Farmer Sues Monsanto After Finding GM Wheat in Traditional Crop
A recently filed lawsuit in Kansas marks at least the third in that state, where traditional farmers are hoping to take a stand against the seed-giant Monsanto.
Traditional farmers, not wanting to raise genetically-modified crops, have their work cut out for them. GM crops are invasive and experts warn that their take-over is inevitable. This world-takeover is especially believable with all of the recent news concerning contamination of the global food supply by unwanted and even unapproved genetically modified crops.
According to The Associated Press, farmer Bill Buddle of Harvey County, Kansas filed his suit in federal court this week against St. Louis-based Monsanto. He discovered GM-wheat in his field in May, a discovery he no doubt lamented. Similar lawsuits have been filed in Idaho and Washington state. The farmers are seeking class-action status, which would give them more collective power against the corporation.
For their part, Monsanto says they are not responsible or legally liable when their unapproved GM-wheat makes its way into farmland. They maintain their wheat has not entered the commercial market and the wheat being found, therefore, is not their responsibility.
Just a few weeks ago they pointed fingers at angry activists, suggesting people who want to see them go down may have planted the GM-crops in an effort to sabotage them. This, after an unapproved strain of GM-wheat was discovered growing in an Oregon field.
“It’s fair to say there are folks who don’t like biotechnology and would use this to create problems,” said vice president and chief technology officer Robb Fraley. And while he’s right—people don’t like Monsanto—it’s juvenile to suggest that they had no role in the spread of their own seeds.
Wheat isn’t the only genetically modified crop popping up across the globe. GM-flax and rice have both been found in countries where they are not approved for production or consumption, despite many of these countries doing everything in their power to keep the franken-crops out.
Contamination of the world’s food supply is said to be inevitable. Farmers like this latest one in Kansas are doing their part to hold Monsanto to task, demanding accountability from a corporation most interested in making money and casting blame. As global disdain for companies like Monsanto grows, we can hope to effectively loosen their grip, at the very least, and perhaps even one day take them down.