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Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Seed companies supplied by Monsanto

Burpee has responded in the comments below. While I neither believe nor disbelieve the response, I advise you to take caution, no matter who you buy from. I will be contacting Burpee to see if they've actually signed the Non-GMO pledge before I make a decision.

This entire post is a quote from Kelle over on Never Done Farm:

Some info I already knew, had saved and now is found. Unfortunately this won't help you this season in your seed choices, but save the info. for future reference.

Here is an interesting post on Seed companies supplied by monsanto. If you think it is relevant please pass it on to the growing food and justice list serve.


Recently on a gardening forum in which I participate, a list of various seed companies now owned by Monsanto was posted. I was so shocked to discover Territorial Seeds on the list that I immediately wrote to them to ask if it was true... As it turns out, while Territorial continues to be owned

privately, by Tom & Julie Johns, one of their seed suppliers, Seminis, is in fact owned by Monsanto. Over the course of my correspondence with staff from Territorial, they provided me with a list of the seeds currently purchased by Seminis, which I have attached. And I was told that the owners are 'considering' whether or not to continue using Seminis as a vendor.

I'm sending this information out in the hopes that *you'll* consider writing to Territorial Seeds to request they terminate their relationship with Seminis, as well as expressing support for them as a company you'd continue to buy seeds from in the future. I can't express enough how important it is for those of us who are dedicated to food security, and the ongoing availability of good, local, organic produce, to do whatever we can to prevent Monsanto from colonizing our primary sources of seed. Toward that end, I'm also posting the list of companies owned by Monsanto for your

review, in case you find others whose seeds you've bought.

* Territorial Seeds

* Totally Tomato
* Vermont Bean Seed Co.
* Burpee
* Cook's Garden
* Johnny's Seeds
* Earl May Seed
* Gardens Alive
* Lindenberg Seeds
* Mountain Valley Seed
* Park Seed
* T&T Seeds
* Tomato Growers Supply
* Willhite Seed Co.
* Nichol's
* Rupp
* Osborne
* Snow
* Stokes
* Jungs
* R.H. Shumway
* The Vermont Bean Seed Company
* Seeds for the World
* Seymour's Selected Seeds
* HPS
* Roots and Rhizomes
* McClure and Zimmerman Quality Bulb Brokers
* Spring Hill Nurseries
* Breck's Bulbs
* Audubon Workshop
* Flower of the Month Club
* Wayside Gardens
* Park Bulbs
* Park's Countryside Garden

And one final thing: here's a link to another seed company, Fedco, who posted information on their website about their own decision to forgo using Seminis any longer once they had been purchased by Monsanto: http://www.fedcoseeds.com/seeds/monsanto.htm

Fedco Seeds - The Monsanto Debate/Monsanto Buys Seminis

2 comments:

Kristin said...

Hello,
I handle the public relations for Burpee and its sister company The Cook's Garden, and wanted to provide some clarification. Burpee and The Cook's Garden are privately owned by George Ball. These companies are not owned by Monsanto. Please see Burpee's formal statement below.

Kind Regards,
Kristin Grilli

Burpee is the nation's leading purveyor of both heirloom and hybrid vegetable and flower seeds and mail order transplants. Burpee produces and sources seeds from a select list of growers and suppliers throughout the world including Seminis. None of the seeds produced or sourced from any grower or supplier are GMO. Burpee has never bred or sold GMO seeds and does not intend to do so in the future.

Burpee was founded in 1876 by seed pioneer W. Atlee Burpee. The company remains privately owned by George Ball, a third generation seedsman, who serves as Chairman and CEO of W. Atlee Burpee & Co. and is past president of The American Horticultural Society. For more information, please visit our company history page here: http://bit.ly/aREQxD

Brocco said...

Re: Kristin

But does Burpee purchase anything from Monsanto or any companies that Monsanto has acquired? This was not clarified in your response.