By growing an acre of corn in Iowa two friends uncover the devastating…
Deconstructing Supper
- Description
- Reviews
- Citation
- Cataloging
- Transcript
Ripe tomato salad. Creamy chicken soup. Grilled westcoast salmon.
Dinner is served.
But what's in our food and how is it grown?
Renowned chef John Bishop leads viewers on an eye-opening and engaging journey into the billion-dollar battle to control global food production. Starting with a gourmet meal in his five-star restaurant, Bishop travels the world -- from farmer's fields to biotech laboratories to supermarket aisles -- on a personal quest to find out what our food choices are.
With a hearty appetite for food and information, chef Bishop explores the politics and ethics of food. He discovers that 70% of processed foods on supermarket shelves in North America contain genetically modified ingredients. The handful of biotech companies who control genetically modified seeds claim this is the only way to feed the world's growing population. But are these foods safe? Are there other, less risky ways to feed ourselves? Our chef finds answers to these compelling questions and more.
From North America to Great Britain to India and back, John Bishop shares fascinating conversations and mouth-watering feasts with farmers, such as Michael Ableman, scientists and activists, such as Vandana Shiva. We see the actual transfer of DNA from bacteria into canola plants, and meet Canadian farmer Percy Schmeiser who is battling the giant Monsanto Corporation. We learn startling information about the milk we drink in North America and meet Indian farmers and activists fighting to keep traditional farming practices alive.
Deconstructing Supper is a ride every contemporary eater will want to take -- a thought-provoking and entertaining journey into the revolution in modern food production, and its effects on our lives.
'A beautiful film that uplifted my spirit and brought me more in touch with my love for food...Thoroughly mindful and compassionate, this is not a film that makes enemies. It's a film that make sense.' John Robbins, author, The Food Revolution, and Diet For A New America
'Deconstructing Supper is a fine film, important for every culinary resource library. With so many scientific and technological changes taking place in food production, I feel it is vital that both chefs and students and lovers of food in general be knowledgeable about the ingredients they use. Nobody should take lightly what is happening to our farm produce.' Anne Willan, Founder and President, LaVarenne at The Greenbrier
'Colourful and engaging, with fine camera-work...This is a film for all those who might just be wondering what is happening to the foods they used to know and love.' Brewster Kneen, The Rams Horn
'The film takes Bishop on an around-the-world trip...What he finds is an industrialization process in the world's farming industry that is frighteningly reminiscent of such historical events as the communist farm collectives and the Irish potato famine...As scary as a lot of this sounds Deconstructing Supper is neither gloomy nor ideological...(O)rganic farmers in California, Saskatchewan and India show there are working alternatives.' Brian Gorman, TV Data
'What's a GMO? Chef John Bishop discovers that, thanks to Monsanto Corporation, food just ain't what it used to be. In his globe-trotting investigation, this conscientious chef also illustrates that, despite Monsanto's monkey-business, 'natural food' production remains both a feasible and pleasurable enterprise.' Professor Timothy McGettigan, PhD, Department of Sociology, Colorado State University-Pueblo
'A fascinating, if disturbing, primer on the subject of genetically modified food. It manages to instruct without scolding, explore without preaching, and ultimately, should interest anybody who eats.' Toronto Star
'Superbly constructed...Incredibly informative as well as entertaining...Allows the audience to come to their own conclusions with the facts from both sides of the food issue presented.' Neil Ritchie, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
'Deconstructing Supper tells a good story, and makes you wish you could afford organic produce more often.' The (Toronto) Globe and Mail
'Having a storyline places this film apart...In addition, there are some very good visuals...and dialogue which doesn't pull its punches.' Philip L. Bereano, University of Washington
'This illuminating film reminds us of the importance of knowing where our food comes from, and it shows us how the choices we make everyday about the food we eat are some of the most important decisions we make.' Alice Waters, Owner, Chez Panisse Restaurant
'The chemical industry's power over our food is a key message in this video. If you haven't heard the story of Percy Schmeiser's struggle with Monsanto, [Deconstructing Supper] is worth seeing just to hear him tell it.' Dana Jackson, The Land Stewardship Letter
Citation
Main credits
Bishop, John (narrator)
Kaplan, Marianne (film director)
Kaplan, Marianne (film producer)
Kaplan, Marianne (screenwriter)
Weisbord, Merrily (screenwriter)
Terhoch, Leonard (film producer)
Other credits
Cinematographer, Kirk Tougas; editor, Stuart De Jong; composer, Salvador Ferreras.
Distributor subjects
Agriculture; Biotechnology; Environment; Food And Nutrition; Gardening; Genetically Modified Foods ; Hunger; International Studies; Organic Farming; Science, Technology, Society; Sustainability; Sustainable AgricultureKeywords
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[sil.]
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[music]
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This restaurant is my life.
I even gave it my name,
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\"Bishop’s.\" Owning a restaurant
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is like hosting a dinner party
for friends every night.
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But lately, people aren’t simply accepting
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the presentation on their plate. Customers wanna
know what’s in the food and how it’s grown.
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[music]
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It’s a minefield. They’re asking about
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chemicals and pesticides and last night someone
asked about genetically modified food.
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That threw me. I’m not sure what
you mean by genetically modified?
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I knew absolutely nothing about it.
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It made me question my
responsibility as a restaurateur.
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Food is my life. And yet, I
know so little about it.
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I need to learn how foods grown now
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and I think I know someone
who can get me started.
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[music]
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Michael Ableman’s book is a good
intro to, how food is produced?
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In the 1980s,
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he visited farmers all over the world.
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[music]
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When I had finished that part of my journey, I
needed to see… the impacts of our current system
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of our industrial system. So I
visited the… the vast fields of
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industrial agriculture in the
Central Valley of California.
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60% of the fruits and vegetables consumed in
North America produced in this one valley,
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these were vast lonely spaces.
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[sil.]
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Hundreds of acres with a single
tractor in the distance.
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But, then I discovered that the impacts of what
was happening in those fields went far beyond
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my immediate emotional experience.
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That people while they thought they were
buying cheap food were actually paying for it
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many times after they left the checkout
counter, in their personal health,
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in the health of the land. The people
doing the work are paying a heavy price.
