Oregon Farmers fighting Monsanto's law suit

Our Family Farms Coalition member Chris Hardy and Dr. Ray Seidler, former senior EPA scientist, discuss the Monsanto lawsuit. Chris Hardy is a fourth-generation farmer whose connection to the land was cultivated in Iowa while working on his grandfather’s 400 acre family farm. Chris went on to travel extensively, working with farming communities as far away as Pakistan.  As a farmer actively engaged in permaculture education and the local food movement in Southern Oregon, he oversees 5 acres of organic vegetables, perennials and seed crops. He has worked extensively with the Rogue Valley Farm to School Program, served on the Rogue Valley Growers Market Board of Directors and is President of the Southern Oregon Seed Growers Association (SOSGA). He has also taught seed workshops, organized community seed swaps and regional dialogs on the future of seed growing and saving in S. Oregon. He is chief petitioner and defendant-intervener in a lawsuit against Jackson County’s overwhelming successful campaign to ban genetically engineered crops from the county. He has spoken extensively on how GE crops impact the health and welfare of family farmers across the country. About Our Family Farms Coalition Our Family Farms Coalition (OFFC) was founded for a simple reason: protect family farmers and our community in Jackson County from the risks of genetically engineered crops. Our farms and livelihoods depend on it. A critical first step in this effort is the passage of the Family Farms Measure 15-119 on the ballot May 20, 1014. Our Family Farms Coalition was formed by Rogue Valley farmers whose ability to farm and sell their crops is threatened by genetically engineered crops. Some of these farmers, such as the OFFC’s director Elise Higley and one of the Measure's chief petitioners, Chris Hardy, were actively involved in collecting signatures that qualified the Family Farms Measure (15-119) for the ballot. Website: http://www.ourfamilyfarmscoalition.org/ Kickstarter Campaign Help Us Create a GMO Free Sanctuary for Family Farmers! Last year family farmers in southern Oregon's Jackson County passed a local ballot measure banning genetically engineered crops from this rural and generally conservative county with a landslide victory of 66%! Voters from all political backgrounds agreed that it was time to protect family farmers from having their crops contaminated by GMOs. Neighboring Josephine County also voted to ban GMOs, creating the opportunity for what could be the largest GMO free sanctuary in the mainland United States. Monsanto, Syngenta and other chemical corporations invested in GMO crops dumped almost $1 million into the effort to defeat our ballot measure. Now they're backing a lawsuit against our county trying to overturn this important protection for family farmers and our food supply. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gmofree/help-family-farmers-stand-up-to-monsantos-gmos Dr Ray Seidler https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9Abvzf-0_s