This is the second part of a series of posts recounting my experience at Justice Begins With Seeds, an anti-GMO conference held in San Francisco one month ago. See the first post on Vandana Shiva’s talk.
The first day’s events had just finished. My head was dizzy, my body was fatigued, and my stomach felt out of sync. Perhaps it was information overload, but I left my first day slightly disappointed. I knew most of what had been discussed – the social and environmental health risks, the economic and market challenges for small organic producers. Where would I fit into this picture? I wasn’t sure.
The evening passed in dismay and uncertainty. I was truly fatigued. Should I skip the next morning’s session and just go for lunch? The answer did not come until I laid down to sleep at midnight.
Yes, I should go. There was no point in exerting all this effort to come only to skip out on part of it.
I arrived Saturday morning, bright and early, wondering what magic was in store. I sat near Carmen, a friend I had met from my organic gardening class one year ago.
Carmen introduced me to an elder Chinese woman, Lotus. We were of a small handful of Asian Americans present at the meeting. I was aware that I was probably the only young Asian American woman in the room. I thought it made no difference, since this meeting was incredibly diverse and especially in support of inter-ethnicity. It really didn’t make a difference, until I connected with Lotus. We exchanged cultural stories and family histories, and suddenly I felt more connected to my ethnicity than ever before. She bought me coffee, and handed me a Little Green Book, an English and Chinese dictionary of technical terms in Environment and Development. My cultural connection deepened some more.
It wasn’t until the second talk that I felt the heart of the conference began to come through. It was given by Jeffrey Smith, director of the Institute for Responsible Technology, a prominent non-profit that has worked for many years advocating against GMO’s. This talk was pure political strategy. He laid out the activists’ game plan, from marketing campaigns to sit-ins and demonstrations. He showed success story after success story of how activists were able to establish GM-free zones and initiatives throughout Europe and North America.
Marketing campaigns, it turns out, are one of the most effective means of changing corporate policy.
Activism is love, he said.
Make it fun, make it culturally sustainable, or else why should people keep coming back?
The collective unconscious swelled with love, respect, and understanding.
I knew I had come to the right place at the right time. My questions were being answered, and a vision of my role began to form. My roots were growing in this movement, aided by the magic of indiscriminate love all around me.
I had yet to discover the core, democratic heart of the summit. It would unfold before me through the end of the day, and would continue to affect my life afterwards.
Lovely, Lynn.
Disorientation usually precedes new-orientaion (upcycling).
Sounds like Jeffrey Smith is a positive deviant, even among would-be deviants.
Best, and enjoy the rest,
M
Thanks, Mark! Love that you get the metaphor
Yes, I like positive deviants. Deviate for a higher purpose, not for deviant’s sake.
I love that the things “we” are most against (marketing, advertising, etc) are so effective in positive ways too, even if they are a bit shocking. That’s the only way, I think, to change deep rooted comfort is to shock it til it’s dead, then pull it out in one go.
Was it you that said 250k Indians had committed suicide over the loss of their farms due to poisoned seeds? And that thousands of Africans are dying because they’re eating the GMO seeds intended for farming?
I find that I like growing things. And making food to share. It’s much more fun than writing every day.
Waiting to hear on the house…can’t wait to plan the small urban farm. Maybe square foot, maybe not. 
Then, I’d like to take extras to the shelter & make food with it there.
Honestly, there’s nothing inherently wrong with marketing, advertising. Like I said in a previous post on Conscious Environmentalism, these are all tools that the movement needs to grow. There’s nothing inherently good or bad about tools, it’s all about intention and how you choose to use them. So we can totally use them for good.
I mentioned in my last post that 250k Indians had committed suicide, yes, over indebtedness from buying pesticides and fertilizer, and thus losing their farms and property and livelihoods.
That’s awesome that you like growing your own food and cooking to share! Not everyone needs to be a writer. I’m not a fan of writing everyday, unless I have something specific to work on, or am incredibly moved or inspired to write. Do it! Be an urban farmer!!
I don’t do well with labels, so I ignore them. I don’t see myself as anything but a human being who wants a culture of love and sustainability. I do what I feel inspired to do, and leave the labels to when I need to explain myself to others. I write because I want to share important information. I do the consults because I want to help people gain more clarity on the value of their work. I do science because I want to fine-tune my logical analysis. And I can never truly see myself as a “writer”, “consultant”, or “scientist”. I’m just a human being. Those labels go on my business card, and that’s about it.
Good luck with urban farming! You’ll have to share pics if you do
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So glad you found a way to feel connected at the conference! I’ve never really thought about the importance of making a cultural connection to others in the green and good food movements. Usually I assume that having those values is enough, but maybe I need to find others with whom I have more in common.
Yea, I thought it didn’t matter either! But it really helps to make you feel like an integral part of the movement. Values are a good start, but multiple threads of connection is even stronger. Everyone that was there held generally the same values, but we wouldn’t be able to connect beyond the conference without something extra. I’ve kept in contact with 1-2 people I met from the conference only because of extra connections, not directly related to sustainability or GMO’s. But at the same time, maybe it’s just me. Your situation might be totally different. =P