Physicist and Eco Feminist Dr. Vandana Shiva is calling for a new (ancient) paradigm focused on the needs of people, other species, and the planet rather than the endless profit of corporations at the expense of life on Earth.

 

In her book Soil Not Oil: Environmental Justice in an Age of Climate Crisis, Dr. Shiva says: "We need a new paradigm....which allows us to move from the dominant and pervasive culture of violence, destruction, and death to a culture of non-violence, creative peace, and life. That is why in India, Navdanya started the Earth Democracy Movement which provides an alternative worldview.... We demand that food be accepted as a Fundamental Human Right and is produced and distributed in a democratic manner."

 

Dr. Shiva began saving organic seeds in 1987 when she realized that the biotech industry's plans threatened them. In 1991, she founded the Navdanya Farm where people from around the world come to learn the principles of permaculture. They pay no fees, but make a simple pledge to preserve the seeds they receive and pass them on to future generations in all their diversity and integrity.

The April 2015 Nepal earthquake killed over 8,000 people and injured more than 21,000. Before the monsoon started the next month, farmers had to prepare rice nurseries and sow millets, beans, and vegetables. Just as Navdanya’s seed banks helped Orissa after the super cyclone in 1999, Tamil Nadu after the tsunami in 2004, Uttarakhand after the floods of 2013, Navdanya was ready to help and delivered10 tons of organic seeds the farmers of Nepal!

Rishi Kumar, one of Dr. Shiva's students, founded The Growing Home (shown on this site) in California. As an extension of Navdanya, Dr. Shiva also created the Earth Univeristy where people from around the world come to learn how to ensure biodiveristy and food security.








 

Our Urgent Choice

 

Humanity is now faced  with an urgent, life-and-death choice which will determine our health, freedom, and survival.

It is the decision about who will control our seeds and food supply.

There are two options with dramatically different results for all life on this planet:

 

1. Organic Seeds / Foods: From time immemorial, farmers and gardeners have saved the seeds most capable of survivng, most likely to provide the highest yield, and with the highest nutritional content and best taste. That produced a wide variety of seeds and foods (biodiversity) that has helped protect humanity from famine and insure our survival.
    

2. Monsanto's GMO Seeds / Foods: Monsanto's genetically-modified (or genetically-engineered) seeds are owned by Monsanto and it is considered an infringement of their patent if farmers save those seeds. This greatly increases the costs to  farmers. Dr. Shiva reports that Indian farmers now pay 4,000% more for cotton seeds which has driven many into bankruptcy and suicide.
   
   The research of Dr. Stephanie Seneff of MIT and Dr. Nancy Swanson shows conclusively the link between the introduction of Monsanto's GMO foods and the escalating epidemic of diseases including but not limited to autism, thyroid cancer, liver and bile duct cancer, obesity, diabetes, kidney failure, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, senile dementia, inflammatory bowel disease, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, chronic constipation, peritonitis, intestinal infections, rheumatoid arthritis, and Multiple Sclerosis.
   
   Note: Dr. Terry Wahls was wheelchair bound with "incurable" Multiple Sclerosis in 2007. When she switched to organic foods, she was able to take an 18-mile bike ride in 2008 and go horseback riding in the Canadian Rockies in 2009. When Dr. Wahls gave a TEDx Talk about her recovery in 2011, it immediately went viral! Jeffrey Smith, author of "Genetic Roulette" says that doctors have reported to his Institute For Responsible Research the rapid recovery from serious illness of thousands of patients just by switching to organic foods.
   
   Monsanto's herbicides have killed 90% of our bees which are responsible for pollinating 30% of our foods. Einstein reportedly said, "If the bee disappeared off the face of the Earth, man would only have four years left to live.”
   
   However, Monsanto's monocrops pose an even more serious threat to the survival of humanity. In the 19th centuries, when the potato monocrop failed in Ireland, millions of Irish died of famine or had to emigrate to avoid starvation. The Inca, who first cultivated the potato, were not as affected because they still maintain a wide variety to ensure a crop under all weather and environmental conditions. If Monsanto's monocrops fail -- as they inevitably will when conditions change -- billions of people could could die of starvation. Humanity cannot afford to run this risk of global famine -- especially with the highly variable climate conditions worldwide today.