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Farmer, marketer at odds over sales of white nectarines

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Re: Farmer, marketer at odds over sales of white nectarines

#11

Post by ars »

efitz wrote: post #6

Patents on food crops, even genetically engineered ones, are evil. ALL our staple food crops and most non staples are genetically engineered by millennia of cultivation and selective breeding; CRISPR is just a fancy mechanism for what we’ve always done to food. Regulations that prevent farmers from selling food that is safe, are evil. It doesn’t matter how well intentioned the regulation is. Any government functionar…

You are perfectly free to keep selling what we've been eating. No one is forcing people to plant the new stuff.

If you make patents illegal, no one will breed new stuff. How does that help?

All that will do is cause people to grow the old stuff, which they still can, even if the patent exists.

Do you get what I mean? Adding a patent does not reduce anything, it only adds a new option.

Re: Farmer, marketer at odds over sales of white nectarines

#12

Post by bpodgursky »

john_strinlai wrote: post #2

> locked in a legal battle with a company that claims exclusive rights over the variety of white nectarine he grows. > [...] Fruit patents are becoming more common this is unbelievably stupid. no company should have rights or patents over a variety of food.

This is so simplistic.

They made a new varietal. Nobody is saying he can't plant any of the standard heirloom Nectarines. The patent will expire in a while, and then anyone can do it.

Honestly, how are you proposing incentivizing developing new varietals if nobody can have patents on any breeds at all? This is how it has worked for half a century and mild gripes aside, the quality of the produce in stores is WAY WAY BETTER than it was before (seriously, what is the last time you ate a Red Delicious apple?)

Have like... some awareness of the large functioning important system you are mindlessly breaking with throwaway comments.

Re: Farmer, marketer at odds over sales of white nectarines

#13

Post by em-bee »

regardless of how the contract is structured, no contract should allow or force a producer to throw products away. this is similar to a law in the EU that forbids producers or distributors of clothing to destroy products they don't want to sell.

once you plant a tree to grow fruit you should be allowed to keep harvesting that tree until its natural end. if there is an exclusive contract then the contract must not be allowed to be terminated before that end unless the grower is free to sell on the open market after termination.

anything else would allow patent owners to hold growers hostage ̶l̶i̶k̶e̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶s̶t̶o̶r̶y̶ ̶h̶e̶r̶e̶.̶

Re: Farmer, marketer at odds over sales of white nectarines

#14

Post by lokar »

petcat wrote: post #7

> In its court filings, Giumarra says all rights to the Monalise variety are owned by Star Fruits Diffusion, a French company that works with plant breeding programs, while Giumarra holds the right to sublicense the variety for testing, production and sale. > French company Enough said. This US admin will nuke that agreement instantly. If it was a fellow American company, let it pass.

But it’s a US company collecting the money from the farmers. If they hold enough trumpcoin they have a pretty good case.

Re: Farmer, marketer at odds over sales of white nectarines

#15

Post by [deleted] »

bpodgursky wrote: post #12
john_strinlai wrote: post #2

> locked in a legal battle with a company that claims exclusive rights over the variety of white nectarine he grows. > [...] Fruit patents are becoming more common this is unbelievably stupid. no company should have rights or patents over a variety of food.

This is so simplistic. They made a new varietal. Nobody is saying he can't plant any of the standard heirloom Nectarines. The patent will expire in a while, and then anyone can do it. Honestly, how are you proposing incentivizing developing new varietals if nobody can have patents on any breeds at all? This is how it has worked for half a century and mild gripes aside, the quality of the produce in stores is WAY WAY…

[deleted]

Re: Farmer, marketer at odds over sales of white nectarines

#16

Post by ch4s3 »

efitz wrote: post #9
efitz wrote: post #6

Patents on food crops, even genetically engineered ones, are evil. ALL our staple food crops and most non staples are genetically engineered by millennia of cultivation and selective breeding; CRISPR is just a fancy mechanism for what we’ve always done to food. Regulations that prevent farmers from selling food that is safe, are evil. It doesn’t matter how well intentioned the regulation is. Any government functionar…

Oh, and there is a special place in hell reserved for anyone involved in designing food crops that can’t reproduce.

Do you want novel genes propagating throughout the food system by accident? Terminator genes prevent that problem.

Re: Farmer, marketer at odds over sales of white nectarines

#17

Post by ribosometronome »

em-bee wrote: post #13

regardless of how the contract is structured, no contract should allow or force a producer to throw products away. this is similar to a law in the EU that forbids producers or distributors of clothing to destroy products they don't want to sell. once you plant a tree to grow fruit you should be allowed to keep harvesting that tree until its natural end. if there is an exclusive contract then the contract must not be…

>Mora later sought to terminate his relationship with Giumarra, and he sold his nectarines to another fruit packer in 2023

The farmer sought termination and violated the contract.

Re: Farmer, marketer at odds over sales of white nectarines

#18

Post by lukeinator42 »

efitz wrote: post #9
efitz wrote: post #6

Patents on food crops, even genetically engineered ones, are evil. ALL our staple food crops and most non staples are genetically engineered by millennia of cultivation and selective breeding; CRISPR is just a fancy mechanism for what we’ve always done to food. Regulations that prevent farmers from selling food that is safe, are evil. It doesn’t matter how well intentioned the regulation is. Any government functionar…

Oh, and there is a special place in hell reserved for anyone involved in designing food crops that can’t reproduce.

isn't this just a by-product of seed hybridization which has enabled pretty much all of modern agriculture? A lot of testing goes into finding the two strains that combine together to create high-yield seeds, but the next generations of those seeds won't produce well.

Re: Farmer, marketer at odds over sales of white nectarines

#19

Post by gruez »

bluerooibos wrote: post #8
john_strinlai wrote: post #2

> locked in a legal battle with a company that claims exclusive rights over the variety of white nectarine he grows. > [...] Fruit patents are becoming more common this is unbelievably stupid. no company should have rights or patents over a variety of food.

> this is unbelievably stupid. no company should have rights or patents over a variety of food. Wait until you hear about Monsanto/Bayer - a quick Google of "monsanto food patents" brings up the highlights.

>a quick Google of "monsanto food patents" brings up the highlights.

The cases seem fairly reasonable, given how the defendents were basically engaging in selective breeding to copy the traits.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monsanto_legal_cases#Patent_li...

Re: Farmer, marketer at odds over sales of white nectarines

#20

Post by JumpCrisscross »

efitz wrote: post #6

Patents on food crops, even genetically engineered ones, are evil. ALL our staple food crops and most non staples are genetically engineered by millennia of cultivation and selective breeding; CRISPR is just a fancy mechanism for what we’ve always done to food. Regulations that prevent farmers from selling food that is safe, are evil. It doesn’t matter how well intentioned the regulation is. Any government functionar…

> Patents on food crops, even genetically engineered ones, are evil

Eh, I'd say it's fair to give them a short window of patent protection. Say 20 years, akin to pharmaceuticals.

The only exception should be if the protected variety has a monopoly. Then it immediately loses patent protection.

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