Myth: GMO-free seeds available for home gardens

[Leifer]

http://www.herbalbear.com/Sources for Organic - Non-GMO Seeds.html


I'm not calling this topic a conspiracy or an untruth.
There are no GMO (or GM) seeds available to the home gardener, and this is the misunderstanding.
It's a misunderstanding among many (not all) consumers and gardeners.......and it is a marketing tactic among many sellers of consumer garden seeds.
It's basically a myth (a widely held (but false) belief or idea), where many home gardeners may "feel better" knowing their variety and selection of garden seed is GMO-free....when in fact they could not buy GMO seed, even if they tried to.

Still, many purchasers of garden seeds believe there they are making a choice, and turn to companies that claim their seed is free of GMO varieties.

It's not an "untruth" because it is true...ALL home garden seeds for sale are "GMO-free".
It would not be an untruth either, for a company to promote, "None of our seeds explode when planting, we only sell Explosive-free seeds ".
Both are true.
Both are deceptive.
Neither types exist.

Seed companies are fully aware that GMO seeds are not available to them or from their competitors.
They are also aware of consumer trends and that the mere mention of "we only sell GMO-free seeds" puts them into a sub-market where this type of claim can increase sales.
These seed companies are not the only ones spreading this idea.....a large part of the myth comes from health-conscious consumers and bloggers. The idea is spread widely, this way....
http://www.herbalbear.com/Sources for Organic - Non-GMO Seeds.html

http://justjoanna.com/2014/02/where-to-buy-organic-non-gmo-seeds-for-your-garden.html


Here's a copy of my recent post in an old thread....
https://www.metabunk.org/threads/gmo-conspiracy-theories.177/page-14#post-122179

I ran across a friend looking for "non-GMO tomato seeds".
I told him that selling such a thing is a sales gimmick, because in fact there are no GMO tomato seeds for sale anywhere.
Even the anti-GMO sites admit this....

There are no genetically engineered tomatoes in commercial production, and tomatoes are considered "low-risk" by the Non-GMO Project Standard.
http://www.nongmoproject.org/learn-more/what-is-gmo/

Technically speaking, all tomatoes are hybrids. Even the most cherished, oldest, and knobbiest heirloom tomato is a hybrid of the original South American fruit. Tomatoes are one of those plants that people love so much, we've been tinkering with its genetics basically since the plant was first cultivated in Peru and Central America before the fifteenth century. They're kind of like the dog of the plant world.
http://amazingtomatoes.com/varieties/gmo-tomatoes/

To be fair, many gardeners already know this information, and a concern of theirs is that several major home seed catalogs do purchase their (non-GMO) seed stock from larger corporations such as Seminis, Syngenta, and Monsanto. Many people do not want to help support such corps., and seek alternative sources to purchase seeds for their garden.

......This means that a gardener or homesteader could unknowingly be giving money to Monsanto, even when purchasing regular, non-GMO seeds, if the seeds in the catalog were supplied from Seminis or one of Monsanto's other acquisitions.
http://www.smallfootprintfamily.com/where-to-buy-non-gmo-seeds

That is a consumer's choice. However the details of the amount of second-source profit these big agra-corps receive from such catalog seeds, is rarely mentioned....or researched in social media or the blogosphere. I'll try to find this info, but it is slightly beyond the point of this thread.

Burpee and other companies have been rumored to be owned by Monsanto, or other such un-researched claims, easily found on the net.
https://www.google.com/search?safe=off&complete=0&site=webhp&source=hp&q="burpee is owned by monsanto"&oq="burpee is owned by monsanto"&gs_l=hp.3...2516.14730.0.14922.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0..0.0....0...1c.1.51.hp..0.0.0.Y6rzD_QVHas


A Burpee response from its owner:

Burpee, GMO And Monsanto Rumors Put To Rest
By George Ball - Burpee Chairman and CEO
I and others at Burpee are asked occasionally about our alleged connection to Monsanto and whether we sell GMO seed. We have even been accused of being owned by Monsanto on the Internet. I've decided to address these questions and false allegations formally with the hopes that someone out there in cyberspace may refer back to this post for information on these issues—straight from the source........(more).....
http://www.burpee.com/gygg/content.jsp?contentId=about-burpee-seeds

 

[Leifer]

Also to be fair....let's look at this circumstance....
A seed company promotes and sells non-GM corn seed. They claim their seed stock is open pollinated, and is free of "wind-blown" pollination from neighboring GM corn fields.
That's a fair claim, if it is true.

