Boycott Monsanto control of seeds - support native seeds
- added July 5, 2008
- 15 responses
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- TouchArt
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The mission of Native Seeds/SEARCH is to conserve, distribute, and document the adapted and diverse varieties of agricultural seeds, their wild relatives and the role these seeds play in cultures of the American Southwest and Northwest Mexico.
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History
Southwestern Native American farmers produced a great variety of food despite the region's marginal growing conditions. After centuries of environmental destruction, cultural change, and land transfers, these farming systems have survived -- but just barely. As late as 1925, the Tohono O'odham people cultivated 10,000 acres in Southern Arizona with traditional floodwater methods. Today, only a few scattered plots remain. For one tribe living near the Grand Canyon, the process has reached its logical and devastating conclusion; all crop varieties have been lost.
NS/S was founded in 1983 as a result of requests from Native Americans on the Tohono O'odham reservation near Tucson who wished to grow traditional crops but could not locate seeds. Since then, we have become a major regional seed bank and a leader in the heirloom seed movement. Our seed bank is a unique resource for both traditional and modern agriculture. It includes 1800 collections, many of them rare or endangered; more than 90% of these crop varieties are not being systematically preserved elsewhere. Beside the expected drought tolerance of desert plants, many of these crops are resistant to rusts, insects, chemicals, and other stresses. They provide an irreplaceable "genetic library" to draw upon to ensure sustainable, environmentally safe agriculture in the future.
We now have almost 4,600 members and a catalog mailing list of over 20,000 families. Membership is open to everyone, with minimum annual dues of $25, Native Americans living in the greater Southwest may join free and receive seeds at no charge. Go to our Membership Page for more information.
Go to www.nativeseeds.org to learn more about this organization that works to save our seeds.
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From TouchArt.net and OneEarthBlog.blogspot.com
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History
Southwestern Native American farmers produced a great variety of food despite the region's marginal growing conditions. After centuries of environmental destruction, cultural change, and land transfers, these farming systems have survived -- but just barely. As late as 1925, the Tohono O'odham people cultivated 10,000 acres in Southern Arizona with traditional floodwater methods. Today, only a few scattered plots remain. For one tribe living near the Grand Canyon, the process has reached its logical and devastating conclusion; all crop varieties have been lost.
NS/S was founded in 1983 as a result of requests from Native Americans on the Tohono O'odham reservation near Tucson who wished to grow traditional crops but could not locate seeds. Since then, we have become a major regional seed bank and a leader in the heirloom seed movement. Our seed bank is a unique resource for both traditional and modern agriculture. It includes 1800 collections, many of them rare or endangered; more than 90% of these crop varieties are not being systematically preserved elsewhere. Beside the expected drought tolerance of desert plants, many of these crops are resistant to rusts, insects, chemicals, and other stresses. They provide an irreplaceable "genetic library" to draw upon to ensure sustainable, environmentally safe agriculture in the future.
We now have almost 4,600 members and a catalog mailing list of over 20,000 families. Membership is open to everyone, with minimum annual dues of $25, Native Americans living in the greater Southwest may join free and receive seeds at no charge. Go to our Membership Page for more information.
Go to www.nativeseeds.org to learn more about this organization that works to save our seeds.
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From TouchArt.net and OneEarthBlog.blogspot.com
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Rock on! Boycotting is never utilized enough these days, people forget how important their dollar really is.
As for the seeds, if nature has taught us anything it should be that evolution favors diversity about all else. Our modern industrial farming methods with their mad dash for homogeneous "easy to manage" plants is going to a huge disaster sooner than we think....
Monsanto has been quoted saying things like Oh don't worry about superbugs and herbicide resistance, we have enough technology in the warehouse to keep this going for 20 years!
20 years huh? let's see, I'll be 46, and then what, I'm supposed to eat salinated nutrient-less dirt? Cause that's all that will be left.... -
Resist corporate control of produce and seeds.
Plant a Victory Garden with seeds from seed conservancies.
