What kind of peppers?

[Converse]

  My family just found a new favorite....from a store.... and we want to try to grow these in our AP system this year.  At Costco we were able to buy bags of mini sweet peppers.  There are a mix of orange, yellow and red peppers in the bag.  Some look like mini bells, others are a little elongated 2-3 inches long..  Yum!  The trouble is I cannot find anywhere on the bag or on the company website that the product came from that indicates the name of the peppers in the bag.  I'd like to buy some seeds and grow these ourselves..

   Does anyone know what sweet mini peppers I might be describing, so I could buy seeds?

  The bag shows:  Dolcebaby    Sweet mini peppers.   Distributed by Divine Flavor LLC 

[Jon Parr]

That's funny, my family has recently adopted the same affection for those peppers. I saved a pile of seeds from each color, and will plant them in a couple of weeks. I don't know if they'll germinate, but it doesn't hurt to try. I often save seeds from good produce, and it often yields just fine. Some produce is treated with radiation as I understand, and some hybrids won't produce fertile seeds, but I've had success where I didn't expect it, so we will see. Good luck.

[Converse]

 I was wondering about the hybrid-thing...which is why I was hoping to find out what variety of peppers these really are...so I could start off with viable plants a.s.a.p....

   These are so tastey fresh, sauted, in casseroles, with eggs, and list goes on!

 

  Guess I'll save some seeds too, just in case no one knows the answer to my question...and just maybe the seeds will produce plants that will produce peppers true to the type the seeds came from.

 

Let me know how your germination experiment goes!

 

 

 - Converse

[Glenn]

There is a "Vine Sweet Mini Pepper mention in Wikipedia as follows.

 

Vine sweet mini peppers are a hybrid sweet pepper, small in size sold in an assorted tri-color pack under the Master's Touch Label.^[1] It was originally developed in the late 1990s by Bionova Produce Inc. formerly R.B. Packing Inc. following the trend to go "mini" that continues to grab attention in the produce arena. Genetic research and actual work was done by DNA Plant Technology, formerly a subsidiary of Savia Holding Company, also the holding company for Bionova Produce Inc.

Characteristic traits for this product include its small size, that ranges from 1.5 inches up to 4.0 inches. Each color is grown separately, and consists of three separate variety of seeds that have very similar characteristics in size, flavor, shape and use, allowing it to be marketed as a single item and used the same way in its kitchen use.

This product is included in large restaurant chains' menus like PF Changs, and others. Replication of the proprietary seeds by extracting the few seeds that the peppers contain (a desirable trait in the original variety) are usually sterile and infertile, and have proven to leave out desirable traits of the peppers when they do in fact germinate.

 

 

 

 

I saw seeds offered awhile back in one catalog but after seeing that the don't reproduced as hybrid patented. I passed. And the source is now soldout.

If you weant I can find the catalog and give you the contact information. Might take three days.

 

[Jonathan Kadish NYC AA Chair]

I was going to make a joke about Monsanto suing you for stealing seeds.... now its a warning. Stay away from GMO crap.

[Converse]

  Yes, I'd like the catalog info...you can send me a private message, if you happen to run across it. Thanks Glenn. Thank you also for the information about the sweet mini peppers.

 

  

 

 

[Jon Parr]

Good point, Jonathan. Who'd a thunk gmo sweet peppers?

[Converse]

  Forgive my ignorance here....So these seed from mini peppers mentioned in the wiki-pedia post above ARE GMO by the fact that they are hybrids?  Or is it only the ones grown by the companies mentioned in the article because they in fact used some sort of DNA-lab magic?  I need to know because I want to avoid GMO food. 

  But then the seeds that are available from catalogs...would they mentioned they are GMO or not if they are mini peppers...I though 'hybrid' meant that they are a breeding combination of sorts...(which I realize brings its own sterile seeds issues/possibilites to the table)..and that 'GMO' indicated some sort of lab-produced life form, not simply the result of cross pollinations.

 

SOmeone help me out here...Please.....

     My family REALLY likes these peppers, but I need to know the real scoop...

[Rebecca B]

The mini peppers are not GMO; seeds can be purchased from several companies.

Although there are some varieties of papaya, summer and winter squash that are GMO, those seeds are only available to commercial growers. If you're buying your seed in an individual packet, be assured it is not GMO. Think about it; there is no way Monsanto can monitor you and your seed and you didn't sign a contract with the seed company.

[Vlad Jovanovic]

Converse, IMO at the moment there may be a number of "complex and technical issues" with regards to getting an easy and concrete answer to your question. Such is the state of affairs regarding GMO labeling in the United States. Such clear and/or mandatory product labeling, (as is evidenced by your last post), may impede a company's right to profits, and that would be "unfair" to said company...

I imagine that labeling a product "GMO FREE" may also very easily become illegal in the near future (in the US) as it would give said product an "unfair" advantage. Can "product" mean seeds? IDK?

