November 26th, 2011 | GMOs, Our Food, broccoli, economics, financial, life, market, Monsanto, patent
In case you hadn't heard about this latest Monsanto trick: Patent on Broccoli will not be revoked
European Patent Office (EPO) canceled a public hearing on the controversial patent on a broccoli in October. The broccoli protected by the patent EP1069819 was derived by conventional breeding methods. The rights to the patents are being held by US company Monsanto. The company Syngenta which had appealed against the patent, has now surprisingly proposed the cancellation of the planned hearing. The EPO is following this request from industry. This means that the patent for the broccoli, which is derived by traditional breeding methods, will now be upheld with only minor modifications.
"The patent office as well as industry shy away from any public spotlight. They wanted to avoid the demonstration, to which even the German minister for agriculture had been invited to speak. There is no other explanation as to why the long scheduled hearing has now so suddenly been canceled. However, public protest will continue, and we will not stop mobilisation for the demonstration", says Ruth Tippe of "No Patents on Life!", which had been involved in the preparation of the demonstration, together with Farmers, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, Misereor and others.
As the broccoli in question has already reached supermarket shelves in the UK, some effects of patented vegetables can now be studied. The broccoli was derived by conventional breeding methods and is supposed to contain a higher level of healthy components. The rights to the patents are being held by US company Monsanto. As of October 2011, the company exclusively markets the broccoli under the label "naturally better" and at significantly higher prices than other broccoli varieties through the retail chain Marks & Spencer. Without the assigned patent other breeders could further improve this broccoli and consumers would have a much wider choice between several producers. Now the patent will stifle further breeding developments.
"In times when nearly a billion people are starving, it is simply immoral to artificially increase prices of foods through patent monopolies. Effectively, companies such as Monsanto are abusing patent laws to turn food resources into financial ventures. Should healthy food only be available for rich people?” asks Kerstin Lanje from Misereor. Read More
In case you hadn’t heard about this latest Monsanto trick: Patent on Broccoli will not be revoked
European Patent Office (EPO) canceled a public hearing on the controversial patent on a broccoli in October. The broccoli protected by the patent EP1069819 was derived by conventional breeding methods. The rights to the patents are being held by US company Monsanto. The company Syngenta which had appealed against the patent, has now surprisingly proposed the cancellation of the planned hearing. The EPO is following this request from industry. This means that the patent for the broccoli, which is derived by traditional breeding methods, will now be upheld with only minor modifications.
November 17th, 2011
Every so often I really miss Burma and the delicious variety of foods constantly available there. I spent 6 months or so in Shan State working for a beautiful hotel on the banks of Inle Lake in 1999 and got to know some of the foodways of the surrounding area as well. Kalaw isn't so far from Inl ...
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I haven't done a post on Ubuntu in ages, which leaves me feeling a bit guilty! My current computer is hobbling along on it's last legs...supposedly I have a new computer on the way, I'm pretty excited to get it as it is made with Ubuntu in mind, and is my first new computer since I got my first comp ...
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July 13th, 2009
Click here to view exotic images of farmers markets around Myanmar.
Who can resist an open air market? In Shan State they have a very clever system by having their farmers market run on a five day cycle. So, for example, around the mystical Inle Lake, the market will be one day in Nyaung Shwe, th ...
