From: "Adkins, Gerald" <•••@••.•••
To: "'•••@••.•••'" <•••@••.•••
Subject: FW: [Fwd: TERMINATOR TECHNOLOGY THREATENS OUR LIVES:
NO SEED - NO FOOD-UNLESS U BUY MORE SEED-]
Date: Thu, 11 Jun 1998 14:37:56 -0700
Richard, have you seen this one yet?? Jerry
G. C. Adkins, M.S.
Human Resources Director
Saint Martin's College, Lacey, Wa. 98503-1297
ph: (360) 438 4495 (direct line)
fx:: (360) 412-6199
only when the last tree has died
the last river has been poisoned
and the last fish caught
will we realize that we cannot eat money
The Cree
----------
From: R. J. Tavel, JD[SMTP:•••@••.•••]
Sent: Thursday, June 11, 1998 1:15 PM
To: •••@••.•••
Subject: [Fwd: TERMINATOR TECHNOLOGY THREATENS OUR LIVES:NO
SEED-NOFOOD-UNLESS U BUY MORE SEED-]
Lest you scoff at the notion that that the NWO is trying to
control the world's food supply, you won't doubt it after
reading this. Note- in case anyone finds themselves in a
foul mood after reading this, the phone number of Delta &
Pineland (perpetrators of this crime) is
(601) 742-4000. If anyone happens to get their email
address, please let me know what it is, I think I'd like to
sign them up on a few of the world's most prolific
listserves...
Food Supply Update: June 5, 1998
Seed Terminator and Mega-Merger Threaten Food and Freedom
Copyright © 1998, by Geri Guidetti
There have been times in human history when the line between
genius and insanity was so fine that it was barely
perceptible. In the world of biotechnology and food, that
line has just been obliterated. Announcements made over the
past 90 days suggest that an ingenius scientific achievement
and subsequent, related business developments threaten to
terminate the natural, God-given right and ability of people
everywhere to freely grow food to feed themselves and
others. Never before has man created such an insidiously
dangerous, far-reaching and potentially "perfect" plan to
control the livelihoods, food supply and even survival of
all humans on the planet. Overstatement? Judge for yourself.
On March 3, 1998, the U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
and the Delta and Pine Land Company, a Mississippi firm and
the largest cotton seed company in the world, announced that
they had jointly developed and received a patent (US patent
number 5,723,765) on a new, agricultural biotechnology.
Benignly titled, "Control of Plant Gene Expression", the new
patent will permit its owners and licensees to create
sterile seed by cleverly and selectively programming a
plant's DNA to kill its own embryos. The patent applies to
plants and seeds of all species. The result? If saved at
harvest for future crops, the seed produced by these plants
will not grow. Pea pods, tomatoes, peppers, heads of wheat
and ears of corn will essentially become seed morgues. In
one broad, brazen stroke of his hand, man will have
irretrievably broken the plant - to - seed - to - plant - to
- seed - cycle, THE cycle that supports most life on the
planet. No seed, no food-unless-unless you buy more seed.
This is obviously good for seed companies. As it turns out,
it is also good for the US Department of Agriculture.
In a recent interview with RAFI, the Canada-based Rural
Advancement Foundation International, US Department of
Agriculture (USDA) spokesman, Willard Phelps, explained that
the USDA wants this technology to be "widely licensed and
made expeditiously available to many seed companies." The
goal, he said, is "to increase the value of proprietary seed
owned by US seed companies and to open up new markets in
Second and Third World countries." The USDA and Delta & Pine
Land Co. have applied for patents on the terminator
technology in at least 78 countries!
Once the technology is commercialized, the USDA will earn
royalties of about 5% of net sales. "I think it will be
profitable for USDA," Phelps said. (Royalties? Profits? For
a Department of the US Federal Government? What's wrong with
this picture?)
The Terminator Technology was created to prevent farmers
from saving non-hybrid, open-pollinated or genetically
altered seed sold by seed companies. Open-pollinated
varieties of crops like wheat and rice-staples for most of
the world's population-are typical examples. The stated
logic for Terminator Technology is simple, really. A seed
company invests money to develop and produce new varieties
of seed. It hopes to sell a lot of that seed to recoup
monies spent on crop research and seed development, and then
to realize a profit on their investment. Fair enough, it
would seem, but there are BIG concerns around the world
about how much profit, how much control many of these
multinational seed companies actually seek. Many of their
proprietary seeds are no more than genetically altered
versions of older, reliable, conventionally bred strains
that have been in the public domain for many, many years.
Change a gene to give a seed resistance to some new strain
of disease, the logic goes, and the seed no longer belongs
to the people to grow and save as they like, but to the seed
company. In the past several years the world community has
been outraged as some multinational seed companies have
brazenly tried to claim ownership of whole species of food
plants based on the logic that they had altered a gene in a
member of that species and, hence, now owned its whole
genome!
In a world of burgeoning population growth and, hence,
demand for food, giant, multi-national seed companies hope
to sell a lot of proprietary, genetically engineered seed.
