open-pollinated, antique seeds
MichaelP
I'm resending with a subject title. Apologies for duplicating
Michael
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ASSOCIATION KOKOPELLI
" For the Liberation of Seeds and Humus "
Quartier St Martin 07200 Aubenas. France
E-Mail : kokopel...@wanadoo.fr
MANIFESTO FOR SURVIVAL
Association Kokopelli was created in May 1999 as a result of the
intensification of threats to the existence of Terre de Semences both from
the " Seed Industry " and from French State bureaux.
Kokopelli, the hunch-backed flute player, is a symbol of fertility known
throughout the three Americas for millenia. The hunchback is not a true
hunchback but a sack full of seeds and all the while that he sows the
seeds, hidden in the hump of his back, Kokopelli sings and plays upon the
flute. In this way, he instills in the seed the breath of Life. Faced with
the terrible forces of destruction let loose upon the planet, the symbol
of Kokopelli represents for us the hope of an Earth once again fertile and
of seeds bestowing Life.
We hope today in this manifesto to share with you our pleasure at what has
been achieved thanks to the support of our numerous members and many
associations, but also our enormous disquiet at no longer being able to
continue the management of this huge collection of different seed
varieties without significant and lasting financial support. The present
collection of seeds offered by Kokopelli includes 500 varieties of
tomatoes, 400 varieties of peppers, 150 varieties of squashes, 130
varieties of lettuces, many eggplants, grain amaranths, corns, basils,
etc.
It is ten years now that we have struggled to preserve the genetic
resouces of traditional open-pollinated vegetable varieties. The " Decree
of 1997 " in France ( creating a National Catalogue for the listing of
'amateur' vegetable varieties but only subject to all manner of outrageous
conditions) and the subsequent threat from the 'Service de la Repression
des Fraudes' (The Fraud Squad) forced us to close down Terre de Semences
whose seeds (all the produce of organic and bio-dynamic agriculture) were
distributed all over Europe. (See the earlier press communique issued by
Terre de Semences in 1999) To refresh your memory the French Decree of
1997 was no more than an annex to the Decree of 1993 which modified the
CTPS (Permanent Committee for Selection) allowing the admission onto the
said Committee of representatives from the Multi-National corporations.
These thus became both Judge and Jury - party as they were to the virtual
destruction of the biodiversity in this field. So the game is played and
the shackles are locked. Those who control the seed supply, control the
food chain and thus the whole of Humanity in its entirety. These
Multi-Nationals have carried out a thorough job in the seed supply sector
: they have almost totally bought it up. They have then systematically
eradicated from the National Lists all the ancient open-pollinated
varieties ( which reproduce true to type and thus cannot be possessed) to
replace them with F1 hybrids which are either sterile or immediately
degenerate, thus creating a totally captive market. Growers, farmers and
gardeners alike must all buy their seeds each and every year. From a
Social view-point, those who work the soil have lost their autonomy. From
an Ecological view-point, it is an irreversible catastrophy. 98% of the
traditional vegetable varieties have been lost in the space of one
century. The sole purpose of this exercise ? - profit to the Directors
and share-holders of a handful of Multi-National chemical/seed
conglomerates.
Terre de Semences has quietly closed down without too much of an unseemly
fuss ! Its closing was no more than a ripple in a stinking quagmire of
endless food scares and scandals, of every kind of pollution, of climatic
upheaval, the destruction of the flocks and herds, massive migrations of
African peoples succumbing to drought and famine.
Numerous associations, foundations and NGO's have invested enormous energy
and large sums of money, quite rightly, in the struggle against pollution,
mondialisation, global market and GMO's. However, for years now, we have
tried to make these militant crusaders understand that it serves for
nothing to struggle against GMO's if at the same time nothing is done to
support the revival of the ancient varieties and the protection of the
alimentary diversity, at least the little that remains of this after
thirty years of vandalism ! If today you removed from the World's markets
all the F1 hybrids and GM seeds you would be left with a virtual desert !
Association Kokopelli is a " living seed-bank " and it is unique in
Europe. The collection of seeds offered to gardeners is unique in the
World. Association Kokopelli continues to carry the torch but for how much
longer ? We are in an extremely fragile financial position because the
Association is not founded upon solid foundations. The recent turbulent
climatic conditions have greatly added to the difficulties. When it does
nothing but rain, gardeners are not in their gardens and they do not have
the heart to buy seeds ! Added to this, we cannot be a part of the "
conventional " retail market simply because we refuse point blank to pay
the outrageous charge of 1450 FF for each variety in order for it to be
included in the official catalogue.
Our work therefore remains totally unlawful but we dare to trust that the
State will not attack an association that is carrying out such an
important public duty as the protection of the alimentary bio-diversity !
