Earth Democracy Conference & Seed Freedom Workshops at Sun Valley Wellness Festival

Vandana Shiva: Earth Democracy – 27 May 2017

Keynoting on Saturday, May 27, 7 to 8:30pm, at the Sun Valley Wellness Festival, author, activist, scientific advisor and self-described “ecologist and nature lover,” Dr. Vandana Shiva addressed Earth Democracy: Cultivating Wellness, Cultivating Freedom at the Sun Valley Opera House. Rocky Mountain Seed Alliance (RMSA) is proud to partner with the Wellness Festival in support of Dr. Shiva’s appearance. RMSA is following her vision by empowering a legion (200 and growing) of Mountain West “Seed Stewards,” similar to the thousands of “Seed Guardians” Dr. Shiva has inspired in India. Source | Local Food Alliance

Panel Discussion, “What Do Seeds Have To Do With It?” – 28 May 2017

What about the seeds? Where do they come from and why is it important to have local, well adapted, deliciously procured seed stock to hold up our burgeoning local food systems? This panel addressed the barriers to entry to creating local seed economies and offer steps taken by seed stewards everywhere to change the current paradigm. Moderator – Ali Long Featuring: Bill McDorman – ED: Rocky Mountain Seed Alliance Casey O’Leary – Snake River Seed Cooperative and Seed Library Brett Stevenson – Local large-scale barley farmer, focusing on trialing local grains. Source | Sun Valley Wellness Festival

Seed Freedom Workshop – 29 May 2017

The workshop discussed what is Seed, how it is central to the well being of humans and all species, the existing threats to seed, and why we need to protect Seed Freedom. Lessons and examples have been drawn from how Navdanya has built the Seed Freedom Movement. Source | Local Food Alliance

Environmentalist sows seeds of change

By Peter Jensen – Idaho Mountain Express, 31 May 2017 | Source

[…] Shiva said her efforts to protect native seeds and to prevent corporations like Monsanto from attaining patents and monopolies on seed varieties stem from Gandhi.   “My mind went to Gandhi,” she said. “The seed has its own life. There’s very little you need to do. That’s part of the arrogance we need to get rid of. That seed is carrying with it millennia of intelligence.” […]  “You take away the abilities of the farmers to save seeds and you called it a free trade agreement,” Shiva said. “I don’t think our ancestors were stupid, or the earth was stupid, to give us the seeds that we have.” […] “We have to turn our ecological knowledge into an evaluation system. When we do this work, we shouldn’t worry about how big the problem is. In the small actions that we take, we have the multiplication factored into it. We’re the heart of the solution.” Read more

Reflections on the Sun Valley Wellness Festival

Rocky Mountains Seed Alliance | Source

[…]RMSA was honored to host Dr. Shiva during her time in Sun Valley. She graced us with her wisdom and presence during a special, intimate brunch with RMSA staff and supporters. (Huge thanks to Ali Long of the Local Food Alliance for generously hosting the brunch and moderating our seed panel presentation!). Perhaps the greatest honor was showing Dr. Shiva around the gorgeous Sun Valley mountains, the stomping grounds of our co-founders Bill McDorman and John Caccia.
It is a powerful validation and encouragement for the work we are doing in our region to have one of the world leaders in the seed movement in our midst, collaborating and strategizing with us. We will be continuing to grow this relationship with Dr. Shiva and her pioneering organization, Navdanya. We’re also thrilled to have the seed issue play such a prominent role in the Wellness Festival—an effort we’ve been diligently building on for several years.
Deep gratitude and acknowledgment to everyone in the RMSA network for your passion and vision and many thanks to the Sun Valley Wellness Festival. This is a global movement, and we are helping lead the way! Read more

What I Learned from Vandana Shiva, Part 1: Gandhi, Resistance, and Seed Freedom

By Casey O’Leary – Snake River Seed Cooperative, 9 June 2017 | Source

Last weekend brought one of the greatest honors of my life–I got to spend part of three days in the company of Dr. Vandana Shiva, an Indian physicist inspired by Mahatma Gandhi to dedicate her life to working for seed freedom. Which is, of course, crucial for human freedom. READ MORE

What I learned from Vandana Shiva, Part II: Eat as if Life depends on it, because it does

By Casey O’Leary – Snake River Seed Cooperative, 9 June 2017 | Source

In part one we left off with Dr. Shiva saying that if we want to stop Trump (a.k.a. the accelerating destruction of the earth, rising inequality, and corporate co-opting of our democracy), we should start saving seeds and eating a biodiverse diet. I likely intuited your response: “Wait? So she’s saying that if I want to bring down oppressive regimes and create an abundant economy grounded in care for the earth and care for people, I can do that by eating a diet of diverse foods? If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is….I wasn’t born yesterday!” Am I right?
Of course that’s not all we have to do. After explaining to her audience one night that we must build the world we want with one hand and push back against injustice with the other, Dr. Shiva said. READ MORE

More info: https://www.rockymountainseeds.org/component/civicrm/?task=civicrm/mailing/view&reset=1&id=186