Could you maybe take a minute, if you have time, and explain your company’s use of Pinkerton detectives and invasive examinations of bank records to put seed cleaners out of business? Your warrantless investigations of farmers’ property if you suspect that they’re saving seed?

Could you perhaps explain why you prosecute farmers for theft when pollen from your wind-pollinated, GM crops blows into fields that they’ve been planting with privately saved seed for decades? Will you start going after tomato crops in fields that neighbor fields full of GM crops, just in case a bee or other pollinating insect has contaminated their seed stock?

Could you tell us a little bit about the private meeting with Montana legislators? The meeting that killed a bill that would have put an end to your draconian, no-knock searches of farms and a limit to farmers’ liability in cases where your product had unknowingly contaminated their land.

Because if you’re answering questions, I’m all ears.

I still want my son to be able to enjoy tomatoes outside of those summer months (it’s one of the few vegetables-fruits?-he’ll eat). I know that’s not a popular response, and I agree that when produce is in season it’s much more enjoyable. However, to get my family and myself the nutrition we need, I’ll have to settle for not-so-local produce.

I do promise that we don’t eat tomatoes on Christmas!

You are limited to enjoying vine ripened tomatoes only in the summer months because that is the only way that they can grow in the climate of this part of the world. if you would like to enjoy vine ripened tomatoes at other parts of the year I suggest you move to a more tropical climate.

Welcome to the Midwest.

I looked back over my post on the SciAm article, and I don’t feel my comment characterized our business objectives in such a flippant way as purely for the “love of heirlooms.” Obviously, we want to make a profit by developing products that meet the need of our customers. That’s what companies do. What I said was that our breeder has a passion for heirlooms (true), and that the heirloom hybrids we are working on fulfill a need voiced to us by our customers (also true).

My quibble with the article is I felt that it represented all heirlooms as weak and feeble in the estimation of all who produce them. As you have adroitly pointed out, the genetics of these heirlooms are perfectly fine–if not better than hybrids–for certain types of production. Namely, that of the many home gardeners and commercial producers who choose to grow open-pollinated varieties.

However, one size does not fit all. Some growers who want to produce heirlooms on a larger commercial scale and encounter issues with cracking and rot have told us they would like a more comprehensive disease resistance package.

Contrary to Internet rumor, we do not control the tomato seed supply. We sell to a specific group of growers. Home gardeners and others in commercial production who do not wish to grow hybrids or Monsanto products certainly have the choice not to. I’m not sure where Grist came up with 85% of the U.S. market but from the notes in the article it looks to be based on old public filings prior to Monsanto’s acquisition of Seminis and conjecture on the author’s part.

Finally, in response to the litany of topics you brought up (Agent Orange, patents, etc.), I’d invite anyone who’s interested for another side to the story to check out http://www.monsantoblog.com where most of these topics are addressed.

I, like you, prefer a tomato that’s been picked off the vine. My father-in-law grew some last year that were delicious. However, since I live in the Midwest, and most fresh-market tomatoes are grown on the Coast, I’m limited to enjoying those off-the-vine tomatoes to the summer months.

I realize that anecdotes too often trump data and this is an anecdote but it is also a data point.