Seed: The Untold Story Page #7

(speaks in Hawaiian)

The trust is gone

for these companies.

The trust is gone.

And I don't know how they are

going to gain the trust back,

other than backing this bill

and working with

the communities, you

And you know, like

I said before,

It's time to put human

health over corporate wealth.

They are suing

the county of Kauai

for the right to spray

poisons next to schools,

and these are the largest

companies in the world.

So we're gonna

have a huge battle.

[Protesters] OMG, GMO,

people have the right to know!

OMG, GMO, people have

the right to know!

OMG, GMO, people have

the right to know!

This is a historic battle.

They're fighting for a profit,

we're fighting for our lives,

(audience applauds)

and those who fight for

their lives do not give up,

do not let down, never say no.

[Protestors] GMO has got to go

because we need to know!

GMO has got to go!

No one said give

me GM food, anywhere.

This has never been voted

for by any community

anywhere in the world.

The reason Americans are

being condemned to eat GM food

is they've been denied

the right to know.

(exciting and festive music)

64 countries around the world

have some form of labeling

of genetically engineered foods.

The United States does not.

Monsanto and the other companies

are so frightened of labeling

because once people

have a choice,

why would they choose a product

that only offers them

risks and no benefits?

(calm but suspenseful music)

I started Navdanya in 1987.

I named it Navdanya

which means nine seeds,

but also means the new gift.

Oh look at the birds.

Going above you.

I took inspiration from Gandhi.

Gandhi had dealt with

a smaller imperialism

of the British by taking

out the spinning wheel.

He said "We will be free,

we will spin our own cloth."

And I said we will

save our own seed.

The seed will be the

spinning wheel of our times.

When I heard these companies

talk about patenting seed.

We will refuse to obey laws

that force us to accept

GMOs and patents.

We have launched a

campaign this year

for a global alliance

for seed freedom.

We need to protect the

diversity, integrity,

and freedom of life.

Give seed its own freedom

so that we as humans

can have our freedom

and the work we do for Navdanya

is to encourage farmers to

grow enough for themselves,

to bring respect back

for their own seed,

for their own farming.

O Mother Earth,

my respects for you.

You have provided us

food. Hail Mother Earth.

Our community seed banks

are both the networks

of the farmers

as well as the

distribution network

for moving seed

wherever it's needed.

More than 110 community

seed banks have started.

If there's a drought, getting

drought-resistant seed.

If there's a flood, getting

flood-resistant seed.

So these are seeds of hope.

These are seeds that do

not lock you into debt.

And we are training the young

people to spread seed saving.

Because that freedom is tied-up

to our duty to the planet

and our duty to the future.

I found out about Navdanya

on the way to school.

Vandana Shiva was talking

about organic farming.

I then came to Navdanya,

I learned how I can

make our farming better.

So it will be beneficial for us

and be healthy for us.

[Vandana] For the farmer,

they're going to honor the

land and make it beautiful,

and you can only make it

beautiful through biodiversity,

and only when we have

the seeds of biodiversity

will the landscape be beautiful.

(people applaud and laugh)

Y'know, there's that Garth

Brook's song "The Rodeo".

Well for me,

the rodeo is going out

into the wilderness

and finding things to eat.

It's like an obsession

that never ends.

Big, huge treasure hunt.

(calm and soft strings music)

When people say "How do

we feed a hungry world?"

What about the wild things?

The devil's claw.

We don't wanna get the sap.

Holy Moly! This is a male plant!

So this baby is

pollinating somebody else,

let's see who it's pollinating!

Look at the little nara melons!

Look at them! I've

never seen them before!

I've been waiting

to get these seeds

for probably 15 years.

And you would not imagine

that this would grow out

in the desert.

We get just a few of these

growing in a few places,

it won't be but a couple of

years and the people themselves

will be able to start

growing their own.

So a seed in this case

is extremely precious.

And what does that mean,

it's worth as much as gold.

You get up there and rub and

I am going to hold this tight.

Get up and rub it.

You let the wind catch it.

We're getting them out though.

We did good.

Acanthosicyos naudinianus, it's

called the gemsbok cucumber,

and these are one of the

treasures of the desert.

It should be edible.

Now if they are green,

what I've heard is they're

gonna burn the crap

out of your mouth.

You gonna try the first

one? Do we have a spoon?

- Oh look at that.

- Okay.

Sweet?

[Friend] What's it taste like?

Tastes terrible.

Does it taste bad?

Yeah. (laughs)

(woman speaks in

foreign language)

So, they're cooking them.

That gets rid of

the hotness in it.

You gotta poke a hole in

them so they don't explode.

Look at that!

(soft and relaxed strings music)

They're the original

botanists, aren't they?

I'm nothing,

all I'm doing is

learning it in books

and wanting to find out about it

but they're knowing

everything about it.

It's bigger than

he said probably

It's a group effort

digging up this monster.

- Unbelievable.

- It's incredible.

(group cheers)

This is the

incredible marama bean,

Produces tubers

up to 500 pounds.

About ten pounds?

It is a future potential crop

unlike any other on the planet.

And how many other beans

do you know produce

a giant, giant sweet potato?

How many others

produce a giant cashew,

macadamia sized nut?

This is an amazing plant.

(group cheers and claps)

The people in the Kalahari

depend upon this for survival.

It doesn't need water for 3

years and it can still survive.

You can go back eons and be

like a hunter walking out here

when he was just surviving

with the elements.

Strange thing to get impressed

with but I'm impressed.

We do have a beautiful world,

and something like this to me

is just a marvel the

planet we live on.

(man sings in foreign language)

I don't suppose anyone's

up for the Merry Dwarves

are they?

We could try I suppose.

There's enough of us!

I don't know, okay.

Hi Ho cried the Merry Dwarfs.

And then bump, bump.

The timing is all important,

just like with seed saving.

Time is a big deal.

Alright, let's hear it now.

[Group] High ho

cried the merry dwarfs, dum dum.

It's off to the

woods we, dum, are.

We like to stay but

time is, dum dum, short.

I hope like the merry dwarfs.

Magnificent,

Magnificent, that was it!

You did it, right off like that!

Woo! Okay!

(upbeat strings music)

Saving seeds is a gas.

Seed saving is all about sex.

And humans are all

obsessed with sex,

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