Chapter 1 Stolen Harvest: The Hijacking of the Global Food Supply 3.

3.5 million people starved to death in Bengal famine of 1943 o 20 million affected Grains were taken from the poor as a form of rent 80,000 tons of grain exported from Bengal in 1943 more than 20% of Indias national output was saved for war supplies peasants gave up two-thirds of their self-produced food many peasants moved to Calcutta and began to centrally keep 2/3rd of their crops, involving 6 million people o Those that resisted theft were arrested

The Corporate Hijacking of Food and Agriculture 75% of Indian population derives livelihood from agriculture farms are being pushed out by monocultures and with the production of genetically engineered seeds fall under the myth of free trade 70% of worlds people earn their livelihood from food production, most farmers being women, only 2% of industrialized countries are farmers Food Security is in the Seed Indian farmers have produced 200,000 varieties of rich (ex: Basmati) bred rice that grow in Gangetic flood waters, saline-resistance Navdanya conserves native seed diversity, still makes new varieties seed: a storage place of culture and history as well as future plants free seed exchange is the basis of maintaining biodiversity and food security o exchange involves tradition, knowledge paddy or rice has religious significance (ex: Akti festival); rice is mixed with spices and blessed intellectual-property-rights regimes through the Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights Agreement of WTO allows corporations to take knowledge and privatize it (ex: RiceTec claims patents on Basmati, USA) Free Trade or Forced Trade 10 corporations control 32% of commercial seed market, $23B, and 100% of GE seeds 5 corporations control global trade in grain (ex: Cargill bough Continental; shapes international trade agreements such as Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs, leading to WTO establishment) due to NAFTA, Mexican imports increased from 20% to 43% (1992-6), resulting in lost jobs and falling into extreme poverty sugar imports hurt Philippines economy rubber was ruined in India and maize in Kenya

hectares of land under cotton cultivation has been decreasing in 1970s/80s, land under cotton cultivation increased by 1.7 million hectares hybrid seeds were then heavily marketed which replaced local varieties; forcing some famers to buy on credit and to take their own lives due to dropping crop (cotton) prices in India, the government banned local processing of oil and proclaimed free imports of soybean oil

Creating Hunger with Monocultures advertising claim (Monsanto, $1.6M) in Europe o biotechnology will feed the future due to lower amounts of arable land industry has destroyed diverse sources of food using a lot of energy the Green Revolution was not much help; varieties produced more grain diverting production from straw through dwarfing of plants, making them defenseless against high doses of chemical fertilizer less straw means less for animals more wheat and maize was at the cost of beans, legumes, fruits and vegetables the Green Revolution is not necessarily more efficient taking resource use into account myth of using less land for in India there is increased pressure on land due to monocultures The Insecurity of Imports when cash crops (e.g. cotton) increase, staple-food production decreases leading to rising staple prices and lower consumption by the poor upon implementation of trade liberalization policies argues the food security does not depend on self-sufficiency (local food for local consumption) but on self-reliance (buying own food on international markets) o concept that earnings from exports will finance imports it is inefficient to grow shrimp, flowers, meat in India o ex: in meat exports, for every dollar earned, 15 in ecological functions and capital are being destroyed especially since slaughterhouses and factory farming have replaced traditional livestock economy cows slaughter exports (renewable energy and fertilizer) are also exported the World Bank is shifting from food first to export first policies, there is an increase in competition, resulting in devaluation of currencies the Third World is being told to stop growing food and buy on international markets, globalization results in increasingly dependence on food imports Stealing Natures Harvest

GE crops has ecological risks increase in agrochemicals and destruction of biodiversity patents are being secured on life forms (ex: pollination as theft by bees) view of abundance: giving food to other beings and species we maintain our own food security

Food Democracy food totalitarianism: handful of corporations control the entire food chain and destroy alternatives local markets are destroyed to establish monopolies over seed and food systems the right to produce for ones self or consume according to cultural priorities and safety concerns has been rendered illegal according to new trade rules food totalitarianism can be stopped through major citizen mobilization for democratization of the food system; the new agenda for ecological sustainability and social justice