Food is a BIG business that will only get bigger, and they
want farmers around the world to need to come back to them,
year after year, to buy the seed and, in some cases, even
the chemicals, to grow it. Plant patents, gene licensing
agreements, intellectual property laws, investigations and
lawsuits brought against farm families for infringing on a
seed company's monopoly on seed varieties are some of the
means now used to protect their interests.
The new Terminator Technology could render even these
modern, legal measures of control obsolete, as it is
potentially so powerful, so effective and so flawless in its
applicability that its corporate owners and licensees will
literally have complete biological control over the food
crops in which it is applied. Seed companies have been
working hard to prevent farmers around the world from saving
their own seed from plants originally grown with seed
purchased from these companies. They are also trying to find
ways to encourage farmers around the world-in the U.S.,
Europe and especially the huge market represented by farmers
in South America, Mexico and Asia, to switch to genetically
engineered, proprietary seed instead of relying on the
eons-old practice of saving their own locally produced and
conventionally bred seed. If they can produce and offer
their "improved" seed cheaply enough to convince even
poorer, Second and Third World farmers to switch, they will
have captured much of the global market. The Terminator will
ensure that this market-these farmers and the communities
and countries they feed-will be completely dependent on the
company in order to continue to eat.
There is another potential dark side to the Terminator.
Molecular biologists reviewing the technology are divided on
whether or not there is a risk of the Terminator function
escaping the genome of the crops into which it has been
intentionally incorporated and moving into surrounding
open-pollinated crops or wild, related plants in fields
nearby. The means of this "infection" would be via pollen
from Terminator-altered plants. Given Nature's incredible
adaptability, and the fact that the technology has never
been tested on a large scale, the possibility that the
Terminator may spread to surrounding food crops or to the
natural environment MUST be taken seriously. The gradual
spread of sterility in seeding plants would result in a
global catastrophe that could eventually wipe out higher
life forms, including humans, from the planet.
According to USDA researchers, they have spent about
$190,000 over four years working on the joint project. (Yes,
you and I supported this research.) For its share, the Delta
& Pine Land Company has reportedly devoted $275,000 of
in-house expenses, plus an additional $255,000. Combined,
these dollars are a mere drop in the bucket compared to the
potential profitability of the technology to its owners.
According to USDA's Willard Phelps, the Delta & Pine Land
Co. retains the option to exclusively license the
jointly-developed technology. In its March 3rd press
release, the company claimed that the new technology has
"the prospect of opening significant worldwide seed markets
to the sale of transgenic technology for crops in which seed
currently is saved and used in subsequent plantings." In a
recent communique, RAFI states: "If the Terminator
Technology is widely utilized, it will give the
multinational seed and agrochemical industry an
unprecedented and extremely dangerous capacity to control
the world's food supply." That fear may be realized much
sooner than anyone could have imagined.
At the time of the March 3 announcement of the US
government-supported technology, it was common knowledge
that multinational seed and pesticides giant, Monsanto, was
a minor (8%) shareholder in the Delta & Pine Land Co. The
two jointly have a cotton seed venture in China. On May
11th, a mere nine weeks after the announcement of the
Terminator Technology, Monsanto bought the Delta & Pine Land
Co. and, with it, the complete control of the Terminator
Technology. For an even bigger picture of the implications
of this acquisition, here's a summary of some published
information on Monsanto's current agricultural holdings and
activities:
* The purchase of Delta & Pine now gives Monsanto an
overwhelming 85% share of the US cotton seed market and a
dominant global position in this crop.
* On May 11th, Monsanto also announced the take-over of
Dekalb, the second largest maize (corn) company in the US.
* In January of 1997, Monsanto acquired Holden's Foundation
Seeds. A company spokesman said at the time that its goal
was to get its bioengineered seed on at least half of the
then 40 million acres that Monsanto had access to via its
acquisitions.
It is estimated that 25-35% of US corn acreage is planted
with Holden's products.
The Holden and Dekalb acquisitions make Monsanto the
dominant player in the
corn market.
* In November, Monsanto acquired Brazilian seed company,
Sementes Agroceres. This acquisition gave Monsanto 30% of
the Brazilian corn seed business. Brazilian
farmers who have been breeding and saving their own seed for
centuries are
considered primary targets for terminator and apomictic
(below) corn seed products.
* On January 20th, the USDA won another patent-no.
5,710,367-covering "apomictic maize". This corn trait speeds
hybrid seed production by allowing the plant to produce
hybrid clones, lowering the price of hybrid seed. Third
World farmers unable to afford more expensive hybrid seed
could potentially buy these less expensive clones. Unlike
other hybrids, apomictic corn can be regrown but its genetic
uniformity (remember, clones) would make it more likely to
lose its disease resistance more frequently, forcing farmers
to buy seed more often. There are fears that Monsanto will
obtain these license rights from the USDA. Monsanto's recent
corn company acquisitions and, now, near monopoly in corn,
make this a critical concern.
