Kent Whealy: SSE = Monsanto

[PatrickW]

Okay, these weren't his exact words, but pretty close. Kent Whealy, former hear of the Seed Savers Exchange sent a number of people letters a few days ago including me. The letter was a copy of a speed he gave at the Land Institute entitled Svalbard Doomsday Vault: Biopiracy by U.N. Treaty and you can download a copy of it here:

www.patnsteph.net/blogpics/Whealy_Oct2010.pdf

If you have any problems reading this link, just search Google for it, it's all over the Internet now. While you're at it, have a look at some of the places publishing the letter. Many of them are blogs of small farmers across America.

Alan made a great post about it on his blog (as well as a comment on my blog -- thanks Alan!):

homegrowngoodness.blogspot.com/2010/10/more-proof-of-control-of-worlds-food.html

I made some posts too:

www.patnsteph.net/weblog/2010/10/kent-whealy-land-institute-speech-sept-2010/

www.patnsteph.net/weblog/2010/10/seed-savers-exchange-3/

Once being an enthusiastic member of the SSE, I find this all a very bitter pill to swallow. At the same time, a number of us, Alan and I included, knew almost everything in Kent Whealy's speech years ago, so nothing was really a surprise. The hard part has always been researching it and laying it all out like Kent Whealy just did.

We've talked about some of Kent's letters here before, and in many ways I think this forum is the most important place on the Internet to do this. There's no other place where there's such an intelligent group of 'ordinary' people as there is here, and you are really the ones in the best position to get the message out. You are the ones who, when someone shows up on this or other discussion forums excitedly announcing they are going to join the SSE, can warn them and suggest they reconsider.

In particular, my advice is the following:

If you are not now a member of the SSE, don’t join. Your money and other efforts won’t go to supporting the right things. This may change in the future, but don’t assume it has just because you read something on the SSE website or see something written by a representative of the SSE on the Internet.

If you are already a member of the SSE, contact them via letter or email to demand the following:

Recovery of the SSE member’s seed collection from Svalbard and the resignation of board members Amy Goldman, Cary Fowler and Neil Hamilton.

If you don't join the SSE, what are the alternatives? Places like Homegrown Goodness! There are also a number of other smaller organizations in the US and around the world that would be delighted to have your support, just use Google to look for them.

[bunkie]

thanks for the info and links patrick. will read all and pass on.

your first link did not work for me, but the first one from your blog had the entire letter there.

good work, you and alan and kent!

[klorentz]

I did make some comments on The Tomato Garden Forum when Kent's letter was posted there. Ever since I heard about SSE seeds going to the Dooms Day Vault I had seen red flags showing in my head. Something has clearly been amiss at SSE. The first sign of that IMO was when Kent was ousted.All the rest needs no explanation as to why we should look to all these events with a wary eye and continue to save our own seeds and build on our collection of varieties. This is a very wise insurance policy. If we do not we will be at the mercy of the corporate machine.To that I say a very loud " Oh Hell No".

Kevin

[castanea]

A nice rant by Kent

[wildseed57]

Thanks for the heads up about this, I at one point last year had given though of becoming a SSE member, but after reading how if I wanted to contact other members about certain vegetable varieties, I had to be a paid member first, just didn't quite sit well with me. This was probable was written long before the conspiracy happened, but I don't believe I should have to become a member just to find out about a vegetable variety.
I knew something wasn't right when I heard that Monsanto was working hand in hand with the USDA Grin. especially when I had heard about how Monsanto was throwing its weight around and bullying farmers to grow certain GM seeds that they owned, and wondered how we could force a country to grow only seeds that were selected and owned by various US companies that were owned basically by Monsanto. Do I feel that there is a conspiracy going on Heck yes and I scares the you know what out of me. I'm just one little person, so I can't do much, But I have dealt with the men in black that tell you that you can disappear if you don't stay quiet, and know they mean it. I don't worry so much about what might happen to me in the future, but I worry about my grand kids and in the long run their kids. What can they do to keep this from getting to the point where they have no choice in what they can grow if even allowed to and what they can buy in the stores or even setting down to a quiet meal in a restaurant and ordering vegetables that may be GM. Is there a way that we can take the power out of their hands and give it back to the people before its to late or is it to late already ?

[Joseph Lofthouse]

Oct 15, 2010 23:32:55 GMT -5 wildseed57 said:

Is there a way that we can take the power out of their hands and give it back to the people before its to late or is it to late already ?

If you care about such things, then... grow only open pollinated land-races in your garden. Buy only land-races from other gardeners. Do not buy food or seeds from any corporation... Plant land-race seeds even if they have been declared illegal or unstable.

It was illegal in India to make salt from the sea.... So the people made salt and the empire's brutes beat them until the brutes became so sick of their own barbarism that they packed up and went home and left India alone. It could happen anywhere.

[grunt]

Keep on trading and sharing seeds. Keep the varieties moving around so they can't disappear. And just outlive them = we can do it!

