I recently came across a wonderful initiative by @hendrix22 and @lyndsaybowes to collect and share positive stories from around the world using the tag #thegoodnews. I thought this was a brilliant idea, and so here I am contributing some optimism through this post about a seed festival I attended this year.
Genetically modified crops are currently not allowed to be grown legally on a commercial level in India, with the exception of GM cotton. Earlier this year the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee of India recommended the adoption of GM mustard setting it up to be the first GM food crop to be grown on a large scale. This decision however was met with massive protests by farmers, activists and politicians who feared its introduction would have adverse affects on biodiversity of local mustard varieties and food safety. Not all these protests were of the light the torch and brandish the pitchfork type though. One such event was a seed festival conducted in Chennai that had farmers from different states of India showcase their traditional varieties of seeds as a celebration of diversity and local knowledge.
The seed festival happened in June this year at Anna University in Chennai. I happened to be in town at the time and as it was a rare opportunity, I decided to go for it to be inspired by farmers from across India.
The main exhibition of the event was in a large hall with farmers showcasing their seeds on tables. There were several types of seeds including vegetables, millets, paddy and rice with hundreds of varieties of each. The tables were arrayed with seeds of every shape,size and colour and was it quite a sight to see the rich biodiversity that farmers had painstakingly conserved, sometimes across generations.
Different varieties of beans.
Different varieties of rice.
Different varieties of millets.
In addition to the seed exhibition, there were techniques regarding water purification, cotton spinning and pottery that were on display to showcase traditional knowledge and methodology as an alternative to mainstream counterparts.
Spinning cotton using a locally made and hand operated machine.
There were also handicrafts, workshops for children and brochures with information on sustainable farming practices.
Jewellery made from seeds for sale at the festival.
Brochures on sustainable farming practices.
Participants could also purchase an organic vegan lunch made from some of the millets, rice and vegetables on display using traditional Indian recipes. It was simple homely food that was absolutely delicious, with textures and flavours that were worlds apart from the kind of food available in supermarkets or commercial restaurants.
A plate of wholesome goodness made from different millets, herb rice and legumes.
Perhaps the most interesting aspects of the festival were the people behind it, who came from environments and cultures as diverse as the seeds they brought with them. They interacted with the public through the day, re-telling their stories with such joy and hope without getting tired or agitated. Even though my interactions with these people were short, it was wonderful to hear all their stories which had the common theme of overcoming struggle and rising up through community. One of the stories that stuck with me was of a farmer from West Bengal who told me that last year his village had around a hundred farmers saving seeds and using traditional farming methods. Seeing the devastation chemical farming did to friends and relatives, they started campaigns through plays and musical performances to bring awareness to possible solutions and communal resilience. This year, his village has over six hundred farmers who have joined their community of seed savers and organic farmers. They have seed banks, and loans for newcomers who are just starting out along with a local people's court for settling disputes. He says that the village is learning to be self dependent and that farmers are prospering from better yields and income.
What struck me the most about this festival was that they didn't focus on the negative aspects of GMOs. Instead, they focused on the positives of the traditional systems, showing how they solve problems the introduction of GMOs claimed they would fix. They staged a protest in the form of a celebration rather than resort to bad-mouthing, threats or violence. Even in the case of the Bengali farmer, their message was spread through peace. They connected with people through theatre and music and convinced people to join their cause by setting examples. By showing people how productive organic farming could be, they were more inclined to adopt it rather than if they were simply told to change their ways. The atmosphere at the festival was that of cheer, hope and optimism and it was contagious!
The festival also made the public aware of the rich biodiversity that exists, and how tragic their loss would be. Perhaps people were encouraged to write to their local politicians supporting their local farmers. As of today, GM mustard is still restricted to small scale trials with the decision to use it commercially frozen by regulatory bodies. In addition to this, Monsanto was recently fined upwards of 200,000 US dollars by anti-trust regulatory bodies when they delayed responses to an investigation conducted on whether they were abusing their power as the largest producer of GM cotton seeds and pesticides in India. This is a huge victory for local farmers who are finally getting their voices heard.
Attending this festival instilled me with so much joy and optimism which I'm passing on through this post. Hope it brought a smile to your face too!
An advertisement for the festival.
A newspaper article about the festival by the Times of India.
A brief video summary of the festival by the Times of India.
WOW! I wish we had something like this event near me. I see people posting all the time about seed banks, etc and I get so jealous!
I've heard the seed regulations in the US are quite ridiculous, but I'm sure you could connect with other members of homesteadersonline to do seed swaps or maybe even start a steemit community seed bank from extra seed people may have. You're already doing an excellent job recruiting new homesteaders and I'm sure with a little networking, we can have our own little seed saving and exchanging community. I'd send you seeds if it weren't for the customs laws. I wanted to get everything I saw here, but they weren't all for sale. I did manage to get some amaranth and legume seeds though.
Wow! What an event! Just look at the seed diversity:):) I like how they handled a possible GMO backlash with positiveness <3
Yep, it was really beautiful. Not just the attitude of the farmers, but also that they were sort of reclaiming their space from multinational corporations just by having confidence in their local knowledge and communities.
WOW!! What an incredible post, a TOP job you did!!! Mmmm I'm just drooling over that plate of food, and so inspired by this seed festival. Solutions are everywhere!!!
Thank you! Haha, yeah the food was definitely a highlight, and fairly affordable too at just under 2 USD. Solutions and optimism are indeed everywhere, which is why this tag was such a great idea! I think it's gonna brighten up a lot of peoples days.
Absolutely incredible post. This is such good news. I love this story so much. I now want to move to India. The amount of seeds they have been saving is amazing. So many farmers getting involved to keep Monsanto's GMO's out of the country is beautiful.
What a great story my friend thank you for sharing this #thegoodnews story with us. I look forward to reading more good news from you in the future.
You did not get a new follower you EARNED one :)
Thank you. I'm happy to share and glad you liked the story. India is a sort of a roller coaster ride of ups and downs though. It's not all positive, haha. There's also so much diversity that even after being here all my life, I still feel like a tourist in different states. Unfortunately lately, India has been trying to emulate the west as that's what is perceived as success. The good news is that more people are feeling this sort of return to their roots, to simpler times and ancestral knowledge.
I'd also like to thank you for creating the tag in the first place. It brings people together, makes people feel good and also helps relatively new users like me get some exposure. It's a wonderful initiative. I'll try to do at least one post a week to spread those good vibes.
Thanks for the follow. I'm currently waiting out the monsoon and holiday season so I have the time to put in that extra effort into my posts. Hopefully I'll still be able to get out quality posts even after working full time.
That's awesome! I've had the pleasure of being apart of and co-hosting similar events to this. Always full of positive energy and lots of valuable knowledge exchanged along with seeds and other goods.
Thanks for the good news!
@originalworks
The @OriginalWorks bot has determined this post by @soulturtle to be original material and upvoted it!
To call @OriginalWorks, simply reply to any post with @originalworks or !originalworks in your message!
That's really nice! I didn't get all that much time to interact with the farmers as there were a lot of people who turned up. I'm sure being a host for something like this would've been a great experience and you would've really connected to the people. Your comment is good news in itself!