Eating the seeds for next year

Vandana Shiva spoke at a recent organic farming conference I went to in Portland, Oregon. She spoke of the connections between seeds, sustainability and peace. She told stories of international corporations braking Indian national laws and her small victories to stop them in the courts. But what touched me the most was from a story she told illustrating the perseverance of the people who survived a long drought in the country. Although they were hungry, they did not eat the rice seeds for the following year.

While in Peace Corps in Honduras, my period of service coincided with a two-year drought in the country. I remember well the day I went to visit one of my best farmers. He reported to me that they had had to eat the beans that they had put aside as seed.

I remember feeling a mix of anger and sadness for their situation. Anger because I thought he of all people should know better. He must not have wanted to do it. Yet, how could he do such a stupid thing unless he believed that he and his family would somehow purchase more.

As an agricultural trainer, I knew that the beans that they ate were well adapted to the hot and dry conditions that plagued the region. The farmer knew this too, I did not need to tell him. Still, I did and he reassured me that they would be able to buy seed from a certain vendor he knew from the nearby township. They would be good seeds, breed and rised just over the hill to the east.

I hoped so. I could not have farmers dying on me while I volunteered to help them.