[keen101 (Biolumo / Andrew B.)]

I LOVE the idea of a copyleft seed movement! It's like applying the ideas of OpenSource software to seeds. It would effectively create a legal way of protecting seeds from corporations.

Is there any new varieties here that people have applied this to yet? I really think someone should do it.

[PatrickW]

You and me both keen101!

A lot of people have been talking about this the last few years, but no one's come up with a good way. I hope you'll give it some thought and talk about it with people!

It used to be the SSE was in effect doing this, when Kent Whealy was running it out of his home with his then wife in the 1970s and 80s.

Now the SSE has put together a large collection of varieties over the years, and now this collection and who controls it has become the center of very bitter battles. One would think if Kent Whealy put this collection and the SSE together, and someone else didn't like him or what he was doing, they would just start their own organization and collection. After all, it's just the nature of this kind of thing that there can't be too many people working on it and promoting biodiversity. This would be the way with Open Source software.

Instead it's turned into an organization that has a budget of $5,500,000 per year, the founder has been fired and banned, and there is a big fight over if the seeds should be put under an international treaty that guarantees rights to corporations. The SSE now regularly tells it's founder and members to 'shut up', and their discussion forum is moderated with a very heavy hand. Like open discussions are somehow going to hurt people? The SSE has just become a monster that doesn't make sense any more. It's just like absolute power corrupts absolutely, controlling a large collection of seeds seems to just make people go crazy and do crazy things.

The truth is these seeds don't belong in a seed bank, don't belong in Svalbard, don't belong in the hands of the SSE, don't belong in the hands of Monsanto or any other corporation. They belong in our gardens. There's obviously the need for some kind of storage facilities, but this needs to be done on a smaller more local scale and much more emphasis needs to be put on getting these seeds back into the ground.

For a long time now the SSE has had a warm place in the heart of many people. It's always been an organization you could only like. After all, how could you be against biodiversity?

The SSE has this seemingly unending stream of members who sign up and turn over their money in the expectation they are doing something good. Most people who get started gardening hear about the SSE, and many of them just send them money without giving any thought to the matter.

The reality I think is most people on this forum are not members, and most of the important plant breeders or seed savers I know these days are also not members. Beyond publishing a seed list and facilitating trades between members, the SSE does not provide a lot of useful services to their members, and in my opinion this can better be done over the Internet anyway. While there are a lot of varieties traded between their members, some of which are unavailable elsewhere, the SSE collection is not really so special it makes it worth all this fighting. The average gardener will not gain that much by becoming a member, and certainly will not get good value for their membership in terms of the prices they pay for the seeds they get. A SSE membership is very expensive.

I think it's time we as a community start calling a spade a spade as it were. It's time to help one another offer their seeds over the Internet instead, and start promoting small and local organizations over the SSE. We will do much more by helping people learn how to garden, save seeds and do their own amateur breeding then we will by sending money to an organization like the SSE.

The time for the SSE has passed. They just aren't helping any more. They should either evolve into something more modern and useful to the average gardener, or they should disband. If they can't open their arms and welcome the efforts and opinions of anyone interested in promoting biodiversity, they are missing the point.

[flowerpower]

Personally, I wouldn't waste my money on a membership. When I look through the commercial catalog, I see the same exact varieties every yr. The majority of them are very common these days too. I doubt they offer many varietes that cannot be purchased elsewhere. And they are more expensive than ALOT of other places.

[garnetmoth]

SSE was one of the first gardening organizations I learned about. I live in a city and have some distant relatives who commercially farm. My grandparents gardened and canned when I was very young but usually grew hybrids.

I like the SSE Yearbook, it has a LOT of varieties compared to their commercial catalog. these varieties are maintained largely by SSE's individual members, and there is a large number of varieties listed through Heritage Farm grown out on rotation.

It is also a pretty top-down organization. the Board of Directors decides on the prices in the yearbook, as far as I know the Directors are who pick the retail catalog varieties. the Yearbook is the single largest collection of varieties I have ever seen, and several of the long-time gardeners I have met in person are also members.

I have had maybe 3 requests from the Yearbook, I dont have anything very rare and im just starting to list. I do more trading with other forum folk.

the situation with Mr. and Mrs. Whealy makes me uncomfortable. I wish SSE could exist without mudslinging and politics. SSE on their forum does openly have a thread now about the situation, and the Board refutes the Svalbard complications....

I want to do a part to raise and pass on seeds, and find or breed varieties that do well in my climate.

