Monsanto in the news

Smart Red said:
Own the food supply, own the world. Must have been a lot of money to cause heirloom seed collectors to sell out to Monsanto.
Click to expand...
They say we all have our price. I wrote to Burpee to ask about their seed. The catalog was not labeled no GMO seeds this year. There had been rumors that Monsanto bought them some years back. Here is what they said. I find there seed expensive but, I have never had a failure.

Dear Ms, Jackie,

Thank you for your email.

Burpee is the nation's leading purveyor of both heirloom and hybrid vegetables seeds and transplants. Burpee purchases seeds from a select list of suppliers throughout the world including Seminis. However, none of the seeds purchased from Seminis or any other supplier are GMO. Burpee has never bred or sold GMO seeds and does not intend to do so in the future.

The following link will provide more information about our company's view on GMO seed:

http://www.burpee.com/gygg/content.jsp?contentId=GMO-Free

We do not treat any of our seeds.

Please feel free to contact our Customer Service Department if you have any further questions or concerns.

Regards,

Customer Service
www.burpee.com
1-8
 
Burpee Certified as Landfill Free

GMO Policy


Burpee’s Policy on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)

April 2014

As America's oldest and most trusted supplier of vegetable and flower seeds and plants, Burpee has provided home gardeners with the very best open pollinated and hybrid varieties for more than 100 years. We take great care and pride in supplying seeds that are well suited for both conventional and organic gardens across the U.S., with quality and integrity foremost in mind. For that reason, we do not sell seed that has been genetically modified (GMO). Burpee has never bought or sold GMO seeds, and we have no intention of doing so in the future.

There is profound confusion by the public as to what genetically modified seed is and is not. We are here to provide facts that we hope eradicate that confusion, specifically as it relates to Burpee and our seeds.

It is important to understand that hybrid seeds are very different from those that are genetically modified. Hybrids seeds are purposely bred in the field to produce offspring that have the best traits of their parent plants. Through a process of careful and painstaking selection, our breeders hand pollinate varieties using controlled transfer of pollen from one parent to another parent, which results in a specific and consistent combination of desirable characteristics. Horticultural experts identify the traits of varieties from within the same species over a period of months and years and develop new varieties that are grown in trial gardens at Fordhook Farm in Pennsylvania. This is much the same process as is used by horse or dog breeders to produce offspring with the desired results.

GMO seeds are quite different, however. GMO varieties are not bred in a field or greenhouse; rather, they are developed in a laboratory setting using modern biotechnology. Techniques such as gene splicing are used to extract traits from different species to insert them in to another plant. According to the Non-GMO Project, “this experimental technology merges DNA from different species, creating unstable combinations of plant, animal, bacterial and viral genes that cannot occur in nature or in traditional crossbreeding'. To learn more about GMO varieties, we recommend a visit to: Non GMO Policy

Each year, more and more Americans discover the overwhelming joy and economic benefits of gardening at home. New gardeners often have questions about the features of different seed types and which offer the best qualities in terms of yield, disease resistance, size, and taste. Many of these answers can be found in the extensive library of resources housed at our website: www.burpee.com.

Burpee has always supplied safe, non-GMO hybrids, tried and true heirloom seeds, as well as certified organic varieties that are recognized as organic under the Oregon Tilth Certification, a subsidiary of USDA regulatory. Oregon Tilth Certified Organic (OTCO) provides a system that combines strict production standards with on-site inspections. OTCO is internationally recognized and provides legally binding contracts to protect the producers and buyers of organic products. It was also one of the first organizations to gain accreditation to begin offering organic certification under the USDA organic regulations.

Burpee is proud to have supplied American home gardeners with the highest quality, non-GMO seeds since 1876. We look forward to providing you with all the ingredients you need for a beautiful, bountiful garden.

George Ball

Chairman & Chief Executive Officer

W. Atlee Burpee & Co.
 
I hope I'm right, heirloom seed in the public domain is safe from these money hungry control freaks, they can be used to breed from with but they themselves can never be owned.
My seed saving started with some bean seed given to me in 1965 by a neighbor. It had been grown in my neighborhood since the early 1900's. My quest for information on this particular Italian pole bean led me into the world of heirloom beans and their histories. What can I say I'm hooked :).
So many generous people sent me samples of beans to see if I could match them up, came close but no cigar, Uncle Steve's came the closest. I gave this bean the temporary name 'Auntie Vi' Vi was for Vancouver Island. After acquiring many, I mean many different lookalike bean seeds I accidentally found out the history of this pole bean I had been growing all these year, in fact it looks like I was the only one still growing it, so this bean had a close call.

The lady who brought this bean with her when she immigrated from Italy in 1911 lived on the first block of the street we live on about a mile down the road, we live on the last block. The grandson of this lady said their family had lost this bean and the other one she had brought with her. It was a good feeling to be able to give the family back at least one of the beans their grandmother had brought with her. This bean has been renamed it's now called 'Emilia's Italian' named after the lady who brought this bean with her when she immigrated..
I've tried to spread it around as much as I can, it's a really nice pole bean, I've only used it as a snap bean, never tried it any other way so can't comment on that.

There's another bean that has been grown here for over 100 years, brought here by a Chinese immigrant. Another happy ending, being the pack rat that I am had kept the article with the correct history, this bean is making a comeback due to a few seed savers who have kept it going, 'Mr. Tung's', another very nice pole bean.

It's so important to keep saving and sharing heirloom seed, others too, some really good ones have been lost when seed companies drop a certain variety, before you know it's lost forever. 'Seeds of Diversity' here in Canada had 'Selma Star' listed as probably extinct, but thanks to Russ here on this forum he found someone still growing it so this one is still alive and well. It looks like 'Baby Fordhook' is a goner tho... we've been looking for that one for a couple of years with no luck. Unless someone here might have it or know anyone that is still growing it.

I keep on adding more and more heirlooms and hard to find bean seed to my collection, now kept in a freezer bought for this purpose. No, I don't grow them all myself but I will pass them on to someone else in hopes that they will grow and share with others. I also have bean seed that doesn't do well here but I pass them on to someone who can.

Annette
 
I don't know If I can say this or not, But there are some great seed sources on Listia, where the seeds are free, or postage only.

I don't know where some get their seed, because they have a lot of it, but other "seed sellers" are seed savers, and offer the seeds they saved. This site helps so many people, get non hybrid, and non GMO seeds, for very little cost, and supports ethical growers.

https://www.listia.com/search/home-garden-seeds-bulbs?location_id=111&q=

People bid with credits, not money.

It works just like a seed exchange, but with way more oversight and management tools.

I list my excess seed, for free shipping, and others do the same.

People bid on them with credits, not money.

When they win, you get the credits they bid with, then you use those credits, to bid on someone else's offering.

The only cost, is the cost of postage, to send out what people win from you. In turn, when you win something from a seller offering free shipping, THEY pay the shipping to send yours.

I won 15+ types of tomatoes, 3 + types, of squash, caraway, basil, cumin, Moringa, hardy kiwi vine, flowers, kale, milkweed, Aster, mulberry, sage, and a seed lot with 45 packs in it, plus shoes, clothes, toys, soap, and Christmas presents.

Credits can be used to bid on any item of interest, not just seeds. That's why it's better than a traditional seed exchange.

I gave away hundreds of packs of excess seeds, 20 to a pack, so thousands of seeds. They go quick, so they're very fresh for people. That's a hundred people that are going to grow next year because I listed excess seed. :)

If they save and share seed, that's a lot more readily available seed, being circulated, for little cost to growers, and no money in corporate pockets.
 
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