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G reserve space
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6 get involved —
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divesity and the GLTBO community

tonewall marks the begin-

ning of the modern gay lib-

eration movement.
Interaction among many move-
ments originating in that pivotal
time resulted in more emphasis on
multiculturalism, tolerance, and
alliance-building. After years of
struggle, we realized that we are

part of a diversity that is essential 9

for societies. Intolerance, suspi-
cion, and hatred for diversity ulti-
mately culminate in destruction,
unless they are countered by
recognition, acceptance, and cele-
bration of our differences, which
help us all to survive.

Similarly, biodiversity is
key to the survival of the planet.
Biodiversity means the growth and
availability of a wide variety of
plant species — everything from
varieties of vegetables to grains to
flowers and wild species as well
as cultivated crops — which ensure
the health and future of the food
chain. Genetic engineering (GE)
poses a grave threat to that sur-
vival. GE is the manipulation of
gene material in order to inject it

, from one species to another with

the goal of altering the crop so it
generates more profit. The agro-
chemical corporations (Monsanto,
etc.) aim to further increase their
bottom line and their control over
the food and seed market.
According to knowledge-

« able sources, this attempt to alter

nature (some opponents call it
“playing God”) has been poorly
studied, resulting in the release of
chemicals and genetically modi-

~ fled organisms (GMOs) into the

environment and then typically
dealing with the consequences
only after the human and environ-
mental suffering becomes evident.
GE threatens our food supply,
waterways, forests, and the
wildlife population.

When farmers buy and
plant GE seed that produces sterile
crops, it threatens our food supply
because the economics of farming
become impossible when there is
no seed to be saved for the next
year’s crop. It threatens our food
supply when only one variety of a
given crop is planted because it
can easily be wiped out by disease
or pests, with no genetic diversity

. to fall back on.

Many of us who live in
Vennont’s countryside rely on
groundwater from wells for drink-
ing. Our waters are threatened
when genetically engineered crops
require more artificial fertilizers,
herbicides and pesticides that '
wash through the watershed and
into our streams, rivers, and lakes.

Some tree species are
being genetically’ modified to
grow faster to increase commer-
cial yields. Such “crop trees” are
not scattered throughout a diverse
forest, but sown in monoculture

 

plantations that are both suscepti-
ble to disease and inhospitable to
wildlife.

According to the Non-
GMO Source, a newsletter for
organic and non—GMO growers,
more than 130 million acres of
croplands are now planted with
genetically modified crops.
Genetic contamination can spread
from fields planted with GMOs to
those of growers who are using
sustainable practices. All species’
reproductive processes then
become vulnerable to unplanned,

able for a price from the same
companies that sold the grower the
seed) is applied. A similar but sep-
arate system has been created that
requires continuous exposure of
the seed to a patented chemical to
ensure germination and healthy
growth. Such systems guarantee
the dependence of the growers on
the chemical companies and the
loss of biodiversity for the rest of
us. The cost in watershed runoff,
pollution, and manufacturing con-
tamination of the environment and
their short— and long-term effects
can hardly be estimated.

These technologies have not yet
been implemented on a wide
scale.

Although these kinds of
genetic manipulation are highly»
controversial and shunned by the
UN, India, and many members of
the European‘Union, the U.S. gov-
ernment continues to issue patents
to the companies that manufacture
them. As of March 2001, the gov-
emrnent had issued 15 patents to
the Gene Giants. At least 3 of

The economics of farming
become impossible when
there is no seed to be saved
for the next year’s crop.

unexpected mutations.

Loss of biodiversity
results in a monoculture, the agri-
cultural practice of planting entire
fields at the same time with a sin-
gle crop. Monoculture also
describes the bleak system of
sameness that creates and supports
control over the many by the few.
Governments and giant corpora-
tions, using bad science, are the
chief perpetrators of monoculture.

Giant chemical compa-
nies have taken over. many of the
independent commercial seed
companies and now control
around 80 percent of commercial
seed production internationally.
They have developed technologies
that produce intentionally sterile
plants, forcing growers to buy
seed “by the generation,” or annu-
ally. Genetic engineers have also
developed a technique that inca-
pacitates vital plant functions —
reproduction, disease and pest
resistance, and seed viability —
until an activator chemical (avail-

these patents are held in partner-
ship between the U.S. Department
of Agriculture and one of the Gene
Giants.

The impact of GE on
farmers in the Southern Hemi-
sphere is massive. It affects the
developing world’s extreme pover-
ty and debt, world hunger, land
use, and environmental degrada-
tion. GE and GMOs spell disaster
for subsistence fanners who can-
not afford the seeds, the fertilizers,
or the activator chemicals. These
crops typically need more water
than locally grown varieties,
depleting the watersheds and leav-
ing less for subsistence farmers to
use. When large growers using GE
crops require dams for irrigation,
subsistence farmers are driven off
the land to make way for the
reservoirs. In recent years, at least
30 farmers in India committed sui-
cide because of the loss of their
livelihoods and the starvation of
their families.

Soil erosion and pollu-

   
   
  

tion affect both hemispheres. .
When you consider where the pro-
duce we eat in the winter comes
from, it’s easy to see that the long
term and poorly studied health and
safety issues affect everyone.

Cultural diversity and
biodiversity are solidly intercon-
nected. Unless these two forces
are thriving, the monoculture will
continue to suppress the vital real-
ity of nonconforming lives. It
becomes so commonplace that we
find it more difficult to resist, to
maintain our own values.

Monoculture cheats us
all. A mechanized, homogenized. I
profit-driven system dominates
without awareness of or accounta-
bility to the coming generations.
Under this system, profits flourish
at the expense of people and sus-
tainability. The cultural diversity
that we celebrate yearly at Pride is
one way we stand up against the
Machine. It is linked to the need
for us to celebrate and preserve
biodiversity for our own survival.
The alternative is grim.

There is always action to
take. When we take action, we

alter our worldview.
{D Plant a garden or help

a friend or neighbor with theirs.
lt’s an excellent way to appreciate
the ancient cycles of birth, death,
and rebirth.

Q If you garden, adopt
sustainable gardening practices.
There are books available that pro-
vide detailed instructions for com-
posting, natural pest control, seed
saving, and other techniques that
support sustainability.

0 Support organic grow-
ers, your local food co-op. and
farmers’ markets. This may be the
single most important thing we
can do if we are to maintain a safe
food supply. When we create and
sustain local food supply, we pro-
tect ourselves and our region from
the effects of GE. We chip away at
the dominance of monoculture.

0 Purchase heirloom or
organic seeds from independent
seed companies.

0 Educate and involve
the children in your life. Age-
appropriate activities can absorb
their interest and teach them about
respecting their connection to the
Earth.

With whatever time you
have, get involved. Change begins
in many ways, sometimes as quiet
as the sprouting of a seed. If we
don’t take back control at the local
level, nothing changes.

Singer/songwriter Toshi
Reagon offers this approach to
acting on your political conscious-
ness. “From where you are, from
who you are in your everyday life,
that’s where you make change 
Whatever your gig is, make
change through your strength.” V

Pat Winer plants her heirloom
seeds in Huntington.

\