From Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/leslie-hatfield/watch-organic-farmers-sue_b_1290924.html?view=screen
Posted: 02/21/2012
Late last month in downtown Manhattan, Judge Federal Court Judge Naomi Buchwald heard the first arguments in OSGATA et al. versus Monsanto, a groundbreaking lawsuit brought by The Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association (OSGATA) on behalf of 83 farmer plaintiffs, who are "seeking court protection under the Declaratory Judgment Act, from Monsanto-initiated patent infringement lawsuits."
A lawsuit protecting against future lawsuits? Understandable, considering that Monsanto employs a fleet of lawyers and took 144 farmers to court between 1997 and 2010 and settled out of court with over 700 more. Laying aside the question of whether it is ethical to patent seeds in the first place -- let's assume some farmers have saved seed and should be brought to justice for doing so -- this suit seeks to protect farmers whose crops are contaminated by seeds or pollen drifting onto their land, in effect contaminating their crops, from being sued by the biotech giant (talk about adding insult to injury).
Across the street in Foley Square, chilly morning temperatures didn't stop several hundred from gathering in support of the farmers. In a citizen's assembly organized by Food Democracy Now, Occupy Big Food and Occupy Food Justice, attendees heard from environmental journalist Simran Sethi, permaculture expert Andrew Faust and others. Organizers also created an informative spectacle in the form of a human timeline of Monsanto's long, environmentally dubious history.
The OSGATA press release included statements from Dan Ravicher, lawyer for the plaintiffs:
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