We are given no financial assistance yet at the same time enormous budgets
( for example the French " Genoplante " project underwritten to the extent
of 70% by the public purse) are awarded the Multi-Nationals in the name of
research into GMO's. Every single year, the French farmers are getting 170
billions of francs in subsidies to play around in their fields with their
big machines, to erode the soil a little more, to pollute the air and the
water a little more, to produce deadly meat nobody is going to eat, to
produce milk nobody is going to drink and which is transformed into milk
powder to feed the calves which are taken away from the milking cows !
The European Commission has recently quintupled the budget devoted to
protection of the genetic resources. We do not expect to see the shadow
even of a single Euro ! We do not ask for charity but to be financially
assisted and supported in our task of helping preserve the inheritance of
Humankind and the future of our children.
Sometimes, we have the bitter impression that the struggle against all the
destructive influences of Western Society has in itself become a source of
commerce which breeds financial surges, which seduce the people, which
allow the sale of newsprint and which create employment. It would seem
that there is much less concern about Associations which struggle, in a
constructive manner, to put in place alternatives for the future and to
create " places of fertile resistance " which will allow later
reinvestment in the territory.
Association Kokopelli, like the hardworking ant, toils with a non-virtual
reality, the Earth. Biodiversity, in order to be preserved, must be
cultivated. There is not much time left, as for the playful cicada, to
enchant the media, the people, the political circles, and the serious
institutions, with beautiful discourse, compelling journalism, striking
photographs and poignant evidence.
We have recently published " The Seeds of Kokopelli " a hard-back edition
running to some 420 pages (72 pages in colour) which is an instruction
manual for seed-production in and for the family garden as well as being a
catalogue of the multitude of seed varieties of Association Kokopelli
available to gardeners and NGOs. We hope, by means of this work, to
motivate a process of autonomy and self-sufficiency in the family garden,
both in the production of vegetables and conservation of the traditional
seed varieties.
Association Kokopelli has also, since last Autumn, created the Annadana
Project, for the production and exchange of seeds in Southern Asia. This
project is at present based in Auroville, Tamil Nadu, in Southern India
(e-mail : anna...@auroville.org.in). We have already put in place gardens
for the production of seed in Auroville. In the course of just a few
months, we have distributed (free of charge) 40, 000 packets of seeds to
numerous NGO's working in the field of sustainable agriculture (in India
and Sri Lanka) as well as to all the villages of the Tibetan refugees in
India. Association Kokopelli has, during the last year, funnelled towards
India a collection of seeds with which to prepare hundreds of thousands of
packets of seeds in order to give the Annadana Project a solid foundation.
Association Kokopelli is also busy in Africa working together with Pierre
Rabhi and his association " Terre et Humanisme " to create seed production
programmes in Niger, Burkina Faso and soon in other countries in Africa.
Needless perhaps to mention that none of our projects in the Third World
is grant aided in any way whatsoever ! FAO, OCDE, and all the rest
organise a plethora of conferences at vast expense to discuss Third World
hunger, the struggle against malnutrition, and sustainable development,
etc. They even, from time to time, rather charmingly come to the
conclusion that the only solution to malnutrition in the rural areas of
the underdeveloped world is to promote the family garden and local
production ! It must be of great comfort to the under-developed countries
to see the rich West putting at their disposition a panel of brilliant
experts who are developping them forcefully and in a " sustainable " way .
Association Kokopelli has sent dozens of beautifully produced dossiers (in
colour) to National, European and International Institutions, in order to
present the work of Annadana in India. They have sent no reply. Did they
perhaps think that we were promulgating " sustainable under-development "
? Perhaps they failed to register that access to seed is the fundamental
pre-requisite to create the family garden ? Did they perhaps think that
the transgenic rice of Monsanto, wonderfully enhanced with the gene of a
daffodil to increase the rate of vitamin A, will open the way to
alleviating World famine - provided each person eats 9 Kg (cooked weight)
of this rice each and every day to get his daily intake of vitamin A ?
10 years ago the Fondation de France offered us its support in order to
launch the dynamic of the preservation of the genetic resource. Last year
the Goldsmith Foundation gave us a small grant. Also last year,
Association Kokopelli was awarded the prize of the Fondation Denis
Guichard ( under the aegis of the Fondation de France) which is given each
year to someone working in the field of ecology.
All this is very fine but is quite simply not enough. It is a cry for help
that we now send to the all the various NGO's, Associations and
Foundations that may be susceptible to our message. It is an S.O.S. (Save
Our Seeds) that we send to all those who struggle for a fertile future and
to empower oases of fertile resistance !
Association Kokopelli needs support in order to maintain its task of
enchanting the family gardener with the beautiful seeds of life, in
Europe, in Africa and in Southern Asia.
We would would ask your kindness in circulating this " Manifesto for
Survival ".
Dominique Guillet. June 1st, 2001.