From 20-22 April 2017, Navdanya joined Peliti at the Olympic Seed Freedom Festival, along with people and organisations from all over the world to join forces to sow the seeds of the future and sow the seeds of another vision for the planet and its inhabitants.

After the immensely successful mobilization tour and Caravan for Seed Freedom in May 2014, Navdanya International, Seed Freedom and Peliti organized The First Global Meeting of the Commons in May 2015. The meeting saw the integration of movements working with seed, soil, land as well as refugees into the global meetings of the Commons. Again Navdanya joined Peliti in 2016 for the annual Seed Festival. The core theme of 2016 Festival was on the principles articulated in the People’s Pact for the Protection of the Planet and each other – One Planet One Humanity : our bonds of diversity to make peace with the earth and each other. With our intense commitment, and deep solidarity, we will collectively defend our Seed Freedom, Food Freedom, and Democratic Rights to shape a future of food that protects life on Earth and the well being of all.

This 2017 Seed Festival is part of the global mobilization which culminated with the People’s Assembly and the Monsanto Tribunal in the Hague last October, co-organised by Navdanya,  along with multiple civil society organisations.

The program schedule saw two days of intense capacity building workshops: Working together towards a GMO-Free, Pesticide-Free, Corporate-Free future, Situation of traditional varieties in the US, Situations and strategies for Food Sovereignty in Africa, Seed Festivals and Seed Savers Networks Worldwide, European Legislation on Seeds.

Among the participants in both the workshops and the festival: Navdanya International, Ali Tapsoba, Terre à Vie – Burkina Faso, Shannon P. McCabe, Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds – USA, Father Gedeon, Monastery Agia Triada – Turkey, Matthieu Le Breton, Faucheurs Volontaires d’OGM – France, Mr Noufou, Federation Nationale des Groupements NAAM – Burkina Faso, SAVEGEA – Cyprus, Hannes Lorenzen, Agricultural Expert senior agricultural advisor at the European Parliament, Blanche Magarinos-Rey, lawyer and expert on seed issues.

The working group launched a Declaration at the Festival, which saw more than 4000 people, consisting of farmers, seed savers, gardeners and citizens from all over Greece and Europe.

Along with the Greece Minister of Agricuture Mr. John Tsironis, thousands of paritipants visited the stand of Navdanya to join the Seed Freedom and other ongoing Campaings, also by signing the  Declaration on Seed Freedom and the Citizens’ Pact for the Earth.

This year – as in previous years – this event represented a unique opportunity to build connections and strengthen the movement to shape Food Systems that produce more food, better food, more livelihoods, more meaningful work, more democracy, more freedom.

Movements across the world have joined this renewed “Call to Action against the Corporate Takeover of our Food and Health” and events and actions have taken place along the month of April and will continue beyond.

Also read:

Seeds of System Change | Peliti & Greece’s Olympic Spirit

Arc2020, 26 April 2017

Declaration for the first Olympic Seed Festival

Program