CR Lawn: Fedco Seed Founder Friends of Merrymeeting Bay’s (FOMB) third presentation of their 20th annual Winter Speaker Series, entitled Twisted Genes, Distorted Narratives, features Fedco Seed founder CR Lawn. This event, taking place at Brunswick’s Curtis Memorial Library on Wednesday December 14th is free and open to the public. The relative merits of transgenic technology have been hotly debated by scientists and the general public since before any genetically engineered (GE) foods came on the market. Though any scientific or ethical consensus remains elusive, European countries have decidedly favored precautionary and prohibitive approaches to GE foods while the US government has embraced these products. On one side of the debate, multinational corporate behemoths like Monsanto and Syngenta promising to feed the world with increased yields and on the other, subverted science, family farms plagued by lawsuits brought by these big guns, loss of seed diversity, increases in pest resistance, an increasingly monopolistic seed market and corrupted governments. Join Fedco Seed founder CR Lawn to discuss and analyze these issues. Disclaimer: FOMB is currently co-plaintiff in a lawsuit to halt production of the first GE Atlantic salmon CR Lawn founded Fedco Seeds Cooperative, a hybrid worker/consumer cooperative based in Waterville, in 1978, and has worked as a coordinator there since. His series of essays, “Do you know where your seed comes from?” first appeared in the 1995 Fedco catalog. He has composed the Seeds Division section of the catalog and written variety descriptions for many years. Lawn served 17 years on the Board of Directors of the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA), with two terms each as Board Treasurer and Board Secretary. He also served on the Common Ground Fair Steering Committee for 10 years and currently writes for MOFGA’s newspaper, “The Maine Organic Farmer & Gardener.” FOMB hosts their Winter Speaker Series October-May on the second Wednesday of each month. The January 11th presentation, Bateaux to Quebec; Life & Times of Ruben Colburn features Historian, Author and Director of the Main Bureau of Parks and Lands, Tom Desjardin. This program at 7pm in Bowdoin’s Cram Alumni House at 83 Federal St. follows the annual FOMB potluck supper (public is welcome) and business meeting beginning at 6pm. Speaker Series presentations are free, open to the public and supported by Patagonia, Inc. in Freeport. Visit www.fomb.org to see speaker biographies, full event schedules, become a member, and learn more about how you can help protect beautiful Merrymeeting Bay. FOR MORE INFORMATION Call Kathleen McGee, 666-3598 fomb@comcast.net