12 Steps to Whole Foods

Reaping a Gardener’s Rewards
When you have tasted an heirloom tomato, you remember how God
intended tomatoes to taste. They bear no resemblance to Monsanto’s
high-yield, early picked, chemically ripened “tomatoes” sold in grocery
stores. Another handful of companies, combined with Monsanto,
control 98% of the world’s seeds. Those other agri-chemical companies
include DuPont, Mitsui, Syngent, Aventis, and Dow.
In the past 30 years, this conglomerate of companies has decimated seed
diversity, squeezing the number of varieties of vegetables from over
5,000 to fewer than 500. We depend on biodiversity for our survival in
natural calamities (such as drought or pest infestation) that can wipe out
large swaths of agriculture. If you plant your heirloom crop within five
miles of a hybridized farm, genetically engineered plants will crosspollinate
with yours. Then, Monsanto’s secret police can find out if your
crop has Monsanto’s patented genetics and take you to court against
their lawyers and deep pockets. You will have to hire expensive genetic
testing and legal counsel, as other farmers have had to do, driving them
into bankruptcy.
I would like to encourage you to take a little extra time to find, purchase, plant, and store heirloom seeds only.
(Heirloomseeds.com is one place you can still acquire non-hybridized seed.) This is just one way you can take
a stand against the unethical, profiteering, deadly practices of Monsanto, and preserve the great things of our
past. Store a few years' worth of seeds in sealed cans in cold storage.
Knowing what we face in the coming generations—as Monsanto may increasingly control our institutions,
including the entire industry of farming, and our policy-making government—may motivate you to get your
hands in the dirt and take an important step to control the food you eat. The Seed Savers Exchange web site is
www.seedsavers.org. I agree with their mission statement, which begins with this premise: “The future of our
planet depends on a genetically diverse food supply.”
Also please take the time to educate your lawmakers and take a stand against Monsanto’s practices and agenda.
Europe has banned Monsanto products. We should take our agricultural policy back from greedy corporations
and put it back in the hands of the people who have nourished us for thousands of years: small farmers and
anti-trust laws that protect the free market system.
At the time of this writing (2011) over 60 small companies have joined together to file a class-action lawsuit
against Monsanto for a variety of egregious practices.
122 12 Steps to Whole Foods
© Copyright Robyn Openshaw