The Seeds of Vandana Shiva

The Seeds of Vandana Shiva tells the remarkable life story of eco-activist Dr. Vandana Shiva, how she stood up to the corporate Goliaths of industrial agriculture, rose to prominence in the seed saving and organic food movements, and is inspiring an international crusade for change.

Shiva has become a formidable opponent to those corporations whose drive for privatization and profit are destroying the environment and changing the climate. Their predations in the name of a ‘green revolution’ and ‘feeding the world’ through patented and chemically-dependent GMO seeds are reducing traditional farmers and entire communities to inescapable servitude.

The battle against agribusiness has become an international struggle between two visions for feeding the world: the first, a multinational corporate model of chemically dependent monoculture that rewards a capitalist imperative of extraction for profit. And the other, Earth Democracy, that honours ecology, biodiversity, sustainability and community.

The film is followed by a discussion between plant scientist Tara Wight and food systems expert Geoff Tansey, chaired by Rowan Lear, Glasgow Seed Library.

This conversation will be subtitled live in English by Stagetext.

About the speakers

Geoff Tansey curates the online, open access Food Systems Academy . He helped found the journal Food Policy, in the 1970s, has worked as a writer and consultant ever since, and was a member of the Food Ethics Council from 2000-2021. He chaired the independent Fabian Commission on Food and Poverty in 2014-15. His books include The future control of food: A guide to international negotiations and rules on intellectual property, biodiversity and food security co-edited with Tasmin Tajotte and The Food System: a guide with Tony Worsley.

Tara Wight is Scotland Policy and Campaigns Coordinator and Research Coordinator for the Landworkers Alliance. Tara comes from a background in crop science research, where she has particularly focused on the potential benefits of traditional crop management practices for improving agroecological and organic production. She has been involved in the climate movement in Scotland for many years, and has extensive experience campaigning on environmental and social justice issues.

Rowan Lear is an artist, writer, and since 2019, a caretaker of Glasgow Seed Library.

About the organisers

Organised by Glasgow Seed Library and Scottish Communities Climate Action Network (SCCAN).

SCCAN is a volunteer-led network whose purpose is to inspire, promote, connect and support community-led action in order to address the climate and nature emergency and work for a just, thriving and resilient Scotland.

Glasgow Seed Library is a collection of seeds and a community of growers. The library stocks organic and open-pollinated vegetable, herb and flower seeds for everyone to borrow, grow and save. Throughout the year, Glasgow Seed Library organises free workshops, talks and events around seed skills, community growing and earth care.