Hightower Lowdown

Hoist a glass of cheer for Percy Schmeiser!

Percy is a family farmer who raises grain in Saskatchewan, Canada. In the last several years, however, he's mostly been raising hell against the brutish tactics of Monsanto. This multibillion-dollar global pusher of genetically-manipulated Frankenfoods went after Percy with all of its corporate might. You see, Mr. Schmeiser raises canola, saving the seeds from one year's crop to plant a new crop the next year, as farmers worldwide have done for ages. But in 1997 Monsanto's hired spies found that some of the corporation's patented, genetically altered canola plants were in Percy's fields and their seed had been replanted by him. So this giant sued him, branded him a thief, demanded his profits, and sought damages, penalties, fees, and court costs from the poor guy. Yet Percy had not planted Monsanto's perverted seeds; rather, his unadulterated crop had been contaminated by pollen from altered Monsanto plants that had drifted from other fields. He argued that Monsanto's patent wasn't valid in such a case, and that he owed nothing for seeds he didn't know he had, had not wanted, and had gained no profit from. He valiantly fought a long and costly legal battle against this bully, and now Canada's Supreme Court has ruled that, while Monsanto's patent is valid, Percy had not profited, was not a thief, and owed not a penny to the corporation.

And since the court ruled that Monsanto does own the altered plants that landed in Percy's fields, other farmers whose fields have been contaminated by Monsanto's adulterated plants might now have grounds to sue the company.

To learn more about Percy's heroic fight, go to percyschmeiser.com