THE SEED INTEGRITY PLEDGE FOR SAFE SEEDS
ABOUT US:
The Seed Integrity Pledge for Safe Seeds is a program created by GMO/Toxin Free USA to raise awareness about the increasing availability of GMO seeds, none of which have been safety tested, in the consumer market. The website, SafeSeedPledge.org, hosts a database of seed companies that have pledged not to sell genetically engineered seeds and plants. The searchable database is a resource for gardeners and farmers to help them find seed companies that have taken the Pledge.
BACKGROUND:
The original “Safe Seed Campaign” and “Safe Seed Pledge” were created by the nonprofit Council for Responsible Genetics (CRG) in 1999. The purpose of the Safe Seed Campaign, according to CRG, was “to increase the transparency of genetic engineering in commercially sold seeds, in order to help consumers make informed purchases.” CRG further stated, “By 2001 ten percent of seed catalogs in the United States used the Safe Seed Pledge, ensuring that the seeds being sold were not genetically modified.”
Since CRG and the Safe Seed Pledge website no longer exist, GMO/Toxin Free USA has adopted the mission of the original Safe Seed Campaign while incorporating critical updates to the original pledge, including the addition of unregulated gene-editing.
Helping to connect consumers with non-GMO seeds and plants is one of two primary objectives of the Seed Integrity Pledge campaign.
Just four corporations control and sell over half of the global commercial seed market. The number of independent seed companies is declining due to consolidation in the agriculture industry. A March 2023 report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) finds that seed industry consolidation and restrictive intellectual property (IP) regimes are stifling small, independent, and public seed breeding programs. It is just as important to have a diversity of seed companies as it is to have seed biodiversity.
The Seed Integrity Pledge campaign actively promotes the seed companies that have taken the pledge to help them survive and thrive, as a second primary objective.
GMO/Toxin Free USA has built a dedicated website that includes user-friendly features and information that was not available on the original Safe Seed Pledge website. GMO/Toxin Free USA has dedicated the resources needed to keep the SafeSeedPledge.org website up to date and to continually promote the Seed Integrity Pledge values.
THE PLEDGE FOR COMPANIES:
THE SEED INTEGRITY PLEDGE TEXT
For the benefit of all farmers, gardeners, and consumers, we pledge that we do not knowingly buy, sell, or trade genetically engineered seeds or plants (genetically modified organisms or GMOs) including those created via transgenics, cisgenics, intragenics, or genome editing techniques such as CRISPR.
Seeds are essential for the provision of healthy food, our well-being, and that of our environment and planet. We must protect the diversity and genetic integrity of our seeds to provide the foundation for a stable, safe food supply for us and for generations to come.
The alteration of genetic material by direct intervention instead of using natural reproductive methods poses great biological risks and creates many unknowns as well as environmental, economic, political, and cultural threats.
New genetic engineering techniques such as genome editing are promoted as precise and safe by the biotechnology industry. Independent studies, however, find the same risks of off-target and unintended changes to the organism as older genetic engineering methods. Yet, the U.S., Canadian and other governments have decided not to regulate many plants produced with genome editing and no government safety assessments are required prior to their release.
An ever-increasing number of organisms are being genetically engineered in laboratories and could quietly make their way into our gardens, farms, and food supply. In particular, new genetically engineered food crops and ornamental plants are being marketed to small-scale farmers and home gardeners, increasing the urgency of protecting the genetic integrity of our seeds.
We wish to support agricultural systems that lead to healthier soils, genetically stable and diverse agricultural ecosystems, and ultimately people and communities.
HOW THE SEED INTEGRITY PLEDGE WORKS:
The Seed Integrity Pledge is an honor-based system. Commercial seed and plant companies agree to exercise due diligence when stocking seeds and plants. The Seed Integrity Pledge campaign will provide ongoing research and monitoring of GMOs that receive regulatory approval or otherwise enter commercial markets. The campaign will provide seed companies with regular updates to help them remain compliant with the Pledge.