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[sil.]
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I don’t think there are very many redeeming
qualities to… the industrialization of… of
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uh… our food system. It’s
unraveled our health
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and our environment and umm… we’re gonna
have to figure out a different way to do it.
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[music]
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Michael’s organic produce
goes to local markets.
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Yet I wonder, if all of food
needs can be supplied this way.
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Oh, wow! This is phenomenal. You tend
to pick them a little younger than
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you would typically get to converse
all of those normal salads.
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Okay. They were, they were quite a yellow
color before I cooked it. Yeah… yeah.
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Okay. I have an interest in the variety analysis.
Yeah, I don’t remember the name of them. Yeah.
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Are u sure? Okay… Actually,
you have a wonderful farm.
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I know it’s hard work. The lifestyle
we’re living in regards to food
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and our ability to have it that fresh, to me
it’s something that should be everyone’s right.
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My own father had a garden. I’m not sure
that how organic he was, but I know for sure
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that he valued uh… what that
garden brought to us as a family.
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And he valued flavor. And he valued flavor,
yes. I mean, we got it, we had our chickens
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in the backyard and… and had fresh eggs…
Um-hmm! …and… and fresh veggies and flowers
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and you know, in those days, most people
I should say had a… a backyard garden.
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Um-hmm! I don’t believe that a chef is a
chef unless they’ve had the opportunity to
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umm… understand some of these aspects of how
the food was grown and where it’s gone,
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and the… the process of
how it comes to them.
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It’s uncanny how Michael’s words hit home.
Does he know that last week
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I hadn’t even heard of GMO’s?
He’s challenging me to be
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more responsibly informed about the food I
serve. I have a lot of catching up to do.
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[music]
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[music]
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Tomato plants getting it on with plums, that’s
their idea where agriculture should go.
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Nobody wants to be near me because they’re afraid of my
pollen that it will blow on them and they’ll become like me.
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Oh, bursting with toxic
seeds that are in twisted.
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Nobody will eat us, they won’t
even take us in Europe.
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They are calling us contaminating
everything. It’s so sad.
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[music]
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This is also a part of their group
and this is an agricultural story
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on the benefits to the environment that hand
food safety and as well as to the consumer.
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Okay, thanks a lot. Thanks. Thank you for stopping. Thank you. You can
take some letters if you think you would. Yeah, yeah, thanks. Thank you.
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Biotechnology requires pure
chemicals to grow food.
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Biotechnology will produce higher
quality, more nutritious food.
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Biotechnology allows developing
countries to better feed
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their growing populations.
If it’s all so positive,
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what are those people outside concerned
about? I like in science to a dark room.
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And many people are afraid of the dark.
So its part of our job is to
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try to turn on the light. I think frankly, we’ve
learned a lot from discussions with those people.
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There are perspectives that we hadn’t seen. But, the important
thing is that we try our very best to answer those questions
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as best we can as best as science…
science and scientist like guy
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could help us with. Uh… Otherwise uh… we may not
have the acceptance that is important to society.
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We’re trying to give the… the most honest
and straightforward answers that we can.
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But, I think this is great stuff.
PR from the biotech industry
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and talking corn outside, but what I really
want to know is, how GMO’s are different from
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what my dad grew? In traditional
breeding genes are moved
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between the same are closely related
species. But in genetic engineering,
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genes are moved between totally different
life forms. Genes from diverse sources
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like other plants, animals, insects, fish,
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bacteria, and viruses are literally
inserted into plants with which
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they would never naturally breed.
I want to see them
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actually do it. So I visit a large
agricultural biotech company.
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What we do in here is all
of the work with genes,
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the basic work preparing genes. Yes.
That’s the… the DNA, the new DNA
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that we want to get into plants. We can’t just
move it straight in from one organism to another
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after it’s been isolated from one organism.
We’ve got to do a whole bunch of little things
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to get it in the right form so that it
meets our needs and we’ll be able to
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transfer it into our canola plants. The gene
is actually put into a little bacteria,
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a natural occurring bacterium called agro
bacterium and that’s our natural agent
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for transferring the DNA
into the plant cells.
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[music]
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These are young canola seedlings
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and what she’s doing is, she’s
cutting it into sections. Yes.
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And putting them into a liquid medium
that contains the agro bacterium.
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Over the course of 48 or 72
hours, some of the bacteria
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with a tiny new piece of
DNA added will move up
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to the end, to the cut end of this
tissue… Yes. …and they’ll sit
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right next to a plant cell. And if everything
goes well, some of them will transfer
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a little piece of DNA into the plant cell.
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It’s a small step wise process
recovering a plant out of this.
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This plant is big enough that we
can cut off one of the leaves,
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take it up stairs to the molecular lab
and they’ll extract the DNA from it
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and test for the presence of the gene. We’ll
only keep it if it’s got one copy of the gene
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and just the gene we want, nothing else.
And it’ll get transferred into soil
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and then grown up in a special chamber. Then it’ll
really look like a canola plant growing up.
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And that’s where you get your seeds. And… and that will
flower and produce seed. Sounds complicated enough for me.
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Well, it is complicated. And I talk
about it at a level like this,
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but they would never let me actually touch
anything in or try to do any of this work myself.
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Uh… That you never mind, now the
chef added. That’s right. Yeah.
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Well, with… with your culinary skills… Oh. …you could, you could probably work in
here. Thank you very much. You would, you would do better in here than I would.
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I’ll try to make a good meal
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using GM ingredients. They
aren’t labeled, but Malcolm says
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they’re in 60% to 70% of the
processed foods on these shelves.
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Unless it’s organic, we know we’re nowhere getting
GMO’s in all of the processed foods containing Soya,
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corn and canola oil. Let’s
see what we can rustle up.
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Oh, thank you.
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All right, my first to a GM feast.
A little bit of white wine
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to dilute the soup. A little bit. I
think I’m getting a Scottish accent.
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Well, if my accent rubs off in
you and your culinary skills
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rub off from me then we’re gonna be okay.
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Cheers. To the scientist. Cheers. Cheers.
