Research and Education Programs Grow New Varieties, Partners, and Staff This past year has been very rewarding for both our research effort and our educational outreach.
2010 Annual Report: Seed What Happens Looking forward to 2011 and beyond, our mission to support the ethical development and stewardship of seed remains critical. The urgency of our work is echoed in voices of farmers concerned about their right to save seed; evidenced in farmers’ requests for training in seed production; and expressed by the organic industry and eaters demanding food free of GE.
Organic Contamination Event Spurs Lawsuit An Australian organic canola farmer has identified genetically engineered (GE) seeds on two-thirds of his arable land. There’s a formal investigation underway and the farmer is planning to sue to recoup financial damages. This is the first lawsuit of its kind in Australia.
DOJ Workshops Conclude in DC Without Seed Discussion The Departments of Justice (DOJ) and Agriculture (USDA) concluded a year-long listening tour focused on competition concerns in agriculture. The agencies are still taking public comments. Click here for short talking points.
DOJ Seeks Justice for … Monsanto? Bloomberg reports that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) wants to appeal this week’s court order requiring the destruction of GE sugar beets.
Federal Court Orders Destruction of GE Sugar Beet Crop Organic Seed Alliance enjoyed a big victory in August when Jeffrey White, federal district judge for the Northern District of California, vacated USDA’s approval of Roundup Ready (RR) sugar beets pending a full Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Meaning, RR sugar beets are again a regulated crop and illegal to plant commercially. Yet, within weeks of this ruling, USDA permitted the planting of GE sugar beets (planted with the intent for future seed production). OSA joined a second lawsuit in September challenging these plantings, and yesterday Judge White decided that these sugar beets planted under USDA permit must be taken out of the ground.
Organicology: The study of a sustainable food future. February 10-12, 2011 Portland, Oregon
