As David versus Goliath battles go it is hard to imagine a more uneven fight than the one about to play out in front of the U.S. supreme court between Vernon Hugh Bowman and Monsanto.
On the one side is Bowman, a single 75-year-old Indiana soybean farmer who is still tending the same acres of land as his father before him in rural south-western Indiana. On the other is a gigantic multibillion-dollar agricultural business famed for its zealous protection of its commercial rights.
Not that Bowman sees it that way. "I really don't consider it as David and Goliath. I don't think of it in those terms. I think of it in terms of right and wrong," Bowman told The Guardian in an interview.
Either way, in the next few weeks Bowman and Monsanto's opposing legal teams will face off in front of America's most powerful legal body, weighing in on a case that deals with one of the most fundamental questions of modern industrial farming: who controls the rights to the seeds planted in the ground.
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
Best of luck to Mr. Bowman.
ReplyDeleteYes, best of luck to him. Monsanto is the company responsible for the genectically altered seeds that are sterile meaning that the seeds in the fruits and vegetables will not produce. Most seeds are like this now. Another way for Big Foods to gain more control and increase profits all to the detriment of society.
ReplyDeleteThe soybeans are not sterile.Lots of farmers would save beans to use as seed for the next year.Round up ready beans have a patent on them so you are not supposed to save them.
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