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Seed
catalogs are starting to arrive in mailboxes across the Northern
Hemisphere with home gardeners everywhere starting to plan which seeds
they will sow in their spring gardens.A positive trend in recent years is the growing number of gardening enthusiasts choosing to plant gardens using organic and/or heirloom seeds.
What most of these home gardeners don’t realize is that corporate behemoth and GMO titan Monsanto has been gobbling up seed companies faster than a caterpillar can munch a tomato plant!
This means that a home gardener could purchase organic and/or heirloom seeds and unknowingly be supporting the development and proliferation of genetically modified crops because Monsanto now owns many of the names of the seeds themselves!
Planting a sustainable home garden is much more than just choosing certified organic seeds and seedlings because Monsanto has cleverly positioned itself to make money off the home gardening trend whenever and wherever the seeds whose names they own are purchased.
Does this mean that even if you buy organic or heirloom seeds from a completely independent company but Monsanto owns the name of that seed, some of your purchase is going into the pockets of the bad guys?
Yes, it does.
Surprise!
In addition, Monsanto has quietly been gobbling up many of the organic seed companies so home gardeners would do well to bone up on where to purchase their seeds so they aren’t inadvertently doing business with companies that maintain a working relationship with Monsanto-Seminis or were acquired by them.
My friend Beth in Minnesota, an avid food researcher, has been digging around to figure out the best ways to buy seeds and seedlings for your home garden without one red cent going to Monsanto.
Buying Organic or Heirloom Seeds Without Supporting Monsanto
Beth has done her very best to make sure the information she has uncovered is current and pertinent with updated listings for the 2013 growing season. Here are the steps she recommends for those who want to truly strike a blow for sustainability in every way with their home gardens:- Avoid buying from the seed companies Monsanto has devoured. Here’s a list of the seed companies they bought out: http://www.seminis.com/glo
bal/us/products/Pages/Home-Gar den.aspx - Buy from this list of companies Monsanto HASN’T bought: http://www.occupymonsanto360.org/2012/03/06/monsanto-free-seed-companies/
- Avoid certain heirloom varieties because Monsanto now owns the names of these seeds. A short article explaining this issue: http://www.occupymonsanto360.o
rg/2012/03/17/monsanto-owned-s eednames/ - Ask seed companies if they have taken the Safe Seed Pledge. Here’s a list of companies that have done so: http://www.councilforresponsib
legenetics.org/ViewPage.aspx? pageId=261
More Background on Monsanto’s Quest for World Seed Domination
Monsanto’s corporate quest is clearly to make money on each and every one of us whether we choose to eat supermarket frankenfoods produced with abominable, patented GM crops or carefully plant and tend an organic garden at home. Here’s some background information on the subject you may find interesting as well as enlightening:http://www.agardenforthehouse.
http://www.agardenforthehouse.
http://www.treehugger.com/gree
If you are a home gardener and have information to contribute regarding these steps, please add to the discussion in the comments section. Also, please spread the word via gardening forums you may participate in that folks need to be very careful when seed sourcing for their spring gardens this year else they might be unknowingly supporting Monsanto.
Let’s make this the year when Monsanto’s grip on the worldwide seed market loosens and the movement to seed sustainability gains momentum!
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
Picture Credit
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Dick Zondag,
President & Owner of
J. W. Jung Seed Co.
Dear Lisa Brinker ,
It has come to my attention that there have been blogs and websites stating that J. W. Jung Seed Company is owned by Monsanto. This is not true. We are being confused with a farm seed company by the name of Jung Seed Genetics that is owned by Monsanto, but there is no affiliation between us.
A little company history may be helpful in clearing up the confusion. J. W. Jung Seed Company and its garden centers are still family owned and operated. My name is Dick Zondag and my grandfather, J. W. Jung, started the business here in Randolph over 106 years ago. For a number of years the Jung family operated both a home garden company known as J. W. Jung Seed Company and a farm seed company called Jung Farms. Over 15 years ago, the 2 companies split, with the Seed Company becoming solely owned by the Zondag family (my mother was J. W. Jung’s daughter). Jung Farms became solely owned by my uncle and cousin, the name was changed to Jung Seed Genetics and several years ago they sold this farm seed company to Monsanto.
1-800-247-5864
M-F 7:30am-5:30pm CST
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J. W. Jung Seed Company has been independent and family owned and operated since its beginnings in 1907. There is no desire to sell it to another company. In fact, my son Nathan has been working here for the last 5 years and is in training to take over upon my retirement, but I have no desire to sell the company my grandfather started in his mother’s kitchen. We have added additional niche-type catalog titles over the years to expand the home-garden business. We also own and operate 5 successful garden centers in Wisconsin which were started under my dad’s direction.
Another source of confusion is that under the Monsanto umbrella is a very small home-garden division called Seminis Gardens that produces and sells some well-known, time-proven, non-GMO varieties, including many varieties that are All-America Selections Winners. These were developed and introduced long before Monsanto owned Seminis and were originally sold under the Petoseed brand. Many of our customers have grown to love these vegetables and would be very disappointed if we no longer offered them. We recognize there are strong anti-Monsanto sentiments by some consumers, so we will publish a list of Seminis varieties we offer on our website in the event they wish to avoid purchasing them.
It’s my wish that bloggers and journalists would do more fact checking before they publish untruths so that letters like this are not necessary. But instead, they hide behind the anonymity of the internet and spread their vicious untruths. If any of you wish to speak with me directly regarding this matter, please call. If I am not available, leave your phone number and I will contact you with the correct facts.
Sincerely,
Dick Zondag, President and Owner of J. W. Jung Seed Company
and Grandson of the founder
Dow Chemical, Bayer, Syngenta, Dupont, and BASF. It’s not only Monsanto out there, for some reason we’ve all been focusing on only one of Lernaean Hydra’s heads.
Sue them, or they will sue you. The more of us that sue, the better for everyone.
http://www.garden-of-eatin.com/how-to-avoid-monsanto/
You can also try saving your own seed and swapping with others. There is a good book on seed saving on the Baker Creek site, rareseeds.com It is worth buying. I found it to contain a lot of helpful hints and suggestions as well as being easy to follow. Their cookbook isn’t bad either.
http://www.occupymonsanto360.org/2012/03/17/monsanto-owned-seednames/
Beth already posted that above. There used to be a purse size copy of it so you could take it with you if you wanted to avoid those types altogether. Anyone know where that is?
I would avoid any of the big box stores–wally world, Menards, Home Depot, local Groceries, etc. To find good heirloom seeds you will have to either find smaller companies or ones like Baker Creek who have taken a strong stand against Monsanto and GMO’s.
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Thanks,
Katie
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