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There are some other points that need to be borne in mind when considering the implications of Monsanto’s business practices:
There is no such thing as containment. Believe me, as a farmer for over half a century. I know that you cannot contain a life form once you put it into the environment. Whatever the level of contamination of plants, whether 1% or 0.3% of genetically modified material, this genetic pollution will become all pervasive. There is no such thing as containment.
There is no such thing as coexistence. Introduce a genetically modified organism into the environment and it becomes dominant. It will contaminate an organic farm or a conventional farm in a matter of just a few years. After the introduction of genetically modified canola in 1996 within two years super weeds had become dominant. Now what is a super-weed? A super-weed in this case is mutant canola which carried genes modified by two other companies as well as those of Monsanto. These modified genes are now all in one plant it has become a super weed, polluting the entire western prairies. It is in wheat fields, barley fields, and oat fields, and it takes a new, more powerful highly toxic chemical to kill it. There is no such thing as co-existence.
Organic farmers in Canada can no longer grow two crops: Soya beans and canola. All our seed is contaminated. We can no longer sell one bushel of canola to the European Union. We have lost our markets all over the world.
But I think the greatest curse is still coming. And that’s coming in the line of prescription drug plants or ‘pharma-plants’. There are six major drugs that are now being produced by genetically modified plants: vaccines, industrial enzymes, blood thinners, blood clotting proteins, growth hormones and contraceptives. What if somebody has had major surgery and they then eat food that is contaminated with genes from a plant manufactured to be a blood thinner? Or what about a pregnant woman who eats food contaminated by genes from a plant that is manufactured as a contraceptive? Remember, there is no such thing as containment or co-existence.
What kind of a legacy do we want to leave to our children and our grandchildren? A legacy of land, food, water and air full of poisons? No we want to leave a legacy of land, food, air and water full of health and vitality. I have a message especially to the younger generation: Your rights and your freedoms can be lost overnight, your choice to eat healthily can be taken away. The law in Canada has enabled corporations to deny the rights of farmers to grow and save their own uncontaminated seeds. We are determined to spend the rest of our lives, if necessary, protecting our human rights.
Percy Schmeiser is a Canadian farmer and activist. For further information visit ; www. Percyschmeiser.com
