
- Bellingham's Community Seed Swap at the Majestic is coming up.
- Fidalgo Transition & Friends will be hosting their seed swap Sunday, February 10th http://transitionfidalgo.org/food-and-gardening/
- Bow Little Market will be having their seed and plant swap Saturday, April 12th.
Been meaning to pass this on...
~Sarai
Vandana Shiva on Resisting GMOs: ‘Saving Seeds is a Political Act’
By Sarah van Gelder
Trained in physics and philosophy, Vandana Shiva is renowned for her activism against GMOs, globalization, and patents on seeds and traditional foods. She co-founded Navdanya, which promotes seed saving and organic farming and has more than 70,000 farmer-members.
A quote from the interview: That is a convergence of human intelligence and nature’s intelligence. It is the ultimate expression of life, and in our language, it means “that from which life arises on its own, forever and ever and ever.”
http://www.nationofchange.org/vandana-shiva-resisting-gmos-saving-seeds-political-act-1384786994.
Agrochemical Companies Sue to Block Anti-GMO Law in Hawaii
Update on anti-GMO front:
This is specifically a GMO lawsuit, but multiply these actions from these 3 corporations by all corporations doing business internationally, and you have a preview of what countries, states, provinces, counties, etc. will be spending time and money on if the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement passes. Super litigation world.
~Kathi
From: "Tim Crosby" <timcrosby@comcast.net>
Sent: Tuesday, January 14, 2014 7:49 AM
To: "WSFFNET Serve" <wsffnet@npogroups.org>
Subject: [wsffnet] Agrochemical Companies Sue to Block Anti-GMO Law in Hawaii
Agrochemical Companies Sue to Block Anti-GMO Law in Hawaii -- ReutersSource: Reuters (11 Jan 2014)Author: Christopher D'Angelo(Article Summarized by Meridian Institute) Three of the world’s largest agrochemical companies – DuPont, Syngenta and Agrigenetics (a company affiliated with Dow Chemical Co.) - have filed a lawsuit to block a law enacted on Kauai, Hawaii, which would limit the planting of biotech crops and the use of pesticides. The suit claims the law is unconstitutional and seeks an injunction barring enforcement of provisions of the law. Paul Minehard, a spokesman for Syngenta, said, "The ordinance is invalid. It arbitrarily targets our industry with burdensome and baseless restrictions on farming operations by attempting to regulate activities over which counties in Hawaii have no jurisdiction. These activities are already regulated by governmental agencies under state and federal laws." The Kauai law requires the disclosure of pesticide use and genetically modified organism (GMO) crop planting while establishing buffer zones around schools, homes and hospitals. The companies argue disclosure of the location of biotech crop fields could lead to vandalism and adhering to buffer zones would hurt them economically by reducing the land available for seed production. Gary Hooser, a Kauai County Councilman, who co-introduced the bill, said, "They chose to use their money and legal power to bully us in the courts. These companies do not want our county to set a precedent that other communities are going to follow." The measure has broad support both on the island and on the mainland U.S. from organizations and individuals who claim heavy pesticide use by the agrochemical companies is poisoning people and the environment. more