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Very good. That’s a good
start after a long day.
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It is. Now, tell me about this canned soup.
What’s in it? In the canned soup, it’s chicken,
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canned chicken soup, but it has various other
ingredients in it. One of them is corn starch
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and there are various different
genetic and modified corn varieties
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that have been approved. The most likely
uh… genetic modification in this corn
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is with a gene that
configures insect resistance.
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This gene makes a special protein
which is very specific, it’s toxic
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only to certain classes of insects, kills the insects
and so it protects the corn from that inside damage.
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Does that mean the toxin is actually in the soup?
Well, let’s get one thing clear first of all,
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it’s a toxin which is toxic
only to certain insects.
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There’s no toxicity concern with you or me.
It’s in the corn
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when the corn is harvested in the corn
seed, it goes through the processing,
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but in the processing almost certainly
the… the toxin, the molecule,
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it’s a protein that’s made is degraded. And
that almost certainly destroys all of the toxin
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present in it. So what about the canola
in the mayonnaise and the salad dressing?
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Well, there are several types of genetically
modified canola that are available that farmers
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grow around here. Um-hmm! Uh… It’s
become very popular primarily because
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the major new trade that has
been introduced into this canola
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is a… a gene or a fact there are several different genes
which have been introduced that make the canola resistant
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to some particular herbicides.
And farmers like that because
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it makes weed control much easier for them. Weed
control and canola typically used to involve
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the use of at least two different herbicides,
sometimes three different herbicides.
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Now, what they can do is make one spray application
and control all the weeds in that single pass.
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Malcolm says, \"GMO’s are safe.\"
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But how does he know? We haven’t been
eating them long enough to know.
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Yes, they are approved by the government.
But, shockingly the government
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doesn’t do its own testing.
They get those safety studies
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from the companies that develop GM food.
The way the system works
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in terms of the testing of the safety of these things
is that we require information from the developers,
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be it a… a private company or a
public institution or university.
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Uh… That meet a very detail criteria that we have in our
guidelines. So it’s the responsibility of the developer
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to… to produce the information that the testing
information uh… to us. We’re interested in
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getting information about how these plants differ
from the original types of plants that we use.
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So are these things more weedy or invasive?
Uh… Is there a possibility that these things
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can pass the weedy or invasive type
characteristics from pollen, flow and so on?
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When you say weediness, what is that, I… I… I don’t quite
understand, is that that they spread like a weed or?
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That’s right. We’re interested in knowing uh… this…
this pick uh… an example of herbicide tolerant,
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uh… one of the herbicide tolerant canolas. Uh… We
need to know, is this herbicide tolerant canola
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more weedy than the regular canola plants?
To our knowledge that
00:14:50.000 --> 00:14:54.999
none of these canola plants exhibit any more invasive traits,
nor do they pass on such traits through a pollen farm.
00:14:55.000 --> 00:15:00.000
[music]
00:15:05.000 --> 00:15:09.999
I’ve now heard the industry
and government point of view.
00:15:10.000 --> 00:15:14.999
But, I know it’s not the whole
picture when I read about a man
00:15:15.000 --> 00:15:19.999
with a very different
experience of GM canola.
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The story is about Percy Schmeiser, a Saskatchewan
farmer who grew and developed his own canola seeds
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for over 53 years.
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Each year, he and his wife selected seeds
from their best canola plants for replanting.
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[music]
00:15:40.000 --> 00:15:44.999
He was known for canola plants that
were high yielding, disease resistant,
00:15:45.000 --> 00:15:49.999
and well suited to local conditions.
But in 1997,
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mixed in with his own crop, he
found canola he hadn’t planted.
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These new plants came from seeds genetically
modified by Monsanto Corporation
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to be resistant to their roundup herbicide.
00:16:05.000 --> 00:16:09.999
This is where we first launched it.
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You can see here
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uh… canola plants growing. Yep, um-hmm!
This here is a definitely
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uh… umm… a sample roundup ready canola plant
because uh… it was sprayed with roundup last year.
00:16:25.000 --> 00:16:29.999
And the seeds from its
parent plant did not die.
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A plant like this will produce
from 4,000 to 10,000 seeds.
00:16:35.000 --> 00:16:39.999
This canola in 50 years from now will
still be here. I’ve seen that in
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53 years of farming experience wherein
chemical companies came out with 2-4-D
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to kill wild mustard. And they said,
we will no longer have weeds,
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53 years later with hundreds of more chemicals
uh… we have more wild mustard than ever.
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That’s why they’re referring to genetic
altered canola as this new super weed.
00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:04.999
If I would proceed, I would have sued
00:17:05.000 --> 00:17:09.999
Monsanto amazingly, Monsanto sued
Percy for planting his own seeds
00:17:10.000 --> 00:17:14.999
which by now were contaminated
with Monsanto’s patented GM seeds.
00:17:15.000 --> 00:17:19.999
Farmer Percy Schmeiser says, he has no regrets about
going to court against Monsanto, but he lost.
00:17:20.000 --> 00:17:24.999
The Federal Court of Canada ruled
the Bruno area farmer is guilty of
00:17:25.000 --> 00:17:29.999
growing genetically altered canola without
a license. I’ve lost 50 years of work
00:17:30.000 --> 00:17:34.999
because of a company’s
seed, genetic altered seed
00:17:35.000 --> 00:17:39.999
getting into my crops, destroying what
I worked for, destroying my property
00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:44.999
and then get sued on top of that.
The judge ruled in his the…
00:17:45.000 --> 00:17:49.999
in his judgment that it didn’t matter how
it got onto my field. Whether it blew in,
00:17:50.000 --> 00:17:54.999
whether it come off of farm equipment
where the cross-pollinate,
00:17:55.000 --> 00:17:59.999
whether came in by birds, insect, animals, it didn’t
matter. The mere fact, that it’s on your field,
00:18:00.000 --> 00:18:04.999
you’re violating Monsanto’s
patent if you let it grow.
00:18:05.000 --> 00:18:09.999
And so the next step now is appeal because
I don’t think that uh… I don’t think that
00:18:10.000 --> 00:18:14.999
nobody would be safe, no farmer in the world would
be safe now, ever to be able to use his own seed.
