January 26, 1999: Terminator Seed Technology - Patrick Roy Mooney

Patrick Roy Mooney exposes Terminator seed technology and its implications for global food security, farmer independence, and corporate control of agriculture. His work with the Rural Advancement Foundation International reveals how genetic use restriction technologies are designed to make seeds sterile after one generation, forcing farmers to purchase new seeds annually. Mooney discusses how Terminator technology threatens traditional farming practices where saving seeds for replanting has been fundamental to agriculture for thousands of years. The conversation covers corporate motivations for developing sterile seeds while examining how such technology could devastate subsistence farmers in developing countries who depend on saved seeds for survival. He addresses the broader agenda of corporate consolidation in agriculture and how Terminator seeds represent extreme manifestation of treating food production as merely another profit center regardless of social costs. Mooney explores how genetic modification and patents on life forms are transforming agriculture from sustainable practice to corporate-controlled industrial process. His research reveals the global resistance to Terminator technology and efforts to ban such seeds before they can be widely deployed and potentially contaminate conventional seed supplies. The discussion examines threats to biodiversity and food security from corporate agriculture while calling for preservation of farmer rights and sustainable agricultural practices based on seed saving and traditional knowledge.