Yesterday, Isaura Anduluz,my friend and colleague in our local Slow Food Convivium, hosted a remarkable event here. She is the founder of Cuatro Puertas, a non-profit corporation dedicated to making agriculture a viable economy in New Mexico and to 'growing farmers." Cuatro Puertas is also the guardian of the state's largest seed library which preserves the local, indigenous seeds of native plants for future generations of farmers.www,
ISAURA ANDULUZ
She brought together Kevin Zelig Golden, a lawyer for The Center for Food Safety, and Percy Schmeiser, a farmer in Canada, who has been fighting the biotech giant Monsanto for years over the contamination of his land with their genetically modified canola seed.
KEVEN ZELIG GOLDEN
PERCY SCHMEISER
Why were they here? Just this year, the New Mexico legislature funded research to study the feasibility of developing genetically engineered chile seeds. Golden and Schmeiser were most articulate in explaining the dangers of permitting genetically engineered plants into the state's ecosystem. There is no coexistence of genetically modified plants with native plants. Once the altered plants are out in the world, they will inevitably contaminate the native varieties and once contaminated there is no going back. With that contamination we lose the bio-diversity which is critical to plant health and vitality. Not to mention our health and vitality.
Percy Schmeiser is a hero in the environmental and farming world and he deserves all the praise that has come his way. His web site,www.percyschmeiser.com, provides the details of his long fight with Monsanto. He and his wife, Louise, are people of extraordinary courage and integrity. He is living proof that one man (and one woman) can make a difference--a huge difference. We need more of them and we need them here and now in New Mexico if we are to save our native plant heritage.
The Center for Food Safety,www.centerforfoodsafety.org, is an important advocacy group for the safety of our food supply and the consumers' right to know what we are eating. I strongly urge you to join this group and support their work on our behalf.
This post just touches the surface of this complex and frightening issue. Both presentations were filmed and will be available at the web site, www.gmofreeenm.com . Please take the time to listen and learn more about this threat to the health of all species.
