One of the world’s most precious resources is at risk. This timely and emotionally moving documentary illuminates what is at stake and what can be done to protect the source of nearly all our food: SEEDS. Seeds provide the basis for everything from fabric, to food to fuels. They are as essential to life as the air we breathe or water we drink…but given far less attention.
According to the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN), approximately 90 percent of the fruit and vegetable varieties that existed 100 years ago no longer exist today. Heritage grain is near extinction. Heirloom seeds that were lovingly nurtured over decades or even hundreds of years have been lost forever. Maintaining seed biodiversity allows us to breed new open-pollinated varieties that are resistant to pests or thrive in temperature extremes. This type of diversity is essential in a changing climate.
Meanwhile, corporations are co-opting seed genetics using patent law and legal threats. In the past, the seed was communal. Seeds were a shared resource not unlike the water we drink or the air we breathe. One hundred years ago that started to change. Today, corporate-owned seed accounts for 82% of the world-wide market. Plants grown from transgenic seeds (also known as GMOs or genetically modified organisms) send pollen through the wind and contaminate neighboring crops. When this happens, large companies threaten affected farmers with lawsuits (and nearly always win). Food grown from GMO seed has shown to have dangerous health effects and there is even more we don’t know. Yet once a seed crop gets contaminated by GMO pollen there is no turning back.
In this film you will meet a diverse range of individuals whose lives center around seeds. Farmers. Renegade gardeners. Passionate seed savers. Artists. Seed activists. This film tells the story of seeds by following their challenges and triumphs as they work to save this precious resource.
It’s not too late…yet.
