OUR FOOD SUPPLY – IN WHOSE HANDS?

For thousands of years of human agriculture, the intrinsic nature of a seed – the capacity to reproduce itself – prevented it from being easily commodified. Grown and resown by farmers, seeds were freely exchanged and shared.

All that changed in the 1990s when laws were introduced to protect new bioengineered crops. Today, 4 corporations – Bayer (formerly Monsanto), Corteva (formerly DuPont), Syngenta (part of ChemChina), and Limagrain – control more than 50% of the world’s seeds. These staggering monopolies dominate the global food supply (Source: dw.com).

It might seem like a strange concept for people to “own” seeds. In the wild, plants produce seeds, which are dispersed (spread) in many different ways, such as by animals, or on the wind. No one thinks about owning these seeds, they simply allow the plants to carry on! (Better Planet Education)

In truth, today plants are being regulated and tradition outlawed, says the 2021 dw.com article. Major producers of genetically modified and bioengineered seeds, like Bayer and Corteva, strictly limit how farmers can use the varieties they sell, Usually, buyers must sign agreements that prohibit them from saving seeds from their crops to exchange or resow the following year.

As a result, not only are the channels through which seeds can be exchanged and distributed narrowing, seeds themselves are becoming less diverse. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, 75% of the world’s crop varieties disappeared between 1900 and 2000.

The implications go far beyond food. “Seed is the source of life and the first link in the food chain. Control over seed means control over our lives, our food and our freedom,” says world-renowned environmental thinker, activist, and philosopher of science Vandana Shiva.