Saskatchewan
farmer Percy Schmeiser and his wife Louise will be in Castlegar on July 10 to
speak at a G. E. Free Kootenay and Kootenay Food Strategy Society Society
event.
Schmeiser
fought a series of court battles versus multinational agriculture corporation
Monsanto after his field was contaminated by genetically engineered Canola
plants.
Today,
it is said that over three quarters of foods on grocery store shelves contain
G.E. ingredients. Most Canadians remain completely unaware of their presence.
With the technology having not received any long-term safety studies, Canadians
have become the product of one of the largest human feeding studies in history.
The foods/ingredients that are most often genetically engineered are corn, soy
and canola. These crops represent the foundation for most foods consumed today
including soft drinks, breakfast cereals, oil-based foods, dairy, meat and eggs
among others.
Among
the many environmental and health concerns of G.E. foods, farmers' rights are
also of great concern to people like Percy Schmeiser.
Benefiting
heavily from the genetic engineering of foods are the corporations developing
the seeds. Of the handful of multinational seed developers, St. Louis,
Missouri's Monsanto is the world's largest. Upon patenting the seed
technologies, companies like Monsanto demand that farmers who purchase their
seed sign agreements that prohibit the farmer from saving their seed for the
following year. Seed saving is a practice and right that has existed for
millennia, and even before Schmeiser hit the media spotlight, he was one of the
most well-known seed savers of Canola.
Their
ongoing battles have reached such international recognition, that in December
2007, the Schmeisers became the recipients of the Right Livelihood Award; often
referred to as the "alternative Nobel". The award was presented in honour of
the Schmeiser's "courage in defending biodiversity and farmers' rights, and
challenging the environmental and moral perversity of current interpretations
of patent laws".
The
event will also feature Nelson-Creston MLA Corky Evans, Deconstructing Dinner's
Jon Steinman and G.E. Free Kootenay's Andy Morel.
The
presentation starts at 7 p.m. on July 10 at the Brilliant Cultural Centre, 1186
Brilliant Road, in Castlegar. By donation to G. E Free Kootenay.