|
|
 
|
A religious leader responds to video depiction of Percy Schmeiser's battle against Monsanto by Rev. Peter S. Sawtell, Executive Director
(May 15, 2002 -- CropChoice news) -- I think it is a record for me. I received six virus-infected e-mails in one morning, and around 15 through the course of this
week. There's an energetic new virus on the loose!
Blocking those viruses from my computer helps justify the expense
and hassles of buying anti-virus software, and keeping the virus
definitions up-to-date. Those defensive costs are now an
essential part of living in our electronically-connected world.
Unfortunately, there are lots of competent programmers who find a
sense of power in being able to inflict damage on other's
computers. And so there are thousands of computer viruses on the
loose. Because of their actions, all the rest of us need to go to
substantial lengths to protect ourselves from those malicious
programs.
Once a virus is put in circulation, there's no way to call it
back, no way to exterminate it. It will propagate and spread.
Just like the biological viruses for AIDS or the flu, a computer
virus can quickly spread to a whole population. All that we can
do is protect our own systems, and try to keep from spreading the
infection to others.
Thankfully, there are good programs that can help stave off the
potential epidemics of computer viruses. The cost and the hassles
are worth it -- for us as individuals, and for the broader
electronic community.
This week's snail-mail brought a report and a video from the
Sierra Club on genetically-modified organisms (GMOs). (A link to
the on-line report is at the end of this message.)
Reading the Sierra Club report while fighting this week's surge
in computer virus attacks helped me to see a parallel between
these two pervasive parts of our high-tech world.
Just like a computer virus turned loose on the Internet, the
genetic information of a modified plant is turned loose into a
rural community when a crop is planted. Pollen and seeds are not
-- and cannot be -- confined to a single field. Wind, insects,
and seeds that fall from trucks spread the modified genetic
information into neighboring fields, where it can mingle with the
genetics of similar crops planted by a different farmer.
So what? That new genetic information can infect and corrupt the
crops of a farmer. But the problem is larger than the creation of
an impure field. The scope of the economic and legal issues
emerge in a lawsuit filed against a Canadian farmer by
agricultural giant Monsanto. Similar cases are being pursued in
the US and other countries, too.
Monsanto has developed a genetically modified form of the canola
plant that is resistant to Monsanto's Roundup herbicide. Monsanto
patented their product, and claims total ownership of that unique
genetic code. Farmers cannot buy the seed itself; they can only
buy rights to plant it.
Canadian farmer Percy Schemeiser did not plant the Monsanto
variety of canola, but some of the plants in his field were
"Roundup resistant" because of contamination from other sources.
Monsanto filed suit against Schemeiser, claiming patent
infringement. The Canadian courts ruled in favor of Monsanto. The
farmer was fined tens of thousands of dollars, and had to forfeit
his entire harvest, for having a small amount of Monsanto's GMO
in his field. (A link to the farmer's website is at the end of
this message.)
What happened to Schemeiser is like getting a computer virus, and
then finding out that the programmer who created the virus can
sue you for having the virus, and can also claim ownership of all
the data on your computer. The parallel breaks down, though,
because there's nothing that corresponds to your computer's
anti-virus software to keep the GMOs out of a field. There is no
way to defend against the GMO infection.
Like a computer virus, once those new genes are introduced into
the world, it is impossible to call them back. They will
propagate and spread. Farmers cannot protect themselves from a
GMO infection, and yet they are held liable by the seed companies
when the new plant varieties appear in their fields.
The technology for creating new genetic strains has moved much
more quickly than the legal, scientific and ethical capacity to
answer the complex issues that are raised.
There are many complicated and controversial issues involved in
the development and spread of GMOs. They touch on religious
questions about the creation of new life forms, environmental
concerns about the impact of those life forms on habitats and
ecosystems, issues of human health, consumer rights to
information about food ingredients, and legal questions about the
ownership of patents to genetic information.
Churches can play an important role in addressing these issues
through study and advocacy. Please contact Eco-Justice Ministries
if you would like to explore ways of working on these issues in
your congregation or community.
Shalom!
Rev. Peter S. Sawtell, Executive Director | |