00:18:15.000 --> 00:18:19.999
And in my case, I was a seed developer
and a seed saver. And that right
00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:24.999
has been taken away from me. My property
rights have been taken away. All my work in
00:18:25.000 --> 00:18:29.999
uh… 53 years of developing my own canola seed
is gone, it’s been destroyed. And if the right
00:18:30.000 --> 00:18:34.999
to be able to use your own seed is taken away from
you, the person that takes that right away from you
00:18:35.000 --> 00:18:39.999
is then in control of the seed supply. And
whoever’s in control of the seed supply
00:18:40.000 --> 00:18:44.999
will basically be in control of the food supply
because they can dictate who gets the seed
00:18:45.000 --> 00:18:49.999
how much… how much they paid and what chemicals they use/ And
eventually whoever controls the food supply will control
00:18:50.000 --> 00:18:55.000
a country or a nation.
00:19:00.000 --> 00:19:08.000
[music]
00:19:10.000 --> 00:19:14.999
If I was to take wild oats
with me up in an airplane
00:19:15.000 --> 00:19:19.999
and sprinkle them out as I was flying around Western
Canada, a farmer should be absolutely in sense.
00:19:20.000 --> 00:19:24.999
And they’d be after me
with every registered
00:19:25.000 --> 00:19:29.999
and unregistered rifle that they’ve got and
rightly so. There… that is terrible weed.
00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:34.999
But there is no difference in that between
me doing that and what the, what these
00:19:35.000 --> 00:19:39.999
uh… chemical companies and… and seed companies
are doing with their genetically modifying seeds
00:19:40.000 --> 00:19:44.999
because they know beyond the shadow of the door
that they’re just out of control. Once they get
00:19:45.000 --> 00:19:49.999
a multi-laboratory door and they don’t
care because it’s not turning up
00:19:50.000 --> 00:19:54.999
as a liability on their bottom line.
00:19:55.000 --> 00:19:59.999
The people who are being
targeted for prosecution
00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:04.999
are the people who have chosen
not to buy GM grain for seeding.
00:20:05.000 --> 00:20:09.999
If you’re already buying their product
they have no reason to go after you.
00:20:10.000 --> 00:20:14.999
If you are not buying their product
or you were not buying a GM seed of
00:20:15.000 --> 00:20:19.999
whatever kind it is, you are the ones that
are going to be targeted for prosecution.
00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:24.999
Count on it. I would
like to talk a bit about
00:20:25.000 --> 00:20:29.999
who owns and who controls the technology. When we’re
talking about biotechnology, we’re talking about
00:20:30.000 --> 00:20:34.999
just five companies. Five companies,
five multinationals control
00:20:35.000 --> 00:20:39.999
virtually 100% of all of the areas
zone to transgenic seeds last year
00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:44.999
on… on the entire planet, just five.
One company,
00:20:45.000 --> 00:20:49.999
Monsanto last year sold 94% of that.
00:20:50.000 --> 00:20:54.999
The other four companies made up
another 5%. Monsanto itself is
00:20:55.000 --> 00:20:59.999
94% of the cropping persona transgenics.
So really it’s an issue about Monsanto.
00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:04.999
The real question must be, who needs it?
00:21:05.000 --> 00:21:09.999
Don’t we have enough weed?
00:21:10.000 --> 00:21:14.999
Don’t we have enough canola? Or is there anything
wrong with the nutritional variety of our food?
00:21:15.000 --> 00:21:19.999
We know that at the present time we do not
need this technology. And why is it then that
00:21:20.000 --> 00:21:24.999
it is pressed upon us? GM is a
solution in search of a problem.
00:21:25.000 --> 00:21:29.999
We’re looking at something
where they found a way
00:21:30.000 --> 00:21:34.999
to do something. And now they need to find something
they can do it too and make money from it.
00:21:35.000 --> 00:21:39.999
If we as a society allow them
to do this, it’s our own fault.
00:21:40.000 --> 00:21:44.999
[music]
00:21:45.000 --> 00:21:49.999
I feel for Percy. it seems like a critical
00:21:50.000 --> 00:21:54.999
turning point for all the farmers.
00:21:55.000 --> 00:21:59.999
I want Monsanto’s point of view,
00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:04.999
but they refused to be filmed. And
then I discovered two journalists
00:22:05.000 --> 00:22:09.999
who did talk to Monsanto and
it changed their lives.
00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:14.999
We picked a story that happened to
be uh… a pretty hot topic I guess
00:22:15.000 --> 00:22:19.999
because it got us in hot water. But, it was a story
about Monsanto’s product Bovine growth hormone
00:22:20.000 --> 00:22:24.999
and how it is injected into dairy
cows in the United States.
00:22:25.000 --> 00:22:29.999
And umm… we were working for the Fox television station
in Florida at the time as the investigative reporters
00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:34.999
and found that it was used quite liberally
in Florida and that it changes the milk
00:22:35.000 --> 00:22:39.999
and that the FDA has not tested it
thoroughly. And a variety of other aspects
00:22:40.000 --> 00:22:44.999
to the story that made it a really good
story, an important story to tell.
00:22:45.000 --> 00:22:49.999
But, unfortunately Monsanto felt equally strong
that it was a story they didn’t want out.
00:22:50.000 --> 00:22:54.999
Monsanto had made it clear that they were
uh… likely to litigate the issue if we
00:22:55.000 --> 00:22:59.999
uh… went ahead with the story. There
were threats of dire consequences.
00:23:00.000 --> 00:23:04.999
And Fox who had promoted the story
suddenly decided to backtrack
00:23:05.000 --> 00:23:09.999
and uh… started criticizing us and
started to tearing a story about
00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:14.999
uh… a part. And uh… to make a
long story short, 8 months later
00:23:15.000 --> 00:23:19.999
and 83 rewrites later, they fired us.
As one of their lawyers said to us,
00:23:20.000 --> 00:23:24.999
\"Look, it doesn’t matter whether the facts are true, it
doesn’t matter that you have the facts well documented.