[synergy]

Seeds of Change
In August 2010, Mars, Incorporated announced that it would close the El Guique farm and move some management to Los Angeles. A final tour of the farm was provided on Saturday, August 14. A spokesperson for Mars indicated the closure was due to a "strategic shift" and that not all the employees would retain their jobs.[4] One farm employee was left as of August 14, 2010. Others were relieved of their jobs without prior notice about August 1, 2010. Employee Liz Clayton-Jones, Mars UK stated in an interview "One of the principles [of the Mars company] is "Freedom", which is embodied by the fact that we're a family-owned, private business with the freedom to innovate, invest and define success by our own high standards. In addition, our "Associate Concept" is fundamental to the way all our employees are treated and respected: we believe our employees are our most valuable assets. Common to this is our egalitarian culture of equality and accessibility, which stems from the Quaker roots of the Mars family." The property is being sold without consideration for the value of the accumulated knowledge that was on store at the site.

Hmm, Mars is a food corporate giant and whom owns and controls them? Well a quick little internet research shows Masterfoods and Masterfoods works hand in hand with Berkshire Hathaway whom 80% of their stock is bequeathed to the Gates Foundation (Bill and Melinda Gates) and they in turn are funding and working with Monsanto and are vested in their GMO distribution in world food development in the third world and in the safekeeping of our worlds open pollinated seed stock in the seed depository in Svalbaard, Norway.

Nice.

Keep planting, saving seed and sharing , we're going to need it.

[castanea]

Synergy, well said.

[garnetmoth]

Synergy- one of the most inspiring books on gardening I read when I was beginning was Seeds of Change, only to see it sold to Mars, now to be on the way out. BOOO.

It will have to be individuals and small companies run by caring people that keep seed diverse.

[PatrickW]

Oct 31, 2010 18:03:22 GMT -5 garnetmoth said:

I like the SSE Yearbook, it has a LOT of varieties compared to their commercial catalog. these varieties are maintained largely by SSE's individual members, and there is a large number of varieties listed through Heritage Farm grown out on rotation.

It's true the SSE has a lot more varieties listed in their Yearbook than their own or any other commercial seed catalog. It's also true the SSE themselves has a very large and important collection. These things can't be ignored.

The real question is are these useful to the average gardener, or anyone else for that matter.

Is it useful to have thousands of tomatoes to choose from like the SSE has? I actually think for most people it would be better to buy a few varieties from a seed company that has a more focused selection of a hundred or so. In fact you can just look at a commercial seed company's selection, pick a few tomato varieties, then start asking around on the Internet if anyone can send you seeds for a small payment or just postage.

I've also had problems ordering things from the Yearbook before, and things you think are available may not actually be. For example I've ordered things and received a letter telling me what I wanted wasn't available anymore.

I've also received seeds, for example for a wild tomato, from the only person in the SSE that listed it and it wasn't available anywhere else, and the seeds didn't germinate. Probably the person offering them had kept them for a long time and didn't know they were too old, and didn't want to throw them away in case they were useful to someone...

You do need some patience to order from the Yearbook and need to be prepared for some disappointments. Unless you are looking for something very rare, it's really more trouble than it's worth. I also think even if you are looking for something rare, there are some other sources like seed banks that have just as much to offer as the SSE. I also think most things in the SSE collection are floating around other people's gardens by now, and can probably be found elsewhere.

I think as much as anything the SSE Yearbook is a bit of a bridge between the older generation of seed savers who still aren't comfortable using the Internet, and the younger generation. It's really hard to let this connection go, and the SSE still has lots of members with a lot to offer, but the SSE organization itself is not doing a good job of making this connection work. I really think someone else should take over this effort somehow.

If you're looking for something rare, this forum is a better place to start than the SSE. A few people here will almost certainly stay members of the SSE, and could look things up for you in the Yearbook. Also a lot of people here have experience ordering accessions from genebanks, or are members of other seed saving organizations, and might help with finding something for you this way.

In my mind, one of the reasons the SSE is not useful to ordinary gardeners, or others for that matter, is they do not function like a genebank. It's not possible to contact the SSE and ask for information about their collection (they usually ignore these requests) or ask for samples. The SSE makes parts of it's collection available via the Yearbook from time to time, often with hardly any information about the variety, but most people don't want to get seeds that way.

If this is the year to grow lettuce, you want to be able to contact the SSE and ask for all of their red lettuce, or all of their loose leaf lettuce, or all their lettuce that shows some disease resistance, or whatever. It's not useful for most people to only be able to ask for one of 20 lettuces the SSE happens to be growing this year, that they don't really know anything about.

Oct 31, 2010 18:03:22 GMT -5 garnetmoth said:

SSE on their forum does openly have a thread now about the situation, and the Board refutes the Svalbard complications....

Yes, I've seen that thread too.

So if you haven't been banned already, or been so pissed off by them and left the forum years ago, you can leave a comment. Before you say something really outrageous, you have to ask yourself if you might really be testing their declaration of 'open'. If you say the wrong thing, they may decide in a few weeks time they no longer want your post there, and delete it. Maybe they will edit it and change what you said. Maybe what you say will earn you a permanent ban from the organization. Whatever you say better follow the forum rules, which are constantly changing and subject to very wide interpretation by different people.

Other than that, yes the thread is completely free and open to discuss the situation with Kent Whealy...