The supreme court vs Monsanto: The first of many needed hearings on GM crops

The supreme court is hearing arguments this week on a genetically modified crop case; the fisrt the supreme court has dealt with. If you have seen Food, Inc, or The Future of Food ( which is available in full length on hulu) you know a bit about Monsanto, GMOs and seed patenting.



The hearing is Monsanto vs. Geertson Seed Farms and is all about an herbicide resistant alfalfa. The court will  "consider overturning a lower court's order that prevented farmers from planting Roundup Ready alfalfa since 2007" according to PR newswire. Roundup is a weed and grass killer and roundup ready alfalfa means that the plant can survive the usage of the toxic chemical.

According to the New York Times, in 2006, "Organic farmers convinced the court that they faced a "likelihood of irreparable harm" from genetic contamination, securing a ban on planting of Roundup Ready alfalfa that would remain in place until the Department of Agriculture concludes an environmental review."

PR newswire says: "This Supreme Court hearing is about farmers, fairness and choice," said David F. Snively, Monsanto General Counsel.  "Farmers should be able to count on USDA approvals of biotech crops, know that challenges to biotech authorizations must be based on scientific evidence, and have the choice to use this seed technology."

This case seems fairly minor but could end up being a crucial ruling because the decision the supreme court makes could raise or lower the threshold for challenges of the National Environmental Policy Act.

There are lots of reasons for the supreme court to be skeptical of what information Monsanto wants the public to know. I found this article on Planet Green that has 3 big reasons the supreme court should be extra aware of sugar coating the facts.

One scientist from the Union of Concerned scientists stated

"There's been several indications beside this case that USDA has not been really doing an adequate job regulating genetically-engineered seed...As a scientist, having reviewed a number of environmental assessments that the agency has done, in my opinion they've often done a very lax, scientifically often unsupportable job in their analyses."

As you know, we always urge you to take your health into your own hands. The easiest way to know what's in your food is to grow it yourself or know where it came from.

We want to know. Do you trust the FDA or the USDA to tell you what's good for your body? Why or why not? Love the comments!