Monsanto on the Defensive

Mrs. Schemeiser discovered in 2002 that Monsanto’s seed had ...contaminated her small organic farm. She wrote to Monsanto asking them to remove the plants, but only received vague, threatening letters in response. After being repeatedly rebuffed, Mrs. Schmeiser paid a local student $140 to remove the plants; subsequently, she filed a small claim against Monsanto demanding that she be reimbursed the $140.
Although $140 may not sound like a lot of money, there is plenty at stake in the court’s decision. If Monsanto is compelled to reimburse Mrs. Schmeiser for the removal of their GM canola, then they may also be held responsible for removing unwanted patented crops wherever they happen to appear. Whether or not the contamination at the Schmeiser's farm was in fact accidental, given the nature of Monsanto's product, the inevitability of accidental contamination is a reality with which the corporation (and everyone else, for that matter) will have to grapple. In the end, it may turn out that—patent or no patent—even companies like Monsanto won't have pockets deep enough to stay in the GM food game.