Eat fresh, toxin-free produce you grow yourself and
cut the corporate health providers and pharmaceutical companies profits because you'll be healthier and won't need them. -
Great alternative to the evil ones. Thanks for posting this TouchArt. Hopefully Monsanto won't find out about this and look to sue them too.
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Thanks so much for posting this site and group. We definitely need to boycott Monsanto's program to control life by controlling food.
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Very welcome. Hope it will inspire people to resist and realize our seeds are everyone's heritage and necessary for life.
Check out this website from Seeds of Change based in New Mexico. -
Isn't it true that the conservancy seeds have been proven by controlled experiments to greatly outweigh the quality and gene strength of the hybrids..? So this is a nobrainer...
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Thanks for posting this TouchArt. Heirloom seeds are an essential component of sustainable culture. More people will learn the truth of this for themselves as they begin growing more of their own food over the coming years. Gary Nabhan has long been far-seeing; a true elder.
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Read about the Hopi and Zuni traditional farmers and indigenous seed.
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Photo of Santa Clara Pueblo Potter and Activist Marion Naranjo by her horno built by H.O.P.E - Honor our Pueblo Existence.
The Santa Clara Pueblo also does traditional sustinence farming like the other Northern Pueblos and the Southern Pueblos that include the Zuni and Hopi. -
I honestly believe if we want to see a sustainable model of a society with a rich history, the Pueblo cultures are it.
From what I understand they are the descendants of the Anasazi, who tried building a huge empire and it collapsed before they even reached their peak (Chaco Canyon was never fully inhabited).
Ecological disaster seems to be the culprit from the most recent studies, and the people who left this failed empire took themselves and built the lifestyle we see in the southwest today (or at least what of their culture our culture hasn't tried to destroy).
It works for them, and I think they have valuable lessons to teach us. Things like time is cyclical, and an animist world-view... -
I really want to grow my own stuff too. MMmmm own stuff.
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- CarlosIsDown
- 3 months ago
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The Pueblos used the solar heat gain concept long before most people even knew what it was... the Chaco Canyon is an example of letting the sun shine in during the winter months and shaded overhead during the summer...brilliant, but what is the ecological mystery of why they left that location..? Was it due to food supply or water shortage or perhaps fertility of the soil..? Was it partly due to the buffalo being slaughtered..?
Great info on this site...I believe that the natural order of things is driving us more and more toward sustainable living, now, if we can only get our government to support such positive, progressive and productive concepts..."the train is coming around the bend..." "The answer is riding on the wind..."-
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- PlatoTacius
- 3 months ago
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my family has always had a little garden in the backyard of the many houses we've lived in. i definitely support local farmers. ever since i was little i can remember i've always gone to farmers markets and little produce stands on the side of the road. great stuff.
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BOYCOTT MONSANTO AT ALL COSTS-OR IT WILL COST US ALL!
Monsanto is one of the biggest scum-sucking corporate parasites ingratiating its way further into everyone’s daily life whether you are aware of it or not. Their logo should be their soulless CEO with horns, a pointy tail & carrying a pitchfork on order to prod you into becoming a consumer of their products.
If you haven’t seen the documentary “The Future of Food” (or even "The Corporation") yet, I strongly urge you to do so. If I didn’t know that their goal of global food manipulation, distribution & what seems ultimately, complete control is perfectly legal, I would have thought this excellent science fiction. This is one badass company so powerful that they have Washington D.C. in their pocket.
As they go global with this strategy, they are truly one of the most dangerous cos. in the world as they attempt to monopolize the very essence of survival-SEEDS TO GROW FOOD. Do not underestimate or do business with this company-you will only empower them to overpower us. Everyone can do his or her bit by being a smart consumer armed with the foresight that an evil empire can be built right in our back yard-at our expense in more ways than one.-
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- darkhorsejim
- 3 months ago
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why is it new mexico is so windy????
because arizona blows and texas SO freakn MAJORLY sucks ass.
...and Monsanto has offices and property in Texas =P lol
=D
hehehehe
(But seriously, we should tell Texas to fuck off and get their own g'dam water too, the fuckn bassturdz!!! I hate that fuckn state!!!! Oh...except for the Cowgirl Cheerleaders that is =P hehe)
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