00:23:25.000 --> 00:23:29.999
It just isn’t worth from a business
decision. It just isn’t worth
00:23:30.000 --> 00:23:34.999
a couple of $100,000 to go up against Monsanto
in a court of law to defend the truth.\"
00:23:35.000 --> 00:23:39.999
Well, you know, that didn’t used to be the standard for
good journalism is, what does it cost to defend the truth?
00:23:40.000 --> 00:23:44.999
The standard used to be, is that the truth?
And is it important for people to know?
00:23:45.000 --> 00:23:49.999
The story Steve and Jane tell me
about BGH milk is frightening.
00:23:50.000 --> 00:23:54.999
Their censored evidence documented risks of
breast and colon cancer from drinking it.
00:23:55.000 --> 00:23:59.999
It cried for further testing,
but none was ever done.
00:24:00.000 --> 00:24:04.999
This was the first genetically
modified product to be used
00:24:05.000 --> 00:24:09.999
and fed to the public at large. The stakes
went far beyond how much money they invested
00:24:10.000 --> 00:24:14.999
in research and development. If this had flopped, if
this had been ruled unsafe, if this had been ruled
00:24:15.000 --> 00:24:19.999
to be accepted before it was
generally found to be safe,
00:24:20.000 --> 00:24:24.999
it would raise questions about the entire range of
genetically engineered foods that they had in the pipeline.
00:24:25.000 --> 00:24:29.999
So they had a huge stake in getting this approved,
very quietly getting it into the food supply
00:24:30.000 --> 00:24:34.999
and trying to convince everybody
that it’s safe. I’m amazed when
00:24:35.000 --> 00:24:39.999
Steve tells me that the United States is
the only major industrialized country
00:24:40.000 --> 00:24:44.999
in the world that approves the consumption of
BGH. Seems to me that if there’s nothing wrong
00:24:45.000 --> 00:24:49.999
with genetically modified products, why not label
them? Why not tell people this contains genetic?
00:24:50.000 --> 00:24:54.999
Well, they have such a high pitch of fit. When anybody
suggests they should label the products like milk,
00:24:55.000 --> 00:24:59.999
why not labeled milk is coming from
cows injected with artificial hormones?
00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:04.999
They don’t do that because they
know that people would not buy it.
00:25:05.000 --> 00:25:09.999
It’s not up to giant corporations to dictate to people
what they put in their own bodies. If I don’t wanna eat
00:25:10.000 --> 00:25:14.999
a genetically engineered tomato, that’s my choice. And
maybe it’s for a good reason and maybe I’m just ignorant
00:25:15.000 --> 00:25:19.999
and I ought not to be opposed to it. But
you know, it’s my body, it’s my choice.
00:25:20.000 --> 00:25:24.999
[music]
00:25:25.000 --> 00:25:29.999
Without labeling in North America,
we don’t know if we’re eating GMO’s.
00:25:30.000 --> 00:25:34.999
I can’t wait to meet European food
activists who did get GMO’s labeled.
00:25:35.000 --> 00:25:39.999
How do we feel about this? Is this is
reasonably safe, a little tomato juice.
00:25:40.000 --> 00:25:44.999
Yeah, I think that tomato juice umm… at the
moment in the UK won’t be genetically engineered.
00:25:45.000 --> 00:25:49.999
But the uh… putting into perspective,
the Biotechnology Industry Organization
00:25:50.000 --> 00:25:54.999
in the States just a few years ago said
that they hope that within 5 to 10 years,
00:25:55.000 --> 00:25:59.999
a 90% to 95% of all plant derived food in the United
States will come from genetically engineered source.
00:26:00.000 --> 00:26:04.999
That’s really the scale of the experiment that’s underway
rather than the precautionary approach being taken.
00:26:05.000 --> 00:26:09.999
Uh… And those of us who are critical of the technology
had been told that we need to Prevalite the proof
00:26:10.000 --> 00:26:14.999
that it’s causing harm umm… before they will stop it
or before they will take more precautionary approach.
00:26:15.000 --> 00:26:19.999
That’s… that’s turning a proper, that’s
turning, that’s turning wisdom upside down.
00:26:20.000 --> 00:26:24.999
How do you hope to change things?
It seems almost impossible to me.
00:26:25.000 --> 00:26:29.999
I think it’s impossible as long as uh… people just remain
concerned about it then it certainly will be impossible
00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:34.999
because uh… the… uh… the corporation
is certainly being very active.
00:26:35.000 --> 00:26:39.999
Umm… But if… if everyone is willing to take
responsibility uh… and to do something,
00:26:40.000 --> 00:26:44.999
whatever that is, umm… whatever their skills
uh… happen to be then… then I have no doubt
00:26:45.000 --> 00:26:49.999
that we can turn this around.
00:26:50.000 --> 00:26:54.999
[music]
00:26:55.000 --> 00:26:59.999
Where I live in Devon, the… government plans it a test
sites of genetically engineered corn right next door
00:27:00.000 --> 00:27:04.999
to local organic farm. He was told,
he was gonna lose his organic status
00:27:05.000 --> 00:27:09.999
umm… if his organic crop was cross pollinated and
umm… tried to get the government to stop planting it,
00:27:10.000 --> 00:27:14.999
in fact, into the government to court. But, the
judge ruled that he had neither the willingness
00:27:15.000 --> 00:27:19.999
nor the power to order the… the genetically engineered crop
be pulled up. So people went and pulled it up themselves.
00:27:20.000 --> 00:27:28.000
[music]
00:27:30.000 --> 00:27:34.999
So where are things now, Luke?
We’re now on the situation where
00:27:35.000 --> 00:27:39.999
we’ve got hundreds of test sites planted
around the country. There’s no full approval
00:27:40.000 --> 00:27:44.999
being granted yet for commercial planting.
00:27:45.000 --> 00:27:49.999
Umm… However, as a result of the massive
public pressure uh… and grassroots activism
00:27:50.000 --> 00:27:54.999
as well as major boycotts, online
supermarkets are not pledged,
00:27:55.000 --> 00:27:59.999
not to use genetic engineering ingredients in our
own brand products. And that that didn’t come about
00:28:00.000 --> 00:28:04.999
because the supermarkets work up one morning and decided
that they had some kind of enlightened perspective.
