The Countdown Begins!

I hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving. Mine was very good except that I drove to North Carolina and back. I can't believe it! Another year is almost over! We have lots of good things happening this month and their are NO BASKETS DEC 29TH.

December Calendar
1 Basic Week
6 Candle Making Workshop
8 Big Week
11 Holiday 350 Candlelight Vigil Party
15 Basic Week
16 Montclair Movie: No Impact Man
22 Big Week
29 No Bags this week

Monsanto's Control Over Seed Market Prompts Antitrust Inquiry
By Peter Whoriskey - The Washington Post, November 29, 2009

For plants designed in a lab a little more than a decade ago, they've come a long way: Today, the vast majority of the nation's two primary crops grow from seeds genetically altered according to Monsanto company patents.

Ninety-three percent of soybeans. Eighty percent of corn.

The seeds represent "probably the most revolutionary event in grain crops over the last 30 years," said Geno Lowe, a Salisbury, Md., soybean farmer.

But for farmers such as Lowe, prices of the Monsanto-patented seeds have steadily increased, roughly doubling during the past decade, to about $50 for a 50-pound bag of soybean seed, according to seed dealers.

The revolution, and Monsanto's dominant role in the nation's agriculture, has not unfolded without complaint. Farmers have decried the price increases, and competitors say the company has ruthlessly stifled competition.

Now Monsanto -- like IBM and Google -- has drawn scrutiny from U.S. antitrust investigators, who under the Obama administration have looked more skeptically at the actions of dominant firms.

More: www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/28/ AR2009112802471.html?hpid=topnews

Enjoy!     Marnie