remaining open to him and he has taken his neighbour to court to try to gain compensation for the loss of income and certification.
The case has been heard (it started on February 10th) but a verdict has not yet been reached, or at least not publically.
With many pro GMO organisations financially supporting the neighbour, Steve could do with a hand to help him cover court costs. Can you help?
Rabid Little Hippy 
This makes me so angry and Steve should not be left out of pocket. This is what is wrong with GMO, it just cannot be controlled.
If it wasn’t GMO and if the neighbours bull impregnated Steve’s cows of a different breed the neighbour would be expected to pay damages. This is no different. Except that GMO makes it 1000 times worse and then some.
Monsanto don’t believe they can be reigned in and that’s why they’re running amok. Until a bully cops a beating from a much smaller child then they will continue to be a bully. Here’s hoping Steve Marsh is the child that begins the beat back against the giant bully.
And in the US, they have quite the power-panel behind them.
I’m sure they will be here in force too before too long. 😦
Thanks for posting this, Jess. It’s horrible and not the first time this has occurred. Monsanto needs to be brought to its knees and then decapitated . . . and soon! They seem to have no idea that their actions will not only harm us, but also them and their descendants. Or they just don’t care . . . my definition of sociopathic! I have Steve’s name on my list. Can’t do anything yet, but soon, I hope.
My ears first pricked up to GMO in 2007. I was undertaking a subject, “Cultural Perspectives on Science and Technology”, through Swinburne University as part of my arts degree. I remember fondly reading about a Percy Schmeiser, a Canadian farmer who was in a stoush with Monsanto. Typical case: Schmeiser’s canola crop got contaminated with a neighbours GM seed. Monsanto went at Schmeiser hard. It was revealed in my research that Monsanto spends tens of millions each year investigating similar cases–they effectively have a squad of investigators and lawyers scouring the globe looking for cases they can take to court. The essay I was working on was originally going to be on the risks of GMO but after reading this I quickly decided to change it to be about Monsanto’s et al commitment to controlling the world food supply. That’s what I think it so wrong about GMO–it’s removing the democratic element of food and turning into yet another commodity, available to buy to the highest bidder. Sorry, but not food. Or water.
A faction of the left is now arguing against, and trying to distance itself from, anti-GMO camps. It’s doing so so that it doesn’t look “unscientific”, which is what they claim anti-GMO’s argument is. In the long run, GMO probably will be safe–given the opportunity–however that’s not something we can be sure about yet. But that doesn’t matter to me. This is food we’re talking about. It’s the ultimate right, is food. Don’t fuck with it, Big Business. Please don’t. If I want to grow tomatoes from seeds I have kept for a dozen seasons, I should damn well be able to do that. Keep your grubby mitts off them.
Yes, they are trying hard to take away our basic rights to grow our own food and that stinks! The problem is that Monsanto are HUGE and they, as you say, use their wealth and influence to track all the cases against them and they lend huge support behind those that grow their crops. That’s why Steve Marsh is suing his neighbour rather than Monsanto. It’s sadly guaranteed he will lose if he goes up against Monsanto direct (David and Goliath worked out well for David but sadly where Goliath=Monsanto, Goliath wins 😦 ) Steve has at least given his case half a chance by fighting someone his own size. Part of me feels for the neighbour but at the end of the day I agree with what Steve has done and I just hope this landmark case goes the way of the people, not corporations.
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