00:28:05.000 --> 00:28:09.999
It happened through a lot of work.
Those who oppose
00:28:10.000 --> 00:28:14.999
genetic engineering, I told that they’re standing in the way
of scientific progress. But, I think scientific progress
00:28:15.000 --> 00:28:19.999
really depends on your point of view. Again
and again we’ve seen uh… products introduced,
00:28:20.000 --> 00:28:24.999
umm… everyone’s been told that they’re absolutely safe
and they’re in fact they can be good for our society.
00:28:25.000 --> 00:28:29.999
And what we see 20 or 30 years down the line,
we see uh… people with cancers, we see
00:28:30.000 --> 00:28:34.999
devastation of ecosystems, massive
losses in biodiversity. And I think what
00:28:35.000 --> 00:28:39.999
grassroots activism is all about
is encouraging people to see that
00:28:40.000 --> 00:28:44.999
we have the power to create the
world that we want to live in.
00:28:45.000 --> 00:28:49.999
[music]
00:28:50.000 --> 00:28:54.999
Luke impresses me. But,
the biotech industry
00:28:55.000 --> 00:28:59.999
claims these people are denying a golden
biotech future to developing countries
00:29:00.000 --> 00:29:04.999
that need it most. When Luke shows me
00:29:05.000 --> 00:29:09.999
footage of Indian farmers burning GM
crops, I don’t know what to believe.
00:29:10.000 --> 00:29:14.999
[music]
00:29:15.000 --> 00:29:19.999
The last leg of my journey
takes me to India,
00:29:20.000 --> 00:29:24.999
home to one quarter of the world’s
farmers to find out for myself.
00:29:25.000 --> 00:29:29.999
I’m lucky to meet Vandana Shiva, a scientist
and eco activist. We have a campaign
00:29:30.000 --> 00:29:34.999
against roundup across the country
in every region where we work.
00:29:35.000 --> 00:29:39.999
Uh… Navdanya, this organization has set
up seed banks in seven states in India.
00:29:40.000 --> 00:29:44.999
And all those states have movements against roundup
because that’s the entry for genetic engineering.
00:29:45.000 --> 00:29:49.999
And roundup in India means that this
amazing diversity on our field ones,
00:29:50.000 --> 00:29:54.999
that gives us fodder and medicinal
plant, but that disappears.
00:29:55.000 --> 00:30:00.000
Uh… But, that disappears. Inside
our fields the free sources of…
00:30:15.000 --> 00:30:19.999
So what is going on here? Well, it’s
a seed selection. Group of farmers,
00:30:20.000 --> 00:30:24.999
They’ve come to see which of the
conserved seeds they would like.
00:30:25.000 --> 00:30:29.999
Those who have probably more animals are selecting
the tall varieties, so that they’ll get the fodder
00:30:30.000 --> 00:30:35.000
while they get the grain.
00:30:40.000 --> 00:30:44.999
We multiply on our own farm. But, we also give them seeds
to multiply for their villages and they then distribute.
00:30:45.000 --> 00:30:49.999
With this basic ethics of get back
twice as much as you’ve received.
00:30:50.000 --> 00:30:54.999
To me seed is the model of seed
exchange because you plant one wheat
00:30:55.000 --> 00:30:59.999
and you get those hundreds of seeds.
00:31:00.000 --> 00:31:04.999
You give one kilo to our farmers and
out of that you’re going to get seed
00:31:05.000 --> 00:31:09.999
for hundreds of farmers. Dr.
Shiva tells me her farm is
00:31:10.000 --> 00:31:14.999
reintroducing native plants
that disappeared in the 1960s.
00:31:15.000 --> 00:31:19.999
That’s when India went modern, mechanization,
chemical fertilizers, and pesticides.
00:31:20.000 --> 00:31:28.000
[music]
00:31:30.000 --> 00:31:34.999
They did get more wheat and more rice,
00:31:35.000 --> 00:31:39.999
but the range of crops was greatly reduced
00:31:40.000 --> 00:31:44.999
and the soil depleted.
00:31:45.000 --> 00:31:49.999
It seems to be such a rich wild life
here, birds, and insects flying around.
00:31:50.000 --> 00:31:54.999
They are coming back. Every
year we see more pollinators,
00:31:55.000 --> 00:31:59.999
we see more lady birds, we see more
friendly insects. The chemical use
00:32:00.000 --> 00:32:04.999
had literally wiped out, all biodiversity,
whether it was of insects, or it was of plants.
00:32:05.000 --> 00:32:09.999
Each year we see a higher
density of insects,
00:32:10.000 --> 00:32:14.999
they do the pest control work for us.
00:32:15.000 --> 00:32:19.999
The wonderful thing with organic agriculture
is, it’s not that there’s an absence of this.
00:32:20.000 --> 00:32:24.999
None of these crops are disease free. None of these fields
are pest free. It’s just that they kept within a threshold
00:32:25.000 --> 00:32:29.999
because of the balances. And then
we create these technologies
00:32:30.000 --> 00:32:34.999
to say we’ll have zero tolerance to disease
and we’ll have zero tolerance to best
00:32:35.000 --> 00:32:40.000
and we find the most violent weapons to knock out a disease
and we get harmless insects and pests becoming epidemics.
00:32:45.000 --> 00:32:49.999
The notion that present societies
00:32:50.000 --> 00:32:54.999
have not had science is totally false, it’s just that they have had
a different kind of science not with white lab coats and in labs.
00:32:55.000 --> 00:32:59.999
It’s in the field, it’s with nature and it’s
in every day and it’s embodied in culture.
00:33:00.000 --> 00:33:04.999
And it’s sophisticated. It’s very
sophisticated. And that falsehood and mythology
00:33:05.000 --> 00:33:09.999
that somehow with chemicals we get more food, with
genetic engineering we get for food, none of it is true.
00:33:10.000 --> 00:33:15.000
And yet it’s so deep in the heads
of those who’ve never farmed.
