Another World is Plantable – Community Gardening in South Africa
I was looking around for other films made by Ella von der Haide, the same person who made Resilient Seed the film about our Brussels action last spring, and I came across this. What a find! This is a really interesting look into Community Gardens in South Africa, and the sorts of problems they face.
Dan Jason and Owen Bridge on Seed Saving in Canada
Thanks to Mike who mentioned these videos in a comment on my last post. These videos are of Dan Jason of Salt Spring Seeds and The Plant Sanctuary for Canada, and Owen Bridge of Annapolis Valley Seeds, representing Canada’s two coasts at a Seedy Sunday event from earlier this year.
It’s really a great example on how in different parts of the world we have slightly different battles and laws, but in the end our overall problems and goals are the same. Here is Europe we are fighting the battle of legalizing seed saving, but in North America they’re not only fighting to keep seed saving legal, but also facing the real prospect of aggressive police action if they are unsuccessful.
Recently some laws were changed in Canada and other parts of the world like Europe to protect the pharmaceutical industry from the competition of natural foods and herbal remedies. This resulted in raids in Canada where unlicensed vitamins were confiscated by swat teams at gunpoint. It’s very possible heirloom seed companies will one day see their stocks of seeds confiscated in the same way.
We all need to act locally and think globally. We should grow seeds in our own gardens that are locally obtained and suitable for our local climate, but we shouldn’t forget seeds can be obtained elsewhere if necessary. In the same way, we should be fighting our own battles locally, but not forgetting there’s a whole world out there with other people fighting the same battle.
Resilient Seed
Ella von der Haide has produced Resilient Seed, a film about the action days in Brussels last April. The film includes interviews with many interesting people who attended and/or organized the event. If you know where to look there are a few glimpses of me, and Bifurcated Carrots is mentioned in the credits at the end.
This is the English version, and they’ve promised to make versions in other languages as time permits. Especially as someone who participated, it’s really nice to watch the film and think back on a great weekend, with great people, that so many worked so hard to organize.
Untitled from sab inee on Vimeo.
Occupy Big Food
Protesters gathered on Wall Street in New York again on Tuesday, this time including the participation of farmers and open pollinated seed enthusiasts. The demonstration included a seed exchange, with many seeds provided by Hudson Valley Seed Library founders.
Dutch Article on EU Seed Laws
A friend of mine, Erik D’haese has written a Dutch language article for MO magazine on the current state of EU seed laws. Regular readers of this blog will have seen a lot of it before, but he mentions a few things I didn’t, and it’s really the best article with everything laid out in one place I’ve seen anywhere. Google translate works pretty well translating it into English.