To grow what you want, and rely on what the company advertizes, is up to the buyer/grower's trust, and relies on the seller to guarantee it.
I suspect that testing corn seed stock for GM pollen invasion is quite expensive, but possible.

This accidental pollination only applies to the already approved GM crops.....and not to the hundreds (thousands ?) of non-GM plants available to the consumer, that can never be introduced by cross pollination with GM plants (that don't exist in commercial crop fields).

What GMO plants/crops that do exist (in the US) are:

Maize (corn)
Alfalfa
Soybean/Canola
Sugarbeet
Rice (some)
Cotton
Papaya
squash (some)
and a few others....all not available to the consumer.

 

[Tunnelvisionary]

It's just clever marketing in my opinion. Kind of like how apples and milk can be labeled as "gluten-free". I've seen both. It just takes advantage of whatever trend customers care about in order to make itself look like a more attractive product, when nothing has really changed.

 

[Landru]

Or PT Barnum selling canned white salmon stating, "guaranteed not to turn pink in the can." Or maybe that's a fake quote.

 

[Cairenn]

Leifer is there is no GMO rice available in the US for general use. I posted the entire list, they are

Dent corn
sweet corn---fairly new, very limited amounts
cotton
Canola
soybeans
sugar beets
alfalfa
papaya
some yellow and zucchini squash---not many because the current varieties do not protect against many diseases

That is the entire LIST of what is commercially approved for sale in the US. Arctic Apples, 2 varieties are in the final approval stage and so is Aqua Bounty salmon.

 

[Svartbjørn]

Kind of like how apples and milk can be labeled as "gluten-free"

seriously??

*facepalms*

 

[Cairenn]

Or gluten free, organic pink sea salt.

 

[Svartbjørn]

I think Ive completely lost faith in western humanity.

 

[Cairenn]

Read this and weep

http://www.amazon.com/Salt-Himalaya...4393&sr=1-3&keywords=himalayan+pink+salt+fine

 

[Thomas]

Kind of like how apples and milk can be labeled as "gluten-free".

Or Dutch bottles of 7-up having prominently "bevat geen kleurstoffen" (translated "contains no food coloring") printed on them.

 

[Leifer]

I've also wondered about sales of "Organic seeds" (for garden planting), and if this too, was a sales ploy.

I thought all seeds were generally "organic".....but the USDA does have guidelines.....

The NOP (National Organic Program) regulations at 7 CFR § 205.204 require that organic producers use organic seeds,
annual seedlings, and planting stock. The regulations allow producers to utilize non-organic
seeds and annual or perennial planting stock when organic varieties are not commercially
available.
http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getfile?dDocName=STELPRDC5091383

....from same link....

§ 205.204 Seeds and planting stock practice standard.

(a) The producer must use organically grown seeds, annual seedlings, and planting stock: Except,
That,
(1) Nonorganically produced, untreated seeds and planting stock may be used to produce an
organic crop when an equivalent organically produced variety is not commercially available:
Except, That, organically produced seed must be used for the production of edible sprouts;
(2) Nonorganically produced seeds and planting stock that have been treated with a substance
included on the National List of synthetic substances allowed for use in organic crop production
may be used to produce an organic crop when an equivalent organically produced or untreated
variety is not commercially available;
(3) Nonorganically produced annual seedlings may be used to produce an organic crop when a
temporary variance has been granted in accordance with §205.290(a)(2);
(4) Nonorganically produced planting stock to be used to produce a perennial crop may be sold,
labeled, or represented as organically produced only after the planting stock has been maintained
under a system of organic management for a period of no less than 1 year; and
(5) Seeds, annual seedlings, and planting stock treated with prohibited substances may be used to
produce an organic crop when the application of the materials is a requirement of Federal or
State phytosanitary regulations.

How does this apply to home gardeners ?
It depends on the personal standards set by the home/private grower. The above is for commercial certified organic growers.
It seems the "ever-so-tiny" amount of non-organic substance found in (or on) seed, is a small concern. However if you are staunchly pro-organic, edible seed sprouts could contain the most non-organic elements, if indeed the seeds came from a non-organic plant source.(or the seeds have been subject to a non-organic preservative covering, like a fungicide)
After sprouting, and the seed is grown somewhat to maturity......I personally see little difference. (any non-organic elements are vanquished into undetectable amounts)
Other people may feel different.

