Heirloom Gardening, Food and Other Thoughts
I didn’t post this before because I was having trouble with the embed code from their website, but this is a video posted by La Via Campesina just before the Brussels seed swap and demonstration. La Via Campesina is the organization that called for the days of action in Brussels.
If you’re having trouble viewing this video embedded here in this page, you might try downloading a copy onto your own computer from this page.
Here’s a video of the demonstration day of the Brussels action.
With our tractor in the lead, on Monday the 18th we marched!
In addition to the demonstration on Monday, there were workshops on Sunday with equally compelling messages.
Olivier de Schutter, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, gave his message in a video. His position is clear. The European seed laws are a violation of human rights.
Representatives of Turkey and India spoke about the problems they have in their countries because of European seed laws. However bad it might be for us here in Europe, it can be far worse for people living in other countries.
Please, no matter where in the world you live, make your voice heard on the new EU seed laws!
One of the fantastic things about getting a group of people like this together, was all the great food!
The evening before, when most people coming from out of town were arriving, they held a potluck dinner. Can you imagine, seed savers coming from all over Europe, bringing with them things from their own gardens or local markets? Since people were arriving over the course of the evening, dishes kept getting added to the buffet, so it was possible to go back every hour or so for more… Many people brought local breads and cheeses. A number of farmers were present, and some meats were on offer that looked very home made.
The day of the seed swap vegetarian meals were provided by „popular kitchen” of the „collectif du 123”. It was really nice!
When the seed swap and workshops were over, day turned to evening and the music started. The organic drinks came out, and the celebration began. This band played salsa and world music:
On the day of the demonstration itself, great sandwiches were served for lunch and during the march we had a little impromptu music…
Were you at the seed swap and demonstration? I didn’t have a video camera with me, and of course I couldn’t be everywhere at the same time. If you have any pictures or videos you’d like to share with me for publishing on the Internet, please send me an email! You can find my email address in the Contact tab on the front page of this blog, or leave a comment here and be sure to give a valid email address.
Of particular interest would be pictures or videos of the workshops.
