Journo Jason Koebler submitted a bunch of FOIA requests to various agencies around the country and discovered that “many Americans” actually planted those mystery seeds from China that some received unsolicited in the mail:
I filed FOIAs about the Chinese Mystery Seeds with state departments of agriculture in all 50 states. I received thousands of emails, spreadsheets, complaint forms, presentations, voicemails. The takeaway is that MANY Americans planted the seedshttps://t.co/z9jcKWuK2g
— Jason Koebler (@jason_koebler) September 8, 2020
America, we’re already great:
WHY ARE PPL PLANTING MYSTERY SEEDS THEY DIDN'T ORDER https://t.co/VKU89Yeipb
— Seth Mandel (@SethAMandel) September 8, 2020
Be honest: Would you have planted them?
I did not get any seeds but if I did, I absolutely would have planted them https://t.co/lRe6IIz02m
— Christopher Ingraham (@_cingraham) September 8, 2020
What could go wrong?
not to be TOO bleak here, but what I saw was eye-opening. Hundreds of people unable to follow instructions, thousands who didn't understand whether they had actually ordered something or not. People called 911, took them to the police, "salted the earth," widespread chaos
— Jason Koebler (@jason_koebler) September 8, 2020
Someone even ate the seeds:
“In one exchange, a state entomologist and a plant health director discuss how they should categorize and respond to a person who said they had eaten the seeds.” https://t.co/YYOSv0Mw1e
— Ian Livingston (@islivingston) September 8, 2020
This woman planted the seeds and then whatever grew started killing what was in her garden:
Many states were able to identify the seeds. Most were harmless (as has been already reported). Some were weeds that are illegal to plant in most states. Here's one wild voicemail I listened to: pic.twitter.com/juYFmmIANm
— Jason Koebler (@jason_koebler) September 8, 2020
He estimates that “a couple thousand Americans” planted the seeds:
These documents are from seven states, and seems like ~200 or so people in 7 states (most of them small states) planted the seeds. I think conservatively speaking, a couple thousand Americans planted random unsolicited seeds they got in the mail
— Jason Koebler (@jason_koebler) September 8, 2020
This lady first reported that she was in possession of the seeds but her bigger worry was why restaurants in her area were out of lamb:
this is my favorite voicemail: pic.twitter.com/ZsATHw9eiR
— Jason Koebler (@jason_koebler) September 8, 2020
Oh, and there could be real consequences to all this:
a bacterial infection, huánglóngbìng, brought here by a Chinese national & which has destroyed the Florida citrus industry, has cost 10,000 Florida jobs and cost $10 billion in revenue.
It is outright horrifying to me that people are planting these seeds https://t.co/fSZBgquYjh
— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) September 8, 2020
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