Seeds of Freedom

2012, Health  -   29 Comments
5.49
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Ratings: 5.49/10 from 73 users.

Seeds of FreedomSeeds 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.

Produced by The Gaia Foundation and the African Biodiversity Network, in collaboration with MELCA Ethiopia, Navdanya International and GRAIN.

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29 Comments / User Reviews

  1. Charles Hoag

    How, Briony, can GM corn stop the 'fungi-infected corn mono cropping'? Please elaborate.

  2. Helen

    Seeds are everything, everything! Protect them.

  3. Kim Lee-Yuk

    No company should privatize or patent "seeds". It's like monopolizing the air we breathe. This is very dangerous.

  4. Mike Mathwig

    If monsanto was not classed as a person by law,
    this would, nor could, ever happen.
    Imagine,......a person......no physical body.......
    no indwelling spirit.......lobbying goverments world wide....
    growing in power.......global.........no emotion
    to me it is a script for an evil movie.
    Only, it is not a movie.

  5. mikeysbro

    intresting if one was at war with another(ie those of eugenic persuasion over others) what would be the best way to destroy them? fight, go around, why just seize the food and water and watch nature take its toll no fight no nothing easy ...

  6. Paul Rohe

    @Briony Young. Did you actually watch this documentary and the associated dangers of mono-crops & GMO`s, you`re full of bovine scatology mate ! Plus not one INDEPENDENT study of GMO`s, NOT ONE, has ever shown GMO`s to be safe, in fact just the opposite. Go do some research from independent sources. Biological polution is the most dangerous thing humanity has ever faced ...

  7. Briony Young

    Ha!

    You had me at "traditional, diversity rich farming systems" and the "enormous agro-biodiversity" that farmers have... "evolved"

    Its time to stop vilifying today's biotechnology movements and admit we've been f--king up for centuries.. what these films never address is the extent to which these products can benefit society and help alleviate the strain traditional agriculture has placed on our society.

    Bet you didn't know that using GM corn in central america could reverse the growing rate of neural tube birth defects due to fungi-infected corn mono cropping (put in place under "traditional" agriculture).. but its worth numbing the illogical fear of the western world.. whats the NTD rate in your country? probably not 1 in 1000.

    Perhaps take some time to explore what provoked these products to be investigated in the first place?

    1. frederickson_42

      GM products were provoked by the potential for immense profit. You are demonstrating extreme naivete to believe otherwise. Biotech corporations are not evil, but they are not humanitarian either. All corporate decisions are driven by profit and denial of that simple truism is futile.

      However, I agree that neural tube defects are indeed a problem in many developing countries. A problem that could be resolved with pennies worth of folic acid supplementation, not forfeiture of the control of the entire agricultural process in these countries.

  8. Weneedtowakeup

    Thank you for posting this amazing documentary, I just wish that people would wake up to their surroundings and start questioning the world beyond their loungeroom. Our generation needs to watch documantary's such as this, instead of t.v show's about the "kardashians", the real illusion in our lives is that a lot of privlegded people in this world aren't even aware that they are living in one.

  9. Kendyl Taylor Van Dÿck

    I cried watching this.

    How greedy and power-hungry have we become that we force our grimy corporate controlling hands onto the life of a seed to patent it!? How does that even cross anyone's mind-- to own rights to a SEED!? Not only that, but strip away the rights of farmers to "save" their own seed, seeds they've been growing their whole lives that feed their families!! And to top it all off, claim your despicable actions are in the name of solving world hunger. F*ck you, GMO. At least flaunt your evil for what it is.

    God, help me not be overcome by the anger of ignorance and injustice, but be inspired to act in love and passion and effectiveness to infect change before we all f--king kill ourselves.

    Wonderful film. Thank you. This needs to be brought to the public eye. This is something I never even fathomed..

  10. Kristopher Marriner

    Its ignorant to say that because of an increase in food production that means less people will starve, you need to look at the amount of food that is wasted. If you look at the Net figures not the Gross then you will realise we are producing more food than ever, wasting more food than ever and letting more people starve than ever!

