Seed: The Untold Story Page #5

by conglomerates to

legally saying they own it

because they're the

first to patent it.

We're the custodians of

this knowledge and the corn,

and how dare others

take it away.

Once these corns

get contaminated,

there's no way you

can breed it out.

The only safe thing to do

is actually incinerate,

y'know I wouldn't

feed it to animals,

I wouldn't compost it

because it's in the DNA,

it's an abuse to seeds and

to us as indigenous people

With the GMO seeds

that are out there.

We need to protect our seeds

We need to save our seeds

and we need to plant them

for the survival

of our communities

and survival of Earthmom.

Our people know that

where there is wild rice,

there are Anishnabe.

It is our most sacred food.

We have harvested this rice

for thousands of years.

This wild rice doesn't grow

anywhere else in the world.

We engaged in a battle

with the corporations

and with the University

of Minnesota.

(moves into calm but

intense drum music)

The University of Minnesota

wanted to genetically

engineer wild rice.

We were very concerned

That would potentially

contaminate our wild rice

so we fought them.

The first opposition

witness out of the gate

for three years in

a row was Monsanto.

They came out every

time we testified.

They said if the Ojibwe

were able to stop

the genetic engineering

of wild rice,

it would send a chilling

message to the biotech industry.

When they go and take that

dignity of that food from you

and turn it into something

else it is offensive,

it hurts our people, it

hurts us economically,

and it hurts us spiritually.

Wild should mean something.

And I would assume

that that would mean

not genetically engineered.

Genetically modified plants,

it's doing something which isn't

natural in the plant world.

(calm but exciting

strings music)

Genes from a completely

different species

are being introduced

into these plants.

And the plant fights.

The plant is not happy to

receive an alien species.

You can put a pig in

a room with a tomato

and you can turn

the lights down low

and play some nice music

and you serve some wine,

but no matter how hard you try,

you're not going to get the

pig to mate with a tomato.

But the genetic engineers

can take genes from the pig

and force it into the tomato.

They've taken genes from

spiders and put them into goats.

They've taken human genes and

put it into rice and corn.

They're eliminating the

natural species barriers

and in a sense playing God.

You shoot gold particles

laden with genes.

But it's a very

unreliable process,

so you have to also add

antibioresistance markers.

You also have to

add viral promoters.

And every genetically

engineered seed

is a bundle of bacteria,

toxins, viral promoters.

As we remove the

barriers between species,

mixing these genes and viruses,

the threshold also gets broken

for the spread of new

infectious diseases.

A genetically modified seed

is the sorcerer's apprentice.

We have the capacity to

start all this stuff,

but we don't have the

capacity to stop it,

and when we

manipulate a species,

that is a kind of hubris

that we will pay for.

You can't see the difference

between genetically

engineered corn

and non-genetically

engineered corn.

This is not seeable

by a consumer.

Independent scientists were

beginning to see indications

that consuming genetically

engineered foods

could have kidney

and liver damage.

We are seeing possible

reproductive issues

in laboratory animals,

these are peer reviewed science

and now we're beginning

to see problems

that could come from them.

(moves into upbeat

and rhythmic music)

Wheat was the holy grail

for companies like Monsanto.

If they could have had all

the wheat in the United States

be genetically engineered,

that was really the holy grail.

Monsanto spent

ten years developing

the genetic modified wheat.

Wheat farmers decided

we did not want them

to release a genetically

modified wheat.

We said "No, we're

not doing that."

We don't have to take

the chance to fool

with the genetic

modified plants.

We said "Nope, we don't want

it," and now we've got it.

We thought that this

had been put to bed.

We thought those wheat

seeds had been destroyed.

Apparently not.

The Department of Agriculture

had told us don't worry,

we can keep these

seed trials confined

and time and time again

they have failed to do so,

and they have escaped.

Once you take that stuff

out of the laboratory,

there's a thousand

things that can go wrong

that lets that seed get away.

As far as a duck can

fly, they eat seed,

and they excrete that seed,

and seed grows in place

where it wasn't intended.

You can't pull it back.

You can't put the

toothpaste back in the tube.

International wheat

markets shut down for months.

That cost farmers hundreds

of millions of dollars.

USDA opened an investigation.

They've never been

able to discover

how the genetically

engineered wheat

got in the farmer's field.

We're fooling with Mother

Nature in a way that,

quite frankly,

may end up not being

near as rosy of a panacea

as these seed companies

want to point out.

If our wheat is contaminated,

I'm out of business.

(calm but worrying guitar music)

In 1998,

we were just beginning

harvesting canola

in the middle of August.

My neighbor had grown GMO canola

and our fields

were contaminated.

And a bus station phoned up

and I thought that's unusual

and they said there's

a parcel here for you.

Later on that evening, open it,

here's a lawsuit from Monsanto,

and I didn't think much of it!

What's this patent infringement?

Didn't even know what that was.

Our family lawyer looked

at me and he says,

"Percy, I think

you're in trouble."

I said "What for?"

Well, he said,

"They're charging you that

you have their GMO seeds,"

and I said, "What

are GMO seeds?"

The judge's stated

that it does not matter

how you're contaminated.

You violate the patent and

you no longer own your seeds.

That right should never be

taken away from a farmer.

You are taking seed

that has been there

for thousands of years

and put a patent on it

and say you own it.

Basically it's robbery.

To me, that's really a

violation of human rights.

Henry Kissinger said

"If you want to control the

country, control the oil,

"if you want to control the

people, control the food."

Vandana Shiva says, "If you

want to control the food,

"control the seed."

(moves into soft,

foreboding music)

When seed started to

become a patented product

sold by corporations,

you destroy seed freedom.

When a company as powerful

as Monsanto enters a country,

it starts to control that

country's decision making.

Monsanto started to buy

up Indian seed companies.

60 Indian companies can

only sell Monsanto seeds.

The companies will take

video vans into the villages.

They had every Indian epic.

And they would, very

cleverly, sell the seeds.

So Hanuman is carrying

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes