Actions Panel
2013 Justice Begins with Seeds International Conference
When and where
Date and time
Location
First Presbyterian Church of Seattle 1013 8th Avenue Seattle, WA 98101
Map and directions
How to get there
Refund Policy
Description
You can see an overview of the program below, as well as some some of the workshops/presentations and the film series program
Attention: the registration includes all films and pre-events, as well as meals
Sliding scale in base of income is $150 - $200 - $200
but you can also opt only for Vandana Shiva presentation $20
or 1 film $10 or 4 films for $30
or the whole film series for only $50
You also can buy a Solidarity Student Ticket (include all week events) for only $50
The GMO Awareness Week Film Series
Films July 29th/August 1st. - Summit August 2nd/3rd.
Justice Begins with Seeds
2013 International Conference
Featuring Dr. Vandana Shiva
August 2nd & 3rd - Seattle, Washington
Seattle First Presbyterian Church, 1013 8th Avenue, Seattle WA 98104
(For The GMO Awareness Week Film Series and Extended Events see full Program)
Seattle First Presbyterian Church, 1013 8th Avenue, Seattle WA 98104
(PROGRAM BELOW)
(Above you can see the sliding scale, please consider that your donation will hellp with travel assistance and create a more inclusive and diverse conference)
This annual conference is the largest gathering in the US focused on educating and creating awareness about the implications of GMO seeds. As an international platform to share, learn and launch campaigns in support of a GMO FREE food supply, speakers from various backgrounds will examine GMO seed’s relation to health, social justice, environment and corporate consolidation within local to global contexts.
Conference organizer, the Biosafety Alliance, is a cross-sector, multi-level and interethnic alliance of people and organizations dedicated to NON GMO food.
Planning committee includes: Acequias Institute, Agra Watch, Basil, Biosafety Alliance, Community Food and Justice Coalition, Center for Farm Worker Families, Food First, IDEX, Navdanya Institute, Organic Consumers Association, South Central Farmers Cooperative, Vital Systems, Washington Biotechnology Action Council.
For the 2013 edition, we are expecting food justice and non-GMO's advocates from the US, India and Canada. We have confirmed: Vandana Shiva, Wenonah Hauter, Devon Peña, Ignacio Chapela, Ann Lopez, Jeffrey Smith, David Bacon, Phil Bereano, Theo Ferguson, among dozens more.
Honoring Life on Earth
Friday August 2nd, 2013
Breakfast/Registration 8:00 AM
Welcoming Biosafety Alliance introduces Senator Maralyn Chase 9:00 AM
Plenary I 9:15 AM – 10:00 AM Sanctuary
Context: Our Seeds, Our Life & Our Future
Facilitator:
Ignacio Chapela Microbial Ecologist and Mycologist at University of Berkeley CA
Speakers:
Don Comstock Core Faculty Center for Creative Change Antioch University
Eric Holt-Gimenez Executive Director of Food First/Institute for Food and Development Policy
Kristina Hubbard Director of Advocacy & Communications at Organic Seeds Alliance
Brook Brouwer Washington State University
Plenary II 10:05 AM – 10:50 AM Sanctuary
One World Crisis: Cultures in Resistance
Facilitator:
Heather Day Executive Director of Community Alliance for Global Justice
Speakers:
Devon Peña President of Acequia Institute
Phil Bereano Washington Biotechnology Action Council and Community Alliance for Global Justice
Katherine Zavala Program Manager at Grassroots Alliances, IDEX
Mr. Tezozomoc South Central Farmers Cooperative
Workshops/presentations 10:55 AM – 12:25 PM
Title: Just and Sustainable Supply Chains: Opportunities and Challenges for Domestic Fair Trade
Colette Costner Executive Director of Domestic Fair Trade Association(facilitator)
Grace Cox Olympia Food Co-op, DFTA Board Treasure Michael Sligh Rural Advancement Foundation International—USA (RAFI), Chair of DFTA Board Rosalinda Guillén Executive Director of Community to Community Willow Coberly Willamette Seed and Grain Chapel
Title: Rescate del Maiz Criollo en los Valles de California (translation available)
Luis Magaña OTAC Rescate del maiz criollo en los Valles de California Jesus Aceves, Sergio Ortiz, Enrique Esparza, Miguel Rojas Organizers of El Festival del Maiz Stockton California Withword Room
Title: Baloney! Animal Ag and Corporate Control of our Food System
Katie Cantrell Executive Director Factory Farming Awareness Coalition Choir Room
Title: Have the Increased use of GMOs, and Pesticides Associated with GMOs Adversely Altered Human Health? Campbell Hall
Tom Malterre MS, CN, Functional Medicine Trained Nutritionist & author
Title: Community Seed Saving and Exchanging as an Agent of Change: How Local Efforts Can be a Solution to the Mainstream Agriculture Model Room A
Caitlin Moore Founder, Co-Director and Education Coordinator of the Olympia Seed Exchange
Title: Organizing Power for Regional Air Quality Room B
Rey Leon Executive Director of Latino Environmental Advancement Project (LEAP)
Lunch 12:30 PM -1:25 PM Campbell Hall
Plenary III 1:30 PM – 2:15 PM Sanctuary
Less Water, Less Bees, Let’s Take Action
Facilitator:
Y. Armando Nieto Executive Director of Community Food and Justice Coalition
Speakers:
Laurie Pyne President of Olympic Washington State Beekeepers Association
Adam Scow California Campaign Director at Food and Water Watch
Katherine S. DavisFaculty in the Center for Creative Change at Antioch University Seattle
Rey Leon Executive Director of Latino Environmental Advancement Project (LEAP)
Plenary IV 2:20 PM – 3:05 PM Sanctuary
Hunger, Genetic Manipulation & Faith:
Are we walking on the Right Path?
