Seeds of Death/ Seeds of Freedom

Every single independent study conducted on the impact of genetically modified food shows that it damages organs, it causes infertility, it causes immune system failure, it causes holes in the GI tract, and it causes multiple organ system failure. The whole concept of genetically modified organisms is throwing a monkey wrench in the life on this planet.

The reason why they have 170 million acres of genetically engineered corn, soybeans, cotton, canola oil and sugar beets in the United States is because it doesn't have to be labeled. The first genetically modified animal, the salmon, may soon be approved for human consumption and there has not been sufficient animal health testing, human health testing, or environmental impact testing of these new transgenic fish.

Basically, they take agriculture and build an industrial model which doesn't fit nature. So instead of changing our agricultural model to accommodate what is natural, they're changing nature to accommodate the industrial model. If you have an organic corn crop that sits next to a genetically engineered corn field and it happens to tassel at the same time and happens to be downwind, you're going to get your crop contaminated. If the rest of the food supply is contaminated, then the genie's out of the bottle and it's maybe physically impossible to turn the situation around. In the genetic engineering revolution, these seeds are now patented property of one corporation, called Monsanto.

We are heading downhill at a rapid rate of speed toward our own extinction. The use of GM in agriculture is a risk that is simply not worth taking. Any scientist that looks into the research or the lack of research, on the safety of genetically engineered food comes to the conclusion that these foods should not be on the market. They need another decade or two of research.

Monsanto is the company that told us that PCBs were safe. They were convicted of actually poisoning people in their town next to the PCB factory, and fined $700 million. They told us that Agent Orange was safe. They told us that DDT was safe, and now they're in charge of telling us if their own genetically modified foods are safe because the FDA doesn't require a single safety study. They leave it to Monsanto.

Monsanto's job is to make money for the investor. Unfortunately, that becomes the highest priority thought in their minds. Make money, make money, make money. They're not actually making products to make health, they're making money, so they tend to overlook the health consequences. That is a ridiculous approach to the problem.

There should be some responsibility being assumed by the producer, that when they're producing food, they have a really good assurance that it's a good quality product. That should be the highest priority thing. Then if they can make money with that, fine and dandy. Unfortunately, it's usually the other way around. People in this sort of business are looking for opportunities to make money first priority, and then in this case maybe letting somebody else worry about the health consequences. Maybe even the public. We have it upside down.

Seeds of Freedom charts the story of seed from its roots at the heart of traditional, diversity rich farming systems across the world, to being transformed into a powerful commodity, used to monopolise the global food system. The film highlights the extent to which the industrial agricultural system, and genetically modified (GM) seeds in particular, has impacted on the enormous agro-biodiversity evolved by farmers and communities around the world, since the beginning of agriculture.

Seeds of Freedom seeks to challenge the mantra that large-scale, industrial agriculture is the only means by which we can feed the world, promoted by the pro-GM lobby. In tracking the story of seed it becomes clear how corporate agenda has driven the take over of seed in order to make vast profit and control of the food global system. The documentary was produced by The Gaia Foundation and the African Biodiversity Network, in collaboration with MELCA Ethiopia, Navdanya International and GRAIN.

Text: Top Documentary Films

By North Utsire