Dearest readers, first, my heartfelt apologies for the silence. Am working from home for a few weeks, where it seems after many anxious days of trying, my computer is incompatible with the system (too 'advanced' it seems). Have now borrowed a laptop, so something like a (minimal) normal service has been restored. Here, though, happy to publish a post from the inspirational Patrick Wiebe of the lovely Bifurcated Carrots site about a victory in the battle against monopolistic seed companies. More will follow when I work out how to upload images. I have sorely missed you all, and now over to Pat.
There's a quiet revolution in food going on behind the scenes. A
revolution you probably won't notice from one day to the next.
Nonetheless it has the potential to dramatically change the way you
eat, the choices you have as a consumer of food and the health of
the environment. At the heart of this change is biodiversity.
Last week independent French seed company Kokopelli won a major
victory in their legal battle against Graines Baumaux SAS. Their
court case is not over, but as part of the procedure Kokopelli
requested an opinion from an Advocate-General of the EU Court
of Justice. Opinions like these are not binding, but are usually
followed and can be of significant influence in other related court
cases. Since this was at the EU level, it has the potential to
influence cases across Europe.
In this non-binding opinion, the Advocate-General declared the most
contentious parts of EU and French seed law violate the principle
of proportionality, free enterprise, free movement of goods, and the
principle of non-discrimination. Specifically this ruling refers to
the part of EU seed law that makes it illegal to trade or grow
unregistered varieties, or to classify them as DUS (distinct, uniform
and stable). In her opinion, these parts of EU seed law are illegal.
At the moment these laws are probably the single most important barrier
to biodiversity in farmers fields, and if this opinion brief is
implemented in European and local laws, this will be a major victory
in the name of agricultural biodiversity, and freedom for farmers and
gardeners.
These laws have often been said to violate the human rights of people
all over the world. When a farmer wants to sell their crops
into Europe these laws determine what crops they can grow and who they
buy their seeds from. It's an important reason why farmers in the
developing world can find themselves in cycles of poverty they can't
escape.
A big congratulations is in order to Blanche Magarinos-Rey, Kokopelli's
lawyer arguing this case.
