No patents on seeds: watch the video

February 9, 2023

Thumbnail for a video with play button in centre, people dressed as vegetables

By WeMove Europe

Right now - small farmers are going out of business. All because a handful of greedy corporations call the shots on what local farmers can grow. They’re controlling the food we put on the table and how much we pay for it.

Corporations - like the giant German agribusiness KWS - use legal loopholes in our patent system to get the exclusive right to grow and sell fruits and vegetables like corn, broccoli, tomatoes, and barley to make beer. [1]

In December 2022, activists and small farmers travelled to KWS’s headquarters in a small town in Germany during their annual shareholder’s meeting to save the future of our food.

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While KWS discussed profits with their shareholders, we protested outside their offices on a tractor and with sculptures of screaming vegetables. And our partners No Patents on Seeds! released a report highlighting the risks that the KWS patents pose. [2]

We put the spotlight on KWS and the protest helped create the bad publicity they deserve. [3]

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