Biodiversity

This is an issue I was involved with politically for a while in the early 90s but the truth is I never saw the real dangers. Now I think I can based on the movie Future of Food. Does biodoversity matter? OK, there is the obvious example – potato blight in 19th century Ireland where sadly a million died. This is associated with what I used to call “cash crops”. Basically the colonial power, in the Irish case – the UK, forced the farmers to grow a particular variety of potato – not sure why, then disease hit the potato and because it was a monoculture those people died. A similar blight hit Bolivia but their biodiversity meant there was not the death. Ireland’s potato blight was a colonial crime so whenever any UK citizen asks about the IRA and bombs, the potato blight is a sufficient answer – despite there being many more reasons. And cash-cropping is not limited to Ireland. Desertification in Africa is a serious problem around the edges of the expanding Sahara, and this is simply caused by non-indigenous cash-cropping. Now in Africa it is hard to tell that the indigenous staple food is millet, and that throughout the people eat corn or maize products claiming them as their own. What dangers does this non-indigenous cropping hold for the future? Cash-cropping has already reduced the variety of crops, and now Monsanto is stepping in buying all the seed varieties stockpiling them and forcing the farmers to plant their GM seeds (using Roundup fertiliser) which is producing disease-forming food. Not only is there less variety of foods but the foods there are are dangerous to our health – based on a business strategy of one company supported by their revolving political door. Nature has created a variety of foods for a purpose. For me this statement is sufficient as it is for those close to the land – sadly I am not close to the land. But let me try and explain. My recent health recovery was based on eating plant-based foods that I cooked naturally – not processed with additives and preservatives. Natural food produces good health. Now I have no faith in BigPharma for whom profit is the motivation, but where do they search for healing? In nature. As there is no profit in Nature because BigPharma cannot patent Nature, they then try to synthesise the pharmaceuticals in the lab. Once synthesised these drugs are marketed producing the afore-mentioned profits. If we knew we could find the cures in Nature, heal ourselves – keeping the expense of BigPharma out of the loop, surely that is safer and better. This is why when I watch Forbidden Cures, about the suppression of the claims for cancer-healing, even though I am not professionally-trained to know myself I do believe that Nature can provide the healing. This is why it is up to government to research these Forbidden Cures, but of course they won’t because they are 1% puppets and the revolving door of BigFood and BigPharma controls them. In terms of healing what are we losing as the different varieties of foods are consigned to history? Firsly with cash crops and then with the Monsanto appropriation of seeds we are losing Nature’s biodiversity – with what consequences? Here is Vandana Shiva discussing the importance of biodiversity in India:- Whilst she moves on from biodiversity to other matters this 15-minute interview encapsulates the problems of Monsanto, biodiversity and 1% politics. It is interesting she calls her university, the grandmothers’ university, the home of traditional knowledge. Here is an edited clip where Vandana explains the Monsanto strategy for seeds, and then she explains the 1% strategy of forcing farmers to use their seeds ostensibly because products from their seeds are cheaper. And yet the only reason that the products are cheaper is because of the high level of subsidisation:- And the clip was taken from this TV show.

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