Mr. Seed is the new, brash face of organic farming.

Mr. Seed, created by The Butler Bros., is the star of a new video for Seed Matters. The initiative was founded by the Clif Bar Family Foundation with three main goals: conserving crop diversity, promoting farmers’ roles and rights as seed innovators, and reinvigorating public seed research and education.

The loud-mouthed character, who was introduced to the world last month, seems to be attempting to create mass appeal for the organic movement by slinging insults at the Big Six chemical companies that make pesticides and herbicides in the U.S. (and that also control 63 percent of the seed market), citing presence of these chemicals, nutrient decline in chemical-resistant crops, and unsustainable agricultural methods as just some of the many issues plaguing our food system today.

The video also directs viewers to a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and presidential candidates, asking them to block mergers of big agrochemical companies and to increase crop diversification. The video relies mostly on name-calling and quite a bit of mature humor to get its point across, which, while an interesting tactic, also risks alienating certain people.

It’s no surprised that the CEO of the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance, Randy Krotz, wasn’t a fan. “I encourage each and every one of you reading this to Be Offended. Be Disgusted. Be Angry,” he said. “And even Be Hurt and to react loud and clear. Our livelihoods are being criticized and it is time to respond.”

A recent Forbes article also fought back, attempting to poke holes in the argument upon which the video is based: the journalist claimed that the organic industry also uses herbicides (and neglects to mention that organic herbicides aren’t nearly as dangerous as glyphosate, which the video dubs PoundUp and associates with illicit drugs) and alluded to the notion that all genetic modification, including generations of cross-pollination carried out by farmers, is on-par with the mass production of GMOs plaguing our agricultural system of late.

They’re all arguments we’ve heard before, but do naysayers have a point when it comes to this video? Is it too brash to be helpful?

Not according to Civil Eats, which calls the video “edgy” and claims that it does a good job of directing consumers towards the issues at hand, including but not limited to the possibility of agro mergers and the subsequent increase of seed prices due to the further concentration of the industry.

Moreover, Mr. Seed lends a voice to the movement, something that Adam Butler, founder and strategic chief of The Butler Bros., thinks that it needed. “Organic seed needed a voice that couldn’t be ignored so its advantages could be shared broadly,” he says. “Mr. Seed was born to be that voice, and now it is thanks to an ambitious script (and) a brave client.”

Less than one month after the video’s release, the Seed Matters page boasts more than 12,000 likes, and the YouTube video has more than 43,000 views. He’s a slow-growing character but certainly a popular one; Mr. Seed may, in fact, be the voice that organic seed needed.

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Image care of Seed Matters

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People buy organic foods for many reasons: their health, better taste, a desire to keep pesticides and herbicides out of our air, water and soil and a conviction that buying organic is one way to eat GMO-free.

One of the big problems with GMOs is that non-GMO crops can be contaminated through pollen drift. The fact that the organic field of soybeans used to make your organic soymilk could contain genetically modified material from a neighboring farm hasn’t been a possibility that most organic food producers have wanted to talk about or a question they have wanted to ask.

Independent organic and natural food producers, independent natural food stores and the largest natural/organic foods grocery store and natural/organic food distributor in the country have joined forces in the Non-GMO Project. Eden Foods, Nature’s Path, UNFI (a distributor of natural and organic foods), Straus Family Creamery, Whole Foods Market and many others have signed on. (Check out the complete list of enrolled products.)

The idea is simple, though the outcome will likely be complicated. Enrollees in the project agree to test any ingredients in their products that are grown in GMO form in America. Products that are verified as (nearly) GMO free by the process will be labeled with a GMO Verified seal. But because contamination is already so likely, the project wants to make sure consumers understand that this doesn’t mean the product is 100% GMO-free.

From the Non-GMO Project website:

“It is not a guarantee that the product is 100% GMO free. The reason for this is that our program is process-based, using a set of best practices to avoid contamination. We do require testing of all ingredients (everything being grown in GMO form in North America), but we don’t require testing of every single finished product. Instead, testing can be done at any one of a number of places in the production chain, for example right after harvest.Following the test, which must indicate that the ingredient is below 0.9% GMO (in alignment with laws in the European Union), we require rigorous traceability and segregation practices to be followed in order to ensure that the tested ingredients are what get used in the product. So in short,  what our seal means is that a product has been produced according to rigorous best practices for GMO avoidance, including testing of risk ingredients.”

The non-GMO project is radical.

With all of the recent bad press about organics, the organic establishment does not want to be looking for any GMO skeletons in any closets. Whatever they find could be very bad for business and very bad for the organic label. But that’s short-term thinking. The forward thinking companies that have signed onto the non-GMO project recognize that the credibility of the organic label is in question without further reassurance.

Getting the problem out in the open and being transparent about the process is not only the right thing to do, it’s a smart business decision, as well. Ignoring the problem in hopes that it won’t blow up is a poor way to do business.

Transparency was a huge part of organics in the beginning and some companies still uphold the value of transparency. As the Chicago Tribune points out, large conventional companies usually don’t want you to know that they own your favorite organic brands. That being the case, they certainly wouldn’t want you to know their products might be contaminated with GMOs.

It’s instructive to take a look at the list of food companies that have signed on to the non-GMO project. The few remaining independent organic and natural food companies that have refused to sell to large conventional conglomerates are there: Eden Foods, Nature’s Path, Turtle Island Foods and Straus Family Creamery are some of the participants with the most widely distributed products.

These companies are also some of the most principled in the business. Eden foods was the first company to stop using BPA-lined cans. Turtle Island won’t use any ingredient that is processed using hexane. None of these companies are owned by anyone other than their founders. Though I don’t buy a lot of packaged foods, when I do, these are the types of brands I’ll choose. When faced with a choice between Silk (owned by Dean Foods) and Eden, there is no contest. This handy visual chart will tell you who owns your favorite organic brands.

A number of retailers have endorsed the project – mostly small independents and co-ops. Whole Foods Market has signed on, which is hugely important in my opinion, and something they deserve praise for (they need it right now).

In related news, a U.S. District judge rejected the USDA’s decision to allow genetically modified sugar beets to enter the market. The decision was based largely on the risk of contamination to non-GMO crops due to cross-pollination. According to SFGate.com, the judge “cited studies that said winds can carry sugar beet pollen at least 2 1/2 miles, much farther than the voluntary buffer zones between beet crops recommended by Oregon agriculture officials.”

Want to buy non-GMO certified products? According to the New York Times, labels could start appearing on products this fall.

Image: jonboymitchell

This is the latest installment in Vanessa Barrington’s weekly column, The Green Plate, on the environmental, social, and political issues related to what and how we eat.

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