Brussels Action 17-18 April 2011 — The Clowns

On the second day, the demonstration wasn’t until the end of the day, so we spent the morning and early afternoon talking and planning.  At lunch time we were entertained by some clowns.

They performed and told their story in at least 3 different languages, maybe more, so no one was left.

They juggled…

and grew genetically modified plants…

 

Brussels Action 17-18 April 2011 — The Seed Swap

Various organizations across Europe organized and participated in a mass seed swap, demonstration and other activities.  I was there, and this is the first in a series of posts on the event.  I posted about this before, and the official website of the event is here.

I hosted a table at the seed swap together with the Danish Seed Savers.  In the picture below is Søren of In the Toad’s Garden on the left, Lila Towle head of the Danish Seed Savers on the right, and me in the middle.

Neil Munro of the UK Heritage Seed Library was there together with
Maria Scholten, a freelance researcher working with the Scottish Crofting
Federation
:

Not to be outdone of course was Kokopelli of France and Belgium:

Tom Wagner’s potatoes were prominently featured.  Those below were offered by Lieven of De Lusthof.

there were bags:

spuds:

seeds in little compartments:

seeds on the cob and in the pumpkin:

heads of grain:

seeds in test tubes and jars:

seeds laid out nicely on the table:

and more bags of seeds:

and much more…

European Seed Swap in Brussels, 17-18 April

There will be a seed swap on Sunday, 17 April, with street demonstrations planned the following day.  If you live anywhere nearby, please consider coming.

I’ve been helping with the planning for this, and will be sharing a table at the seed swap with the Danish Seed Savers.  I would love to meet some of you!  To be clear, the seed swap means FREE SEEDS.  You don’t have to offer anything in return, and there are no per packet costs or entrance fees like some other seed swaps.

More than 50 organizations have registered to attend, from at least Germany, Denmark, France, Austria, Portugal, Greece, Ireland, UK, Netherlands, Switzerland and Poland.

Farmers from India and Turkey will be present to explain the seed saving situation in their countries, and how intellectual property rights legislation interferes with their rights to do this.

The UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Olivier de Schutter will also attend via video conference.