Schmeiser

Percy Schmeiser is a farmer from Bruno, Saskatchewan, Canada whose canola fields were contaminated with Monsanto's Round-Up Ready Canola.

Boing Boing: February 10, 2002 - February 16, 2002 Archives 2002

Goliath, a documentary which recounts the story of Canadian farmer, Percy Schmeiser who was sued by Monsanto after the company's genetically modified Roundup Ready canola seed drifted onto the farmer's land.

Maria Russo: Monsanto's Seed: How One Company is Tarnishing Our Food Supply Maria Russo 2011

K. Schmeiser, a student who would definitively earn his reputation at the Institute in the 1950s, worked on coincidence measurements of cosmic radiation showers, the Rossi curve, and Rossi Maxima.

Walther Bothe and the Physics Institute: the Early Years of Nuclear Physics 2010

Schmeiser would never be able to use his seed again -- a devastating blow to the septuagenarian farmer who spent most of his life trying to perfect his harvest.

Maria Russo: Monsanto's Seed: How One Company is Tarnishing Our Food Supply Maria Russo 2011

The company demanded $37 for each hectare of Schmeiser's land -- land that was destroyed by a seed that belonged to Monsanto.

Maria Russo: Monsanto's Seed: How One Company is Tarnishing Our Food Supply Maria Russo 2011

Throughout the documentary, Schmeiser talks about the fear he and his wife lived with while Monsanto continuously stalked his home, surreptitiously surveyed his property, and followed his whereabouts throughout the day.

Maria Russo: Monsanto's Seed: How One Company is Tarnishing Our Food Supply Maria Russo 2011

Schmeiser was lucky -- after an almost seven-year battle the Supreme Court ruled that Monsanto's patent is valid, but Schmeiser would not be forced to pay Monsanto anything as he did not profit from the presence of Roundup Ready canola in his fields.

Maria Russo: Monsanto's Seed: How One Company is Tarnishing Our Food Supply Maria Russo 2011

Monsanto filed a lawsuit against Schmeiser claiming that he knowingly and illegally planted the company's patented weed-resistant canola on his land.

Maria Russo: Monsanto's Seed: How One Company is Tarnishing Our Food Supply Maria Russo 2011

Schmeiser, who had been a farmer for over 40 years, lost his crop and the seed he spent years developing to be tolerant to local farming conditions.

Maria Russo: Monsanto's Seed: How One Company is Tarnishing Our Food Supply Maria Russo 2011

Schmeiser noted that the ACT's test-taking population "now includes virtually all students in eight states, many of whom might not have considered taking a college and career readiness assessment years ago."

ACT Scores Dip, But More Students College-Ready 2010