What does it mean to not sow your field with mixed/mingled seed?

Answer From The Annual Reading Schedule - Week 27 Notes For Leviticus: Literally, it is saying when you go to plant crops in a field to not use two seeds at a time, but only one, so that each field only has one kind of crop growing. I suppose this means we should not be growing diverse kinds row by row, but field by field instead, having them properly separated from a crop of a different kind by some amount of distance to make the fields of different crops easily distinguishable and separate from one another. I do not know what that distance should be, but it should be large enough that the two do not mix and that separate distinct fields are easily distinguishable just by looking.

Figuratively, this is also the picture of a command to not have a woman commit adultery. If a woman commits adultery then two seeds are put into her which ought not be done. Similarly, we do not want the seed of the enemy planted in our heart, but we want the seed planted by Yahweh in our heart. This reminds me of the parables related to sewing seed in Matthew 13.

Now another thing to consider are GE (Genetically Engineered) foods, commonly referred to most people as GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms). GMOs are essentially when a farmer wants his crops or animals he is raising to have some property that they normally can't obtain, so they have the seeds of those crops (or the animal) genetically modified to introduce other genes, sometimes from another plant or animal source, or when they stop a plant from having a gene it would normally have. The more scientifically correct term is "Genetic Engineering" (GE) or "biotechnology", but most people use the phrase "Genetically Modified Organism" or GMO to refer to things produced using modern biotechnology. Since GMO is what people are familiar with hearing and seeing, we'll also use that acronym here.

GMO food that involves taking genes from another source outside of that plant and inserting it into the seed are essentially mixing something foreign in with the seed. The purpose of the command was that you don't have two different things growing in one field. How much worse if the seed itself has been infiltrated with something foreign! If you took a gene from a cucumber and inserted it into the seed of a tomato and then plant that seed, aren't you then planting your field with a mixed seed? It's no longer just a tomato seed, it's now a tomato-cucumber seed – is it not? It sounds like a perversion to me. It seems like it goes against the purpose of the command which is to not have two different kinds planted in one field.

If you modify a seed to have two kinds, you are not following the principle of the law which is to have one kind. I don't think GMOs are a loophole in the law that permits differing kinds to be in one field. This is why I believe we should make sure our food is Non-GMO if at all possible. However, in some environments (such as believers in prison) you may not have enough options or information to know one way or the other if the food you are eating is modified; but a lot of food is GMO more than I think people realize.

How to avoid GMOs is a whole other discussion which would require a study in and of itself to cover in a more comprehensive fashion. In short, if it is labeled specifically as "Non-GMO" or has a Non-GMO Project certification, or if it is certified Organic and sold in the USA, then it is probably non-GMO and safe to eat.

I would consider some GMO foods permissible, however. For example, there is a GMO potato where the creators of it basically took genes from a potato and inserted them in order to make that potato have MORE of the same gene it already has naturally. When this happens, that causes another gene that naturally occurs in the potato which causes the potato to turn brown inside over time to be less. The end result is a GMO potato that doesn't get brown spots inside as quickly.

Is that potato GMO? Yes. But is it Biblically forbidden? I can't say so – on what basis? Yes it is GMO but it is modified through use of potato genes native to that potato – so it's mixing the same kind with the same kind in a laboratory. Is it unnatural in the sense that it is the result of a laboratory? Yes it is unnatural – but it doesn't violate the principle of not mixing two different kinds of seed.

If we're going to ban a GMO potato that only has potato genes in it on the basis that "it just isn't natural" – are we going to apply that same standard to other things? What constitutes natural? Does that mean anything requiring a laboratory is therefore forbidden? What if food colors or additives or flavors or some other ingredient in your food required a laboratory but isn't necessarily genetically modified? I think eating natural, heirloom varieties of crops is the ideal, best, most natural choice. However, I can't say 100% for certain just because a lab was involved means the end result is forbidden by the Scriptures.

If that were the case, then you would need to research every single thing you eat to see if any lab was involved in any way in any ingredient to be consistent.

Does natural mean only heirloom varieties of plants are permitted? How do you know if what you are eating is an heirloom variety? I view eating natural as the best choice to make, and the ideal situation to be in, but I can't say I find a Scriptural command expressly forbidding something that isn't "natural". If that were the case, does that mean a kosher certified non-GMO organic vitamin pill that happened to have been created in a laboratory is now forbidden?

If I'm going to say something is certainly forbidden, I need a Scriptural basis I can apply consistently. In the case of genetically modified plants or animals introducing genes from a source outside of that plant or animal, a foreign source of genes, that food appears to be violating the Biblical principle of not mixing two kinds. However, if the only genes involved are those native to the plant or animal, I can't say for certain that there is a Biblical principle being violated. However, my personal choice when I eat is always non-GMO food.

See the reading notes for Week 46 of the Annual Reading Schedule for a little more information related to GMOs.

What about bananas and other fruits that appear seedless? See the reading notes for Week 1 of the Annual Reading Schedule for more information on that subject.