Vandana Shiva: Alternatives to Monsanto in India

In India, corporations have placed patents on their genetically modified seeds, making it illegal for farmers to save seeds from year to year. Scientist and environmentalist Vandana Shiva examines the correlation between widespread, continuous hunger and the introduction of genetically engineered seeds and agrochemicals, particularly in India. These corporations essentially force Indian farmers to buy new, genetically modified seeds every year.

But, Shiva has created a seed bank program called Navdanya to provide farmers with organic seeds as an alternative to the expensive GMO seeds available. Inspired by tactics of Gandhi and his “celebration of the small,” Shiva hopes to return power over the Earth and its resources to the hands of the people. She believes that by preventing the extinction of indigenous seeds and involving women in the fight, "networks of the small" can fight corporations.

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Vandana Shiva presented this lecture at Oregon State University. The lecture was sponsored by The Spring Creek Project for Ideas, Nature and the Written Word, as well as the Hundere Endowment for Religion and Culture, the Horning Endowment, and the Student Sustainability Initiative.

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