I sincerely hope that I turn out to be wrong about all of the above, but it seems like it would take either some weird 'miracle' or drastic actions by US consumers, for it to go any other way...

And good luck with your question...

[Vlad Jovanovic]

Rebecca, The "inventors" of Vine Sweet Mini Peppers is a company called DNA Plant Technology...known to the world as one of the early "pioneers" who created a number of GM food crops. .... The so-called "fish-tomato" was another of their "transgenetic" creations, and if you remember the GM butter flavored (without having to use butter) popcorn fiasco...you can thank the DNAP company... So, don't be so sure...

There were many field trials done in the US between 1994-2000 with other GM peppers as well...

Rebecca B said:

The mini peppers are not GMO; seeds can be purchased from several companies.

Although there are some varieties of papaya, summer and winter squash that are GMO, those seeds are only available to commercial growers. If you're buying your seed in an individual packet, be assured it is not GMO. Think about it; there is no way Monsanto can monitor you and your seed and you didn't sign a contract with the seed company.

[Jonathan Kadish NYC AA Chair]

Although there is a huge push to label GMO ingredients it is entirely likely Monsanto, BASF & Dow will win the battle in congress and the opposite could happen as Vlad is warning of. If you didn't know more than 70% of all food in America has GMO ingredients, and I just found out that 70% of USA Cheese is made with GMO mold that has the gene from a cows 4th stomach inserted - Yikes.

If you have a chance sign the petition to require labeling of GM ingredients

www.justlabelit.org

Vlad Jovanovic said:

Converse, IMO at the moment there may be a number of "complex and technical issues" with regards to getting an easy and concrete answer to your question. Such is the state of affairs regarding GMO labeling in the United States. Such clear and/or mandatory product labeling, (as is evidenced by your last post), may impede a company's right to profits, and that would be "unfair" to said company...

I imagine that labeling a product "GMO FREE" may also very easily become illegal in the near future (in the US) as it would give said product an "unfair" advantage. Can "product" mean seeds? IDK?

I sincerely hope that I turn out to be wrong about all of the above, but it seems like it would take either some weird 'miracle' or drastic actions by US consumers, for it to go any other way...

And good luck with your question...

[Vlad Jovanovic]

Ok, so the owners of the Sweet Mini Peppers patent turns out, like Glenn says to be a company called Bionova, who purchased DNA Plant Technology, the original owners/creators of the pepper (after the FDA went after them for some (at the time) illegal shit concerining Y1 tobacco) back in 2002.

Bionova is the research and developement arm of a company called Seminis, who in turn is majority owned by Savia, which is part of the Pulsar group of companies located in Mexico. Pulsar operates in the agro-technology, insurance, and packaging industries. Savia is basically a large conglomerate with strong interests along the entire food chain, interests which are realized by two companies...one of which is Seminis (which is concentrated in seed production) and the other is Bionova (concentrated in biotech R&D, and veggie and fruit production). Most of the fundamental biotechnology work is done in the US (in California), while in France and the Netherlands the focus is more basic technology...They have some lab in Italy as well...Their GMO products are mainly sold in the US market. EU labeling laws makes the Eurozone unattractive for the mini peppers, though they've made some headway in parts of Eastern Europe (non EU member states).

Bionova had stated in 2001 its ..."main aim of innovation strategy is to strengthen its leadership position in the global vegetable seed market"... To reach such an objective, Seminis/Bionova completed nine very large acquisitions of seed companies. They also, while outlining some of their noble goals,said that their ..." biotechnology group works on genetic engineering, pollen culture technology, and molecular markers. In order to access the latest genetic technology, Seminis is forging alliances with universities and companies in the US and Europe. Examples of such relationships include an alliance with Monsanto, the aim of which is to apply biotechnological techniques developed for agronomic crops to vegetables; an agreement with the John Innes Center in the United Kingdom (UK) that provides Seminis with access to plant disease control technology; a research agreement with Bionova to introduce Monsanto's genes into vegetables and fruits; and an equity participation and research agreement with Mendel Biotechnology, which provides Seminis with access to genes and proprietary technology developed by Mendel Biotechnology's genomics effort in vegetables and fruits".

This was of course before 2005...when the whole shabang was itself purchased by...guess who? Yep...you got it...the company we all love to hate...who is so utterly EVIL and VILE that it shall here remain nameless...

So good call Johnathan K (your first post)...Yeah, If you give a crap about that sort of thing (GMO) and it sounds like some of you do...I'd stay away pure and simple...and sign the petition...for at least the illusion of freedom...

Boy did your lawmakers really drop the ball on that one!...I really feel sorry for anyone living in the US trying to make heads or tales of what it is they are eating/buying exactly... as it relates to GMO. ....Of course you always have the option of just trusting that industry will regulate itself, and that those companies, after all, have your best interests in mind...