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“Defending Organic Agriculture: Farmer, Advocate Jim Gerritsen Strives to Preserve Organic Integrity in the Face of Mounting Threats,” recently published in Acres U.S.A. chronicles OSGATA President Gerritsen’s agrarian activism from the very start of his certified organic seed farm in Northern Maine to today.
“What really sets Gerritsen apart, though, is his idea of citizenships both deep-rooted and expansive, like the forests that still cover much of his beloved Aroostook County. His thirst for involvement first took him to Washington, D.C. in the ’90s to consult with Patrick Leahy on the original organic certification law. A few years later, outraged by Monsanto’s habit of tormenting independent farmers who had the bad luck to be downwind from a farm using the firm’s dubious genetically modified seed, Gerritsen and the organization he co-founded, OSGATA, took on the biotech colossus as lead plaintiffs in a heroic, historic lawsuit. As he explains, they were denied the opportunity for justice but still managed to establish an important precedent. History books now being written will recall OSGATA et al. v. Monsanto as a pivotal moment when thousands of citizens stood against abusive corporate power, and the logic of the case they assembled will finally get some of the attention it deserves.”
The interview offers in-depth background regarding the OSGATA et al. v. Monsanto lawsuit, as well as the foundation of OSGATA.