* A Washington connection, according to RAFI: "In the past
two years, a number of high-ranking White House and USDA
officials have left Washngton for the allure of Monsanto's
headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri."
* "In October 1997, Monsanto and Millenium Pharmaceuticals
(another US-based genomics company) announced a 5 year
collaborative agreement worth over US $118 million,
including the creation of a new Monsanto subsidiary with
about 100 scientists to work exclusively with Millenium to
use genomic technologies. The exclusive agreement is not
limited to a single crop or geographic location - it covers
all crop plants in all countries. Monsanto considers the new
subsidiary 'an integral part of its life sciences strategy'
and hopes to gain a competitive edge in the search for
patentable - and likely 'Terminator-able' crop genes."
* Monsanto has pioneered enforcement strategies for
protection of its plant patents. Much of this pioneering has
been centered on its genetically altered soybeans which have
the ability to withstand spraying with the company's leading
herbicide, Roundup. (Weeds and other native plants die,
beans live.) In 1996 the company set a new precedent
requiring farmers buying its genetically engineered "Roundup
Ready Soybeans" to sign and adhere to the terms of its "1996
Roundup Ready Gene Agreement." Terms: The farmer must pay a
$5 per bag "technology fee"; the farmer must give Monsanto
the right to inspect, monitor and test his/her fields for up
to 3 years; the farmer must use only Monsanto's brand of the
glyphosate herbicide it calls Roundup; the farmer must give
up his/her right to save and replant the patented seed; the
farmer must agree not to sell or otherwise supply the seed
to "any other person or entity." The farmer must also agree,
in writing, to pay Monsanto "...100 times the then
applicable fee for the Roundup Ready gene, times the number
of units of transferred seed, plus reasonable attorney's
fees and expenses..." should he violate any portion of the
agreement. The farmers' outcry against the stringent
inspection and monitoring of their private property caused
Monsanto to modify that part of the agreement in 1997.
* The company has used a similar licensing agreement for its
genetically engineered cotton and, according to a
spokeswoman, plans to introduce licensing agreements with
all genetically engineered seeds Monsanto brings to market.
These will include Roundup Ready canola (canola oil), corn,
sugarbeets, etc. (Keep in mind that now Monsanto has
Terminator Technology to license, as well. It is applicable
to all food crops according to its primary inventor.)
Four days ago, the scope of the potential impact of the
Terminator Technology on global agriculture broadened
explosively with the announcement that American Home
Products Corporation (AHP) had agreed to buy Monsanto Co.
for $33.9 billion in stock. "AHP," according to its press
release, "is one of the world's largest research-based
pharmaceutical and health care products companies....It is
also a global leader in vaccines, biotechnology,
agricultural products and animal health care." Reuters
reports that the acquisition will create "a powerful
pharmaceutical company with a massive presence in the
growing market for genetically engieered agricultural
products."
Actually, AHP is a family of companies including American
Cyanamid, Cyamid Agricultural Products Group, Wyeth Ayerst,
and others. It is the third largest in the US in herbicides,
insecticides and fungicides but, with its acquisition of
Monsanto, it is now estimated that the combined companies
will become the largest agrochemical/life industries company
in the world, beating Swiss global giant, Novartis. It does
not take a giant mental leap to see the massive potential
for the application and marketing of Monsanto's Roundup
Ready seed and licensing agreements and the Terminator
Technology to an increasing number of companies and food
crops. If the Terminator technology is not globally banned,
its eventual incorporation into all genetically engineered
and open-pollinated, non-hybrid food crops is predictable.
As most of you are aware, I have often fretted in these
pages about the vulnerabilities of our increasingly
centralized, computer-based, bottom-line driven, large
corporation-dominated food production, processing and
distribution system. Extreme weather patterns, toxic
waste-contaminated fertilizers, epidemic bacterial
contamination of food and the year-2000 crash of computers
responsible for keeping the whole, complex system running
have been big concerns. I have warned you of the planned
disappearance of non-hybrid, open-pollinated seeds-seeds
that let you retain the means of growing your own food if
you want or need to-seeds that ensure protective
biodiversity-seeds that may provide personal food security
in insecure times. Now the Terminator threatens even these.
Make no mistake about it-widespread global adoption of the
newly patented Terminator Technology will ensure absolute
dependence of farmers, and the people they feed, on
multinational corporations for their seed and food.
Dependence does not foster freedom. On the contrary,
dependence fosters a loss of freedom. Dependence does not
increase personal power, it diminishes it. When you are
dependent, you relinquish control. History is full of
examples of peoples and cultures who lost fundamental
freedoms-who were controlled-by their need for food. This
shouldn't happen to Second and Third World farmers. It
shouldn't happen in any of the 78 countries in which the
patent has been applied for. It shouldn't happen here.
The Terminator Technology is brilliant science and arguably
"good business", but it has crossed the line-the tenuous
line between genius and insanity. It is a dangerous, bad
idea that should be banned. Period..........Geri Guidetti,
The Ark Institute
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