Dr. Vandana Shiva

I am going to have the opportunity to go hear Dr. Vandana Shiva speak tomorrow night.  She is not a Christian, but she has a very interesting message about seed saving and GMO seeds.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYwOTLopWIw

Very interesting. I finally had time to listen to her, and she makes some very good points.

"Beja" (sp?) - seeds being life perpetuating life

Forcing farmers to grow crops using chemicals creating debt to pay for the chemicals, then selling the entire crop to pay for the debt and then having to buy their food.

These two points along with how and why it is wrong to "patent" seeds are where she and I are in 100% agreement. Thanks for sharing the video.

I'll have to check out the video later when I have more time. I hope you enjoy the presentation.

One point that she speaks on a lot is local food.  She believes that education is the key to solving world hunger and that every country can feed itself.  No more USA handouts if she has her way. 

She says nature (which I read God) has provided nutritious crops that will perfectly grow in each region to supply plentiful food for the peoples of that region.  She also promotes small farms and people with hands on their own soil. 

Lots to think about for sure.

While I agree that education is important, it's missing something, and that's actually putting into practice what you've learned. There's no substitute for the feeling of accomplishment you get when you've mastered a skill.

The talk tonight was very good.  The venue left a lot to be desired.  It was sold out and so it was quiet crowded, but the worst part for me was access.  Three full flights of stairs to get to the auditorium!  No ramps or elevators available in the old building.  My aching knees! 

Her primary focus tonight was on food democracy and that the PEOPLE should have control of the seeds.  You should not be allowed to patent life.  Period. 

She also spoke on how diversity in seed will be important in the future as situations and climates change.  She gave the example of a recent tsunami that hit her country leaving soil very salty, yet in another region they had already developed a rice seed that would grow well in salt soils.  Without the diversity in the grain a lot of people would have not been able to grow food.   Meanwhile Monsanto is doing DNA profiling on existing grains and trying to PATENT tolerance traits in them! 

She talked about how Monsanto came into India with their GMO cotton (Bt Cotton) and quietly bought out the other big seed suppliers.  Now only the Bt Cotton is widely available there. 

Diverse crops will feed people.  Many are beneficial to each other as well, like corn, beans and squash in the Three Sisters gardens of the Native Americans.  She talked about seed saving and seed banks as protecting our future.

She also talked about how important it is to get young people growing food.  Especially poor urban young people.  She gave examples of Rome and some other cities setting aside land for the young and unemployed to learn to garden as a job.  Then selling what they grew to the people of the city. 

Basically a really interesting talk.

dizzy wrote:While I agree that education is important, it's missing something, and that's actually putting into practice what you've learned.  There's no substitute for the feeling of accomplishment you get when you've mastered a skill.

You are right dizzy.  You can "know" lots of stuff, but where the rubber meets the road is where you find true knowledge.

yup, mastering a new skill does give you a sense of accomplishment.

I had almost forgotten her reference to small farms of about 2 hectares or less. 2 hectares is almost 5 acres. In the 1930's small family farms of about 5 acres were considered the minimum size to be self sufficient, and generate cash flow enough to be profitable.

She promotes planting fields of multiple crops.  Like the Three Sister's ideal.  Evidently they have a group of nine native plants that will grow productively together in the same way. 

She also thinks a farm should be credited with ALL that it produces.  Food for people, food for animals and food for its soil.

and that is another area she and I agree on

The people that came were sure a diverse bunch.  Everything from hippies to yuppies and crazies in between.    

The guy in front was constantly blurting out.  "You said it!"  and commenting as she spoke.  His wife was about to jump across the lady that sat between them and kill him!  He got some less than charitable looks from across the aisle as well.  My friend behind him said she was ready to bat him.  I actually considered leaning forward and giving him a neck massage.      I think he was just over excited!  Too many years of working with behavior disorders and autism I guess.  Of course then his wife would have probably been trying to kill me. 

 

nah

If it had shut him up, she might have appreciated it! But I know what you mean about that.

We have Bible study at the one lady's house. And her young grandson is normally there. Yesterday, shortly B4 we got done, he threw up. She was on the phone in another room. So another lady and I got everything cleaned up. I was the last to leave. She was still on the phone. So, I got him all comfy in a big chair, gave him his tablet, tucked a blanket around him, and had trouble not kissing him. Maternal instinct kicking in.

how sweet