bunkie
January 7th, 2008, 11:19 AM
Whose Harvest? The politics of organic seed certification
http://www.grain.org/briefings/?id=207
Millions of farmers around the world practice what is often called organic agriculture and over a billion people get most of their food from these farms. Although only a small portion of these farms are certified as "organic" by outside agents and little of the food they produce is labelled organic, the global market for organic foods is growing -- as are the pressures for certification. Some argue that this organic market boom presents a big opportunity for small farmers, but there are clearly many challenges, and some fear that the existing organic certification systems are in fact doing the reverse -- setting the stage for big agribusiness to take over. Now these tensions are coming to a head with seeds.
Most of the world's organic farming is based on the wealth of seed diversity that farmers have created and sustained through generations of local seed exchange and improvement systems and traditional knowledge. But, today, new regulations governing seeds in organic farming, more attuned to the needs of seed corporations than seed savers, are popping up everywhere, with potentially devastating consequences for farmer seed systems.
This Briefing provides the first global overview of regulations concerning seeds in organic farming and assesses what such regulations mean to the future of organic farming and the millions of farmers who sustain it..............
The big multinational corporations that dominate the food trade and retail markets have changed their view of organics as the markets for organic foods have grown over the last decade or so. They no longer see them as a threat to be destroyed but as a growing market to be conquered. Even the seed corporations have started to change their tune. In recent years, a growing chorus of voices from within the seed industry has been proposing a bargain that can be summed up as: “We’ll supply you with the organic seeds if you guarantee us a market by making it mandatory for organic farmers to use our seeds.” It is a controversial offer, fraught with potentially grave consequences, and yet some within the organic movement are convinced of its benefits. So too are many governments, with a growing number pushing forward on the seed industry’s proposal. Others, however, recognise the bargain as a trap that will push organics even further down the road of corporate control and away from the interests of small farmers and most consumers..............
http://www.grain.org/briefings/?id=207
Millions of farmers around the world practice what is often called organic agriculture and over a billion people get most of their food from these farms. Although only a small portion of these farms are certified as "organic" by outside agents and little of the food they produce is labelled organic, the global market for organic foods is growing -- as are the pressures for certification. Some argue that this organic market boom presents a big opportunity for small farmers, but there are clearly many challenges, and some fear that the existing organic certification systems are in fact doing the reverse -- setting the stage for big agribusiness to take over. Now these tensions are coming to a head with seeds.
Most of the world's organic farming is based on the wealth of seed diversity that farmers have created and sustained through generations of local seed exchange and improvement systems and traditional knowledge. But, today, new regulations governing seeds in organic farming, more attuned to the needs of seed corporations than seed savers, are popping up everywhere, with potentially devastating consequences for farmer seed systems.
This Briefing provides the first global overview of regulations concerning seeds in organic farming and assesses what such regulations mean to the future of organic farming and the millions of farmers who sustain it..............
The big multinational corporations that dominate the food trade and retail markets have changed their view of organics as the markets for organic foods have grown over the last decade or so. They no longer see them as a threat to be destroyed but as a growing market to be conquered. Even the seed corporations have started to change their tune. In recent years, a growing chorus of voices from within the seed industry has been proposing a bargain that can be summed up as: “We’ll supply you with the organic seeds if you guarantee us a market by making it mandatory for organic farmers to use our seeds.” It is a controversial offer, fraught with potentially grave consequences, and yet some within the organic movement are convinced of its benefits. So too are many governments, with a growing number pushing forward on the seed industry’s proposal. Others, however, recognise the bargain as a trap that will push organics even further down the road of corporate control and away from the interests of small farmers and most consumers..............