World-Renowned Environmentalist and Anti-GMO Activist Speaks

On Oct. 21, the University of Redlands hosted a lecture by renowned physicist and environmentalist Dr. Vandana Shiva. The event brought over 900 people to the University of Redlands Memorial Chapel. Dr. Vandana Shiva is known for her activism in gender issues, conservation and sustainable agriculture. Her fight against genetically modified organisms has been internationally recognized. She has aided in winning many cases against big agricultural firms such as Monsantos. She wants to stop the creation of monoculture and bring back diversity into plants and in our food. She comments, “The world of diversity creates unity... it encourages cooperation and it sows the seeds of piece.” Dr. Shiva believes our food is being contaminated day by day by pollutants. With GMOs in pretty much everything, Dr. Shiva mentions how “...even if it says ‘fresh’, because it is processed, there are at least 100 toxins in it [from pesticides, factory chemicals]” when speaking about milk. When discussing seeds and the degradation of diversity in plants due to monoculture, she mentioned, “We did a study on nutrition; per acre and the more diversity, [in the plants and vegetables] the more nutrition, the more monoculture, the less nutrition...” Dr. Shiva’s work in rebuilding the agricultural system, growing back hundreds of lost species of plants, and working to eliminate GMOs and monoculture has given her recognition throughout the world. She said, “I took a pledge my life would be dedicated to saving seeds.” Students Madison Tschauner and Rosebud Doetsch said they were impacted by Dr. Shiva’s lecture. Tschauner mentioned, “It definitely affects me personally because I’m a vegetarian, so food I put in my body is important.” Local community members such as Patrick and Angela Hurley, who are aspiring organic farmers, were also at the lecture on Tuesday. Patrick commented, “It was very inspiring, since I do have an organic farm. Right now, it’s a small one, but in the future I do hope to be able to sell products at local farmers markets.”