Vandana Shiva
“You have three chances a day to make a difference” Vandana Shiva about food
I just came back from seeing Vandana Shiva talk as part of Food Week at U of T, and it was truly amazing. Not only did I meet up with an old friend who I hadn’t seen in a while, but I also got to see Vandana talk, and she is seems like an old friend in some way.
So, just to give some context, Dr. Shiva is a former quantum physicist turned Environmentalist, she coined the term Earth Democracy. The talk that she gave today covered a history of the Green Revolution in India, and this green revolution has nothing to do with the helping the environment. In the 1960’s more fertilizers and irrigation techniques were being introduced to Indian farmer’s in a hope that it would help crops yield more and help feed starving families. Yet, along with the fertilizers and irrigation practices came major use of pesticides and later on GMO seeds which wrecked havoc on the farmers soil.
India formerly had a very strict law against the patenting of seeds, yet after the WTO came into fruition India was forced to accept GMO’s into its towns and it’s farmer’s hands. With the influx of GMO seed farmers were promised higher yields and the ability to make much more money. But there was a catch, to use GMO seed they have to buy the seed for much more than regular seed and they must buy different fertilizer. Due to these stipulations many farmers took out huge loans and subsequently went into deep debt.
Not only are the land and soil destroyed by these practices but many farmers are unable to produce yields that can provide enough income to pay back their debts and feed their families. The sad irony is that this technology that was suppose to relieve famine has lead to soil that can not produce nourishment leaving even more hungry. The debt that many farmers have incurred from using GMO seeds is so astronomical that it has forced hundreds of thousands of farmers to commit suicides over the years.
In response, to these issues Vandana has created a group called Nine seeds which aides farmers to go organic and have crops that are bio diverse to help preserve the soil. It has been found that not only do organic crops yield more than GMO’s but they also sell for more on the market.Yeah earth!!
Sorry this is very broad overview of the issue and I hope you read more about it, she words things much more poetically than I do.
You can check out way more info at her website:
http://www.vandanashiva.org/
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