00:33:25.000 --> 00:33:29.999
The need to varieties of seeds
00:33:30.000 --> 00:33:34.999
evolved over centuries offer
us answers to everything
00:33:35.000 --> 00:33:39.999
that the genetic generic corporations are trying
to offer. The drought areas, there are prone areas
00:33:40.000 --> 00:33:44.999
have drought resistant varieties, the coastal areas,
where their salinity have salt resistant varieties.
00:33:45.000 --> 00:33:49.999
High altitude villages have
frost resistant varieties.
00:33:50.000 --> 00:33:54.999
All we need to do is save these
traits in our native varieties
00:33:55.000 --> 00:33:59.999
move the seeds around. That’s why we need to
keep the free exchange of seed available.
00:34:00.000 --> 00:34:04.999
As on a genetic engineering bringing
these traits to us as concern
00:34:05.000 --> 00:34:09.999
genetic engineering is very far from that
achievement. They haven’t yet got to the place
00:34:10.000 --> 00:34:14.999
where they understand how complex
genetic tricks work, which genes work
00:34:15.000 --> 00:34:19.999
to create drought resistance? Then do you think
do the biotech companies have anything to offer?
00:34:20.000 --> 00:34:24.999
Well, farming and agriculture is something
00:34:25.000 --> 00:34:29.999
countries like India have done
for centuries, 10,000 years.
00:34:30.000 --> 00:34:34.999
Umm… We, what we see with
the biotech companies
00:34:35.000 --> 00:34:39.999
is really chemical industry… industry
like Monsanto that gave us Agent Orange,
00:34:40.000 --> 00:34:44.999
like Syngenta, Seeburg (inaudible),
Sandoz that gave us all the pesticides.
00:34:45.000 --> 00:34:49.999
That is the kind of industry
that is now claiming to benefit
00:34:50.000 --> 00:34:54.999
third world agriculture. They know how to manipulate,
chemicals produce chemicals and manipulate plants,
00:34:55.000 --> 00:34:59.999
that is not about farming,
that’s not about good food.
00:35:00.000 --> 00:35:04.999
Till… till we have a system
in which every one of
00:35:05.000 --> 00:35:09.999
the scientists in these labs, every
one of their CEOs is put through
00:35:10.000 --> 00:35:14.999
one year in your restaurant and two years on this organic
farm, I don’t think they’ll have anything to give to us.
00:35:15.000 --> 00:35:19.999
I don’t want them in to place it off.
00:35:20.000 --> 00:35:24.999
I reluctantly leave
Vandana Shiva in Dehradun
00:35:25.000 --> 00:35:29.999
for the promise of a spring
planting feast in the south.
00:35:30.000 --> 00:35:38.000
[music]
00:35:40.000 --> 00:35:44.999
This is more like the India I expected.
00:35:45.000 --> 00:35:49.999
Dry, dusty and poor.
00:35:50.000 --> 00:35:54.999
[music]
00:35:55.000 --> 00:35:59.999
I’m heading to a small village
00:36:00.000 --> 00:36:05.000
where Canadian government funding supports
a return to traditional agriculture.
00:36:10.000 --> 00:36:14.999
You’ve come on a great day for us.
I mean, this is the New Year’s Day
00:36:15.000 --> 00:36:19.999
and uh… you can see the children are drawing
all kinds of design welcoming the people.
00:36:20.000 --> 00:36:24.999
Beautiful! It’s not particularly for you,
it’s for all the visitors today. I’m honored.
00:36:25.000 --> 00:36:29.999
[sil.]
00:36:30.000 --> 00:36:34.999
Since the nature takes on the new
colors and new truths in the spring,
00:36:35.000 --> 00:36:39.999
so this is the manner of spring
welcoming the people. Beautiful.
00:36:40.000 --> 00:36:48.000
[music]
00:37:25.000 --> 00:37:29.999
I’m not surprised to hear
most of the world’s food
00:37:30.000 --> 00:37:34.999
comes from small plots like these.
They remind me of
00:37:35.000 --> 00:37:40.000
the bounty of our family garden.
00:37:50.000 --> 00:37:54.999
Satheesh tells me that by
using organic fertilizer
00:37:55.000 --> 00:38:00.000
rather than chemicals, these farmers
have increased their yields by over 50%.
00:38:10.000 --> 00:38:14.999
[music]
00:38:15.000 --> 00:38:19.999
I met a farmer last week
00:38:20.000 --> 00:38:24.999
and this farmer cannot read and
write, he has never gone to school,
00:38:25.000 --> 00:38:29.999
he is a 65 plus year old person.
And he says that
00:38:30.000 --> 00:38:34.999
on his farm of 1.2 acres, he grows
00:38:35.000 --> 00:38:39.999
20 quintals of Finger millet.
And that’s 2000 Kilos of grain.
00:38:40.000 --> 00:38:44.999
From the time he started farming, he has never
gone to the market to buy a single grain of food
00:38:45.000 --> 00:38:49.999
to feed his family. And
this guy doesn’t use
00:38:50.000 --> 00:38:54.999
an Ounce of chemical on his farm,
no pesticides, nothing of this art
00:38:55.000 --> 00:38:59.999
plus many people in the village
in times of their need,
00:39:00.000 --> 00:39:04.999
they have borrowed grains from him.
So he has not only fed his family,
00:39:05.000 --> 00:39:09.999
but he has also fed his village. So
it’s this special knowledge of farmers
00:39:10.000 --> 00:39:14.999
which they use to understand the quality
of the soils, what is possible for that
00:39:15.000 --> 00:39:19.999
and so work with it, not against
it, not demand something
00:39:20.000 --> 00:39:24.999
that the soil cannot do.
00:39:25.000 --> 00:39:29.999
Even though the soil looks dry,
00:39:30.000 --> 00:39:34.999
there’s an amazing variety of plants.
I’m excited to taste the greens,
00:39:35.000 --> 00:39:39.999
Narsamma is collecting for our meal.
Satheesh, what do you say about
00:39:40.000 --> 00:39:44.999
the big biotech companies that
people like these farmers
00:39:45.000 --> 00:39:49.999
need genetically modified foods
in order to feed themselves?