On the largest garden forum, misunderstandings are found....many gardeners thinking that "organic" is defined as "not genetically modified". Even in this large forum, many believe you can buy GM seed......and this idea is easily spread.
http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/organic/msg011854539559.html

....though that was an older GardenWeb post. In newer posts, knowledge of "there are no GM seeds available" is more understood. But still, the incorrect idea is still being corrected to this day.
where to buy non-gmo seeds ? (3/14/2014)

 

[Leifer]

This NaturalNews article claims....(read the title).....
Organic agriculture ravaged by chemtrails - Monsanto seizes the opportunity, profits and dominates

...... because there may be patents on some not-yet-existent plants or seeds....that Monsanto is somehow controlling the food supply, "now".
One other problem with this NN article (article=loosest terms), is that if "chemtrails" are already in use....why is there a boon in organic produce.....currently ?

According to the 2008 Organic Production Survey (NASS 2010), the United States has 4.1 million acres used for organic production. Of that amount, 1.6 million acres were planted to organic crops and 1.8 million acres were organic pasture or rangeland. Figures for the previous year, reported in the Organic Agriculture: 2007 (NASS 2009), stated that the nation had 2.6 million acres used for organic production.
The number of certified organic farms, ranches and processing facilities in 2011 totaled 17,281, a 240 percent increase since 2002 (NOP 2012). While there were organic farms or ranches in all 50 states, nearly 20 percent, or more than 2,500 of the operations, were in California. Other states with large numbers of certified and exempt organic operations were Wisconsin (1,124), New York (842) and Washington (737). (NASS 2011)
http://www.agmrc.org/markets__industries/food/organic-food-trends-profile/

The NN article leads people to believe the list they describe, are somehow all genetically modified already, just because there may be patents in the works.

According to Farm Wars, the patents for stress-tolerant plants not only include the main GM crops of corn, soybean, wheat, cotton, rice and canola, but also:

"Acacia , alfalfa, apple, apricot, artichoke, arugula, asparagus, avocado, banana, barley, beans, beet, blackberry, blueberry, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cantaloupe, carrot, cassaya, cauliflower, celery, cherry, cilantro, citrus, clementines, coffee, corn, cucumber, Douglas fir, eggplant, endive, escarole, eucalyptus, fennel, figs, forest tree, gourd, grape, grapefruit, honey dew, jicama, kiwifruit, lettuce, leeks, lemon, lime, loblolly pine, mango, melon, millet, mushroom, nut, oat, okra, onion, orange, papaya, parsley, pea, peach, peanut, pear, pepper, persimmon, pine, pineapple, plantain, plum, pomegranate, poplar, potato, pumpkin, quince, radiata pine, radicchio, radish, raspberry, rye, sorghum, southern pine, spinach, squash, strawberry, sugar beet, sugarcane, sunflower, sweet potato, sweet gum, tangerine, tea, tobacco, tomato, turf, a vine, watermelon, yams, and zucchini."

What this means is that these mutant plants will be able to survive the onslaught of chemtrail toxins and severe weather changes whereas organic crops are bound to whither and die - giving Monsanto further control over the food supply.

http://www.naturalnews.com/040174_chemtrails_Monsanto_pollutant-resistant_crops.html#ixzz3BCAuxBKL

It is clear to careful readers that this list of plants and their patents are "possibly in the future", but the point is.....the article claims that "chemtrails" are happening now.....and if it's "now"....where are the detrimental results to current non-GM seed and plants ?

What does the top GM seed corporation do when crops die from chemtrail contamination? It profits. True to form, Monsanto has used the devastation caused by geoengineering to its advantage by creating patented GM seeds that withstand the effects of chemtrails. The seeds are designed to survive extreme weather conditions, pollution, salt stress, heavy metals and mineralized soils.

 

[Cairenn]

What a Gish Gallop of plants. Very few of those are in development. Okra is not that big of a crop and I love the general 'nut' category. N N has no credibility to anyone that looks at it hard

 

[Pete Tar]

N N has no credibility to anyone that looks at it hard

I disagree. A passing glance is all that is needed.