It is not just “large multinational companies” that patent plants. So do individuals, horticultural nurseries, universities, etc. If you ever look in a plant/flower/bulb catalogue and see varieties labelled with “PP(number)” or “PPAF”, it means that is a patented variety (PP = Plant Patent, PPAF = Plant Patent Applied For). I love herbs, for instance, and see many patented varieties of mints, oreganos, and so forth. And think of all the patented flowers (roses, lilies, hydrangeas, coreopsis, salvias, etc…does anyone complain about their developers “monopolizing” the marketplace with their new plants? Of course not!

Just this year I planted a couple of patented plants…a gorgeous blue Veronica (speedwell) and a spectacular new Echinacea (coneflower) in my own garden. I am under the legal obligation to not propagate these plants by cuttings or otherwise, whether for my own use or for someone else’s. I have NO problem with that. I think it is only fair that a company or an individual who put in the enormous amount of work to develop a new variety be able to hold (temporarily) the exclusive rights to sell that new variety. After all, nobody makes you buy that particular plant, whether it is a flower or herb or crop seed.

Patented plants are not necessarily genetically modified. But, with regard to patented genetically modified plants, there is a knee-jerk reaction I see frequently where people are immediately anti-technology (“no GMOs”) and make emotion-laden remarks without understanding the facts. Remember that gene transfer has occurred in nature for millenia. There are far nastier practices that go on (the widespread use of antibiotics in livestock, pesticides on crops, “factory” production of eggs and meat), but the average person continues to buy such foods without questioning that. GMOs by the way are also the source of many valuable substances that most people are quite happy that we have…medications, vaccines, even some microorganisms used for making cheese or beer. If you believe that GMOs must be bad, then skip your flu vaccine this year.

For the record (and I think my past posts attest to that), I am a huge fan of farmers’ markets, heirloom produce and humanely produced meats, buying local, and so forth. But I am not anti-technology and certainly not anti-patent.

On alighter note, I enjoyed the A Bourdain feature on the Phils. Congrats to all those who presented our luscious cuisine…to MM for the lechon, Claude Tayag for Kapampangan cuisine, and the others. After the show was Chef Abroad who featured a foyager who would source the freshest ingredients within 150 km or mile radius for a Google canteen. What an enterprising chap!