“Do things they cannot finance a response”. Poignant words from a poignant woman! December 16th, 2012 I went to see Dr.Vandana Shiva speak. Just a little background: “Vandana Shiva is an Indian environmental activist and anti-globalization author. Shiva has authored more than 20 books. She was trained as a physicist and received her Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Western Ontario, Canada, in 1978 with the doctoral dissertation "Hidden variables and locality in quantum theory." She is one of the leaders and board members of the International Forum on Globalization, (along with Jerry Mander, Edward Goldsmith, Ralph Nader, Jeremy Rifkin, et al.), and a figure of the global solidarity movement known as the alter-globalization movement. She has argued for the wisdom of many traditional practices, as is evident from her interview in the book Vedic Ecology (by Ranchor Prime) that draws upon India's Vedic heritage. She is a member of the scientific committee of the Fundacion IDEAS, Spain's Socialist Party's think tank. She is also a member of the International Organization for a Participatory Society. She was awarded the Right Livelihood Award in 1993.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vandana_Shiva). I will spare you more of my Dr.Shiva gushing as you can easily read this in my other blog about meeting a modern day Martin Luther King. I went to see her speak about GMO’s, seed saving, biodiversity in India at an organic farming workshop in New Delhi, India.
Her talk began with a background on how GMOs(Genetically Modified Organisms) first came into India. Dr.Shiva started working on seed saving when small farmers began committing suicide in the late 1980‘s. There became a huge incidence of deaths directly related to seed loans and seed debt. Monsanto, a multinational biotechnology company, had come into India and offered farmers a fairly hefty sum of money if they gave up their heritage seeds for new hybrid seeds produced by Monsanto. This exchange meant that farmers would now have to buy their seeds every year/season as the Monsanto seed is considered ‘intellectual property’ because it was created by them. The sum of money given plus the promise that the farmers’ crops would always be successful and have greater yields were the main bargaining chip. The farmers started using the genetically modified Monsanto seeds annually but yields were not as great. Pesticides were needed for the new crop as the seed was not naturally resistant to pests and infections. Plus the fact that the seeds could not be planted in conjunction with other plants. For example a natural, organic farming system consists of a variety of different species in the same area which all offer different things to each other to create a balanced ecosystem. Some plants release nitrogen into the soil for other plants to absorb and use. While other plants offer other minerals and nutrients.
The Monsanto seeds were far more labour and monetarily intensive. Crops failed, drought happened as the soil was no longer as rich in nutrients and minerals. The pesticides and mono-cropping had sucked all nourishment from the earth. Farmers were not making money from their land, but rather losing money. Hence they started going into debt; taking out loans to buy seeds for the season and never making the return. Debts mounted and farmers began committing suicide. Dr.Shiva said that each and every suicide was traced back to when the farmer bought the GMO seeds. The farmers gave up their heritage seeds, got into debt, committed suicide. The pattern is the same with all of them.
95% of commercially grown cotton in India is now genetically modified. This happened within one decade. How did this happen so fast? At the time that Monsanto was entering into the Indian market there were no regulations or controls on disclosure. The World Bank gives you a loan but writes the policies. They are in control of what information can and is released. When the genetically modified cotton first came on to the scene the law stated that it didn’t have to be tested or regulated. It was called “truthful labelling”, which meant it was left up to the company to declare what is in the product. Ironic, I know! Dr.Shiva said “here you have, literally, the criminal writing the laws, being the judge, being the parliament, being the executive, all in one”.
A small farmer working in Rajasthan who makes a few thousand rupees a month, if that, cannot compete financially with a multinational. However they can reply in a way that multinationals cannot buy. “Do things they cannot finance a response” said Dr.Shiva. In essence you have to respond to people with money with creativity. For the multinationals money is their language and they will use it to buy whatever it is they want or need, which is evidenced by GMO’s in India. However these farmers can go to a seed bank, plant heritage seeds, which they can then use the following season, and the season after that, and for existence. That choice is a form of communication, a way to say “we don’t want genetically modified seeds, crops, or foods. No thank you“!
GMO seeds are being pushed, implemented, and grown for as many of our foods as possible. The most common or identifiable ones are corn, wheat, rice, soy, and canola. Food is our source of life, energy, nourishment, and nutrition. Is there a more important topic than the health of the world and its citizens? The topic at hand is of utmost importance not only because farmers are killing themselves in India, but because we have a right to control our own food production, to know what is going into it, what is being sprayed on it, what is growing or living next to it, and the right to say if that is, in fact, what we want to be putting in our bodies as a source of nourishment. Thank you Dr.Shiva for reminding me of this; the importance of healthy, nourishing food, that everyone is entitled to!
For more information on GMO”s in India Dr.Shiva recommended the publication
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