A special post on a woman I respect the most
Poorna sthree salutes a complete woman who is working for farmers all over the world and people in this planet. She is working towards safe food for everyone, sustainable resources for the planet and better life for farmers all over the world.
This post is about a person I have been following for a while now. This person is a quantum physicist who has taken up a cause that is very important to all of us. She is an activist working against genetically modified foods. Her name is Dr Vandana Shiva.
Her work mainly is to oppose giant seed companies like MONSANTO that actually produce genetically modified seeds and patent them. These companies compel farmers around the world to use their patented seeds. Because these seeds are patented, farmers are restricted to use their own seeds from the yearly yields and they end up purchasing seeds from these giants for a lot of money.In addition to pushing farmers in debt these organizations have managed to make these seeds genetically modified.These seeds produce genetically modified grains and vegetables thereby making it unsafe for consumption. These seeds have caused farmers to rely more on chemical fertilizers and pesiticides that make the food even more unsafe.There were so many farmers' suicide in India related to this issue.
Dr Shiva is constantly working with governments and NGOs to make sure farmers' interests are protected in the matter of seed autonomy. Her objective is to remove genetically modified food production and encourage local farmers to grow food using organic sustainable methods. Her aim is to protect nature and rights of people to access food and water.
Her movement is called Navadanya which is a seed bank to help farmers grow food using organic methods. Once using Navadanya seeds, farmers are free to re use the seeds obtained from their yield for the year without having patent restrictions.
There is a lot of information involved in this cause. I request everyone to please read about Dr Vandana Shiva and watch her videos on youtube. I am sharing one with this post. They say "We are what we eat" however we do tend to forget about paying attention to the most important thing - food. The youtube video is from the movie called The future of food.
This cause is so dear to me so I have shared this in both my blogs.
Xoxo
Srividya