00:39:50.000 --> 00:39:54.999
Yeah, I think
00:39:55.000 --> 00:39:59.999
umm… the way you put it feed themselves.
Who? Is the question,
00:40:00.000 --> 00:40:04.999
whether the biotech companies want to feed themselves
or to feed the people? If you’re saying that
00:40:05.000 --> 00:40:09.999
to feed the people are to, are to build
peoples health, they need GM foods.
00:40:10.000 --> 00:40:14.999
I think it’s one of the biggest
mythology being developed in our times.
00:40:15.000 --> 00:40:19.999
Just… just look at the foods. I’m…
I described each of these food
00:40:20.000 --> 00:40:24.999
comes from our fields and
with no biotechnology in it.
00:40:25.000 --> 00:40:29.999
And umm… you know, like… like this,
the little seed of a wild berry
00:40:30.000 --> 00:40:34.999
has plenty of oil in it, essential oil.
00:40:35.000 --> 00:40:39.999
And the foxtail millet which I’m using
today to cook, the foxtail millet
00:40:40.000 --> 00:40:44.999
has calcium and iron plenty in it.
00:40:45.000 --> 00:40:49.999
And this… and this… and this,
all of them grow by themselves.
00:40:50.000 --> 00:40:54.999
We have not planted the seeds of these
greens so that we get, except for this
00:40:55.000 --> 00:40:59.999
all the rest are uncultivated.
And all these
00:41:00.000 --> 00:41:04.999
uh… greens which the biotech industry
considers as wheat is used by us
00:41:05.000 --> 00:41:09.999
as greens and they give
us plenty of vitamin A
00:41:10.000 --> 00:41:14.999
and other kinds of energy that we need.
Our food, health, and hope
00:41:15.000 --> 00:41:19.999
doesn’t come from the biotech industry. It
comes from ourselves. And the knowledge
00:41:20.000 --> 00:41:24.999
that farmers like her have about
their foods and their agriculture.
00:41:25.000 --> 00:41:29.999
Their agriculture is so sophisticated that I
think our biotech industries can never even
00:41:30.000 --> 00:41:34.999
start understanding and appreciating
this depth and level of knowledge.
00:41:35.000 --> 00:41:39.999
And so why don’t we go now, we has talked
sufficient, why don’t we start the cooking itself?
00:41:40.000 --> 00:41:44.999
Sounds like a good idea. Yeah, okay. Right.
00:41:45.000 --> 00:41:49.999
I’ve heard Satheesh as a great cook.
00:41:50.000 --> 00:41:54.999
I add some chickpeas. This looks good.
00:41:55.000 --> 00:41:59.999
Colorful, isn’t it? Colorful. Red,
there’s yellow, there’s green.
00:42:00.000 --> 00:42:04.999
I can see the… the little chili
peppers looking in the… which means…
00:42:05.000 --> 00:42:09.999
Which will have frightened the light
out of you or…? No… no, I’m getting,
00:42:10.000 --> 00:42:14.999
I’m, I have a spicy palette. I don’t know why,
that (inaudible) but. Very nice. No, I like it.
00:42:15.000 --> 00:42:19.999
Satheesh, this looks really good.
00:42:20.000 --> 00:42:24.999
Everything is fresh, everything
local, everything is available
00:42:25.000 --> 00:42:29.999
within a few yards of each other. I
think that’s the philosophy which
00:42:30.000 --> 00:42:34.999
umm… brings together a whole
sense of security for people,
00:42:35.000 --> 00:42:39.999
including food security. And the second
thing which is very important is
00:42:40.000 --> 00:42:44.999
the way they look at food. It’s not just for
the humans that they’re growing the food for,
00:42:45.000 --> 00:42:49.999
they’re growing the food so that the hot soil
can be healthy, they’re growing the food
00:42:50.000 --> 00:42:54.999
so that by eating the fodder
their… their cattle can be healthy
00:42:55.000 --> 00:42:59.999
and eating the food, they
all also feel healthy.
00:43:00.000 --> 00:43:08.000
[music]
00:43:40.000 --> 00:43:44.999
I’m sad to leave. I’ve
really enjoyed the food,
00:43:45.000 --> 00:43:49.999
eating with my hands.
00:43:50.000 --> 00:43:54.999
I can’t remember ever feeling better.
00:43:55.000 --> 00:44:03.000
[sil.]
00:44:05.000 --> 00:44:09.999
The reddish soil, scrub brush,
00:44:10.000 --> 00:44:14.999
the countryside is surprisingly beautiful.
00:44:15.000 --> 00:44:19.999
I’ve made friends who’ve
been rich in my world.
00:44:20.000 --> 00:44:24.999
I think the people I’ve
met know what they need
00:44:25.000 --> 00:44:29.999
better than the biotech companies. And
their food is way more delicious.
00:44:30.000 --> 00:44:34.999
I’m returning home.
00:44:35.000 --> 00:44:40.000
[music]
00:44:45.000 --> 00:44:49.999
My journey has taken me
00:44:50.000 --> 00:44:54.999
halfway around the world and back.
And what I’ve learnt has changed me.
00:44:55.000 --> 00:45:03.000
[music]
00:45:05.000 --> 00:45:09.999
We’ve become 100% organic
in the restaurant now.
00:45:10.000 --> 00:45:14.999
[music]
00:45:15.000 --> 00:45:19.999
I’m telling people, why it’s important
to support organic farming?
00:45:20.000 --> 00:45:24.999
[music]
00:45:25.000 --> 00:45:29.999
It’s up to all of us to keep
our food choices alive.
00:45:30.000 --> 00:45:38.000
[music]
00:45:45.000 --> 00:45:49.999
I’m planning to become part
of an organic learning center
00:45:50.000 --> 00:45:54.999
where young chefs can see how food
is grown to share what I’ve learned.
00:45:55.000 --> 00:45:59.999
[music]
00:46:00.000 --> 00:46:05.000
What a journey it’s been.
Distributor: Bullfrog Films
Length: 48 minutes
Date: 2002
Genre: Expository
Language: English
Grade: 7-12, College, Adult
Color/BW:
Closed Captioning: Available
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