I was reading through some old posts and came across this OG thread regarding Monsanto owning Seeds of Change. Upon reading this I decided to do some digging. Fortunately, they are not owned by Monsanto....but....they are owned by Mars International, aka M & M Mars. Apparently, Seeds of Change was bought out by them in 1998.

Women are from Venus, Seeds are from Mars

US – Earlier this year (1998), Seeds of Change, an idealistic company formed in the 1980s to “preserve and spread a diversity of organic seeds through the gritty, caring hands of backyard gardeners,” was bought out by M&M-Mars, Inc., the candy company. As Seeds of Change Vice President Steve French explained to the incredulous editors at Food & Water magazine, “I don’t think there are any real differences between Seeds of Change and Mars…. whether it’s a Mars product or it’s a Seeds of Change product, the product benefits are very, very similar if we’re talking about nutrition here.”

I feel so foolish that I ordered seeds from them, since I am one that strongly opposes "Corporate Organics." I feel that large corporations are just into organics to make money (which they have a right to in a capitalistic economy). Organic farming/gardening started as a grassroots/local movement that corporate America has cashed in on. While I don't know how much effect Mars has on SOC's organic practices, I hope that their original spirit still drives their business. I researched many seed companies this Spring and while they are not local to me, they seemed to support many local growers as sources for their seeds. Next year, I will utilize the OG Seed Bank, Seed Saver Exchange (ordered some seeds from them this year), and save my own seed. Live and learn.....live and learn.

I second that ZG. I use SSE (and am a member) to get some of my seeds.

I do remember hearing something about M&M peanut candies going to "Organic" peanuts only. Maybe that was the reason they bought up SOC.