I recently watched a very interesting movie called Food Inc. that has taken me into an interesting area of research. Before telling you about that, let me say, you should rent/buy Food Inc. as it will really open your eyes as to how our food goes from “seed to supermarket” in today’s industrial-factory-farming society.
In the movie, they talked about companies like Monsanto who have genetically modified seeds, like soy, and have acquired a patent. This means that you cannot plant those seeds without purchasing them from Monsanto. Farmers cannot save their seeds as has been done for decades upon decades. Farmers who’s crop don’t use the patented seeds but become inadvertently cross-bred (through things like the wind!) find themselves being sued by the seed patent holders.
While I think it is strange that you can patent a seed, more concerning, was the very idea that so much of food is being genetically modified. So I started to look into “public domain” seeds that are natural and not genetically modified. In my search I found Seeds of Diversity and thought I’d share this info with you because of its importance.
What is Seeds of Diversity? From their website that explain that their organization:
is a Canadian volunteer organization that conserves the biodiversity and traditional knowledge of food crops and garden plants.
and I think that this type of grass-roots movement is what is needed for individuals to protect this type of gardening/farming.
If you know of other similar initiatives, I’d love to hear from you on it.