  11. richard wilmot

    How does the Bilderberg group plan to reduce the population through starvation and restart the Nazi eugenics project to rebuild the master race: controlling the seed.

  12. richard wilmot

    How much does Monsanto Suck?

  13. Jesus

    this film is mind-blowing ,thats why i love watching documentarys .this tipe of films oppen up my mind and helps me realize what is going on around the world.. knowlige is power ..

  14. Danny Young

    wow good work this is the type of film we must get out to main stream media.....

  15. David Foster

    "We are pushing past 7 billion....that is not that many people really, this planet can take alot more than that."

    BWAHAHAHAHAHA!! This *logic* overlooks the human capacity to do damage!

    Maybe you're one of those folks who believes a city skyline is a beautiful thing. I, however, see it as a festering boil; sucking the very life out of the planet, itself. Tell me.. Does it take MORE or LESS than seven billion bacteria before one can legitimately call something a disease?

    1. David Foster

      On the other hand, I doubt that staphylococcus would consider itself as a pathogen. Nor would your typical human. But therein lies the proof that maybe YOU are not as intelligent as you think!

    2. Jason Horton

      City skylines are beautiful. Pro humans ftw.

    3. pulunco

      David, guess what? If you live in house or apartment you are part of that festering skyline. What are you going to do about it? Unless you live in a cave or hut and don't enjoy any modern comforts then you can just keep your self righteousness to yourself.

    4. David Foster

      ..."keep your self righteousness to yourself."

      No thanks. I'd rather spread it around.

    5. pulunco

      Kind of like cancer..... or syphilis.

    6. David Foster

      Exactly!

  16. Jeramiah DeSousa

    @PeSo821, you sound like one of them....you believe the earth is overpopulated? this proves you are not as intellegent as you think you are. We are pushing past 7 billion....that is not that many people really, this planet can take alot more than that...and also "who do you work for?"lol

  17. Daniel Brown

    great to see so many industries and demographics awakening from the shadow thats been cast over us for privatized monetary gain for so long.

  18. PeSO821

    This is very one-sided documentary.
    yes, biodiversity is going down, yes, corporations are controlling lives of farmers.
    but:
    food production is up enormously! and why is that important? just for profits? hm.. well, much more importantly because of overpopulation!

    Reason why our planet had much smaller populations before modern farming - is not because we had less children - but because we had less food to feed them. Today's population can not be sustained without chemical fertilizers! That is a fact.

    The real issue here is birth control! - only than we can even start thinking about going back to natural farming.

    1. Ike N

      Modern agriculture also involves aspects such as crop rotation, intensive management grazing and crop diversity.
      The monoculture crop system is based on the over-reliance of inorganic fertilizers and pesticides. GMO producing companies need to design seed that will expire within a growing cycle/year if the corporation demands that type of copyright instead of the bullying of independent farmers who do not want to subscribe to these products. Weed tolerance to Roundup Ready is increasing. Unfortunately the overuse of this effective herbicide which results in new lethal chemical control that will likely further damage biodiversity of that particular ecosystem.

  19. drinker69

    Monsanto.

  20. David Foster

    On the day the wall came down
    They threw the locks onto the ground
    And with glasses high we raised a cry, for freedom had arrived
    And on the day the wall came down
    This ship of fools had finally run aground
    Promises lit up the night like paler doves in flight

    I dreamed you had left my side
    No warmth, not even pride remained
    And even though you needed me
    It was clear that I could not do a thing for you

    Now life devalues day by day
    As friends and neighbors turn away
    And there's a change that, even with regret, cannot be undone
    Now frontiers drift like desert sands
    While nations wash their bloodied hands
    Of loyalty, of history, in shades of grey

    I woke to the sound of drums
    The music played, the morning sun streamed in
    I turned and I looked at you
    And all but the bitter residue slipped away...slipped away

    1. ManoSeco

      In high hopes we remain, waiting for that Great Day of Freedom...

      Cheers!