
Saving Our Seeds: Protecting the Future of Our Food
Since the start of human agricultural practices, seeds have been traditionally saved and shared between farmers – used and passed down from one season to the next.
Since the start of human agricultural practices, seeds have been traditionally saved and shared between farmers – used and passed down from one season to the next.
Our pesticide and insecticide use is not only hurting our bodies, but it is negatively impacting our food supply by killing our pollinators. In a recent report, the United Nations warned that 40% of the world’s pollinators are at risk of extinction.
The transition from hunter-gatherer to agricultural-based living was gradual, but posed revolutionary ecological and cultural transformations as centuries have passed. In the United States particularly, increased commercialized farming has simplified ecosystems, embraced monocropping and become dependent on chemical pesticides and fertilizers.
At this point in history, the agricultural world is no stranger to genetic modification. With this technology, researchers have created seedless watermelon, gluten-free wheat and apples that don’t turn brown with age. This is done through breeding out unwanted traits of an organism (i.e seeds or spots).
Humans are facing a global disease crisis. This is occurring at alarming rates – it is widespread and endemic. Just consider that 4% of the U.S population had a chronic disease in 1965. As of 2015, 46% of our children have been diagnosed with a chronic disease. For the first time in America’s history, our children’s expected lifespan is a generation shorter than that of their parents.
Our planet is in crisis, and glyphosate is one of the primary culprits. It is contributing to an epidemic chronic disease in humans, wiping out essential biodiversity across the globe, and depleting the soil in which our food is grown. Approximately 13 billion pounds of this chemical are used every year around the world – disrupting biological life at a staggering rate.