Don and I just finished watching a documentary, "David vs. Monsanto," on Youtube. Here is the trailer. This has all the makings of a great documentary: an important social and environmental cause, conflict, and the personal side of a current and compelling issue.
A Canadian farmer named Percy Schmeiser used to grow canola. He spent over 50 years developing his own strain of seed using careful breeding and saving his seeds from year to year. Monsanto, a corporate giant, polluted his land with GM (genetically modified) canola that is resistant to Roundup, a product Schmeiser, an environmentalist, does not use. The GM plants ruined Schmeiser's breeding stock. To make matters worse, Monsanto then sued Schmeiser for patent infringement for growing plants that contained their patented gene. This is apparently a common tactic for Monsanto, which refers to seed-savers like Schmeiser as "pirates," according to the movie.
Schmeiser fought back through the Canadian legal system, a long, difficult, and expensive process. If you care about the environment, your health, freedom of speech, or just like to root for the little guy, you need to watch this movie.
I, for one, will never buy or use Roundup again.
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