You may not believe this

2015-03-10

By Bill Fox/Columnist

1. There are more hungry people in the world, than the combined populations of Canada, the U.S. and Europe.
2. Family farms feed 70 per cent of the world’s population.
3. The majority of the world’s poor support themselves by farming. On small lots, they may grow grains, vegetables and fruits and raise small animals. Surplus is sold to improve their living conditions.
4. Our abundant variety of foods has been built up over thousands of years through the knowledge of farmers, and having access to seeds so as to naturally breed new varieties.
5. Now, corporate agricultural industries are increasingly patenting seeds. This is threatening the right of farmers to save, use and exchange seeds.
6. In some countries, the traditional farming activity of saving seeds for the next harvest has become an illegal act punishable by law.
7. The majority of farmers in the world are actually women.
8. In Colombia, a nationwide farmers’ strike broke out two years ago when a law made it illegal for peasant farmers to save their seeds. This law was a condition for the signing of a free-trade agreement between the U. S. and Colombia.
9. The above law in Colombia was paving the way for multinational seed companies to have a monopoly on certain seeds.
10. “Law 970” also granted the Colombian Institute of Agriculture the right to seize and destroy peasant seeds! Can you believe this?
11. In Brazil, the planting of genetically modified (GM) soybeans by multinational corporations is widespread. Will coffee be next?
12. In Zambia, through the help of development and peace, the Jesuits, and other institutions, the government was convinced of the importance of prohibiting the entry of GM maize into the country.
13. In Haiti, following the earthquake of 2010, agricultural giant Monsanto offered to donate seeds to help to re-launch agricultural activities in the country. The fear was that this donation would have pushed farmers into a cycle of dependence on Monsanto and would have threatened the country’s native seeds.
14. Monsanto offered its GM seeds to the farmers of India with hopes of reaping plentiful crops. The mostly uneducated farmers thought Monsanto had come to provide a “magic” formula that would transform their lives. They had no idea what was coming.
15. Monsanto’s “magic seeds” in India did not produce what the company had promised and farmers hoped. The expensive seeds piled up debts, destroying farming fields. In many instances, the crops simply failed to materialize. The farmers were not aware the GM seeds required more water than the traditional seeds. Lack of rain in many parts of India contributed to the crop failure.

I can remember as a child, my dad getting seeds from neighbours in order to grow his own beefsteak tomatoes. When I grew up, I had the freedom to order seeds from seed companies in order to grow a small garden in our yard. Have you shared this same experience? Often, if I let my over-ripe tomatoes stay on the vine, the next spring, a new tomato plant would arise from the fallen seeds in the old tomatoes.

So here is what I’m going to do to help local farmers and prevent large industrial agricultural industries from taking over the small farmer.

1. I will buy local and organic fruit and vegetables at our local farmer’s market or at the grocery store.
2. For imported products like coffee, sugar, chocolate, etc. I will try to buy fair trade or organic products.
3. I will ask my local grocery store manager to increase the amount of locally grown and organic food for sale, and to make more fair trade food available.
4. I have signed a petition from Development and Peace being sent to our federal government asking them to ensure that family farmers have the right to use their own seeds and that this is respected around the world. You can find more information at “devp.org/sowmuchlove”

How about you?