Facilitator:
Dana Perls Food and Technology campaigner with Friends of the Earth
Speakers:
Ron Glass Associate Professor of Philosophy of Education at the University of California Santa Cruz
Tom Malterre MS, CN, Functional Medicine Trained Nutritionist & author
Chris Korrow Farmer, naturalist, photographer, filmmaker, and author
Workshops/presentations 3:10 PM – 4:40 PM
Title: GE Salmon Chapel
Maralyn Chase Washington State Senator Anne Mosness President of the Women's Maritime Association
Title: Building Global Solidarity and Action for Food Justice Withword Room
Katherine Zavala Program Manager at Grassroots Alliances, IDEX Heather Day Executive Director of Community Alliance for Global Justice
Title: Transgenic Invasion to Biological Agriculture: Mexico's Attempt to Transcend Biotech Choir Room
Dr. Ann Lopez Executive Director of Center for Farm Workers
Title: Seed Concentration: Barriers and Opportunities for the Organic Seeds Community
Cristina Hubbard Director of Advocacy and Communications at Organic Seeds Alliance Courtney Pineau Assistant Director of Non-GMO Project Campbell Hall
Title: Moms Across America Asks: Are GMO’s Safe for our Families?
Kathleen Hallal Co-Founder Moms Across America Room A
Title: Creative Writing for Social Change Room B
Miguel Robles Co-Founder and Project Director of Biosafety Alliance
Seeds Exchange 5:00 PM – 6:30 PM Campbell Hall
Patrick O’Connor BASIL (facilitator) Caitlin Moore Founder, Co-Director and Education Coordinator of the Olympia Seed Exchange Brian Campbell Uprising Seeds
Brook Brouwer Washington State University
Featuring Dr.Vandana Shiva
7:00 PM Sanctuary
Re-vitalizing Living Systems
Saturday August 3rd, 2013
Ceremony Delbert Miller (sm3tcoom) is Skokomish (tuwaduq) 9:00AM–9:15AM
Plenary V 9:15 AM- 10:00 AM Sanctuary
Food Chain’s Legal Status
Facilitator:
Miguel Robles Co-Founder and Project Director of Biosafety Alliance
Speakers:
Dr. Ann Lopez Executive Director of Center for Farm Workers
Magdaleno Rose-Avila Director in the Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs for the City of Seattle
Rosalinda Guillen Executive Director of Community to Community
Katie Cantrell Executive Director of Factory Farming Awareness Coalition
Luis Magaña Campaign Organizer of Project Voice
Plenary VI 10:05 AM – 10:50 AM Sanctuary
How to Influence your Corporate Political Actors
Facilitator:
Karen Swift Co-Founder and Coordinator of Biosafety Alliance
Speakers:
Maralyn Chase Washington State Senator
George Kimbrell Center for Food Safety CFS Senior Attorney
Y. Armando Nieto Executive Director of Community Food and Justice Coalition
Lorette Picciano Executive Director of the Rural Coalition/Coalición Rural
Workshops 10:55 AM – 12:25 PM
Title: Indigenous Agroecosystems and Seed Sovereignty
Devon Peña President of Acequia Institute Paula Garcia Chair of the Mora County Commission Valerie Segrest Member of the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe Miguel Santistevan Biologist Chapel
Title: Genetic Engineering’s hidden evil twin: synthetic biology Withword Room
Dana Perls Food and Technology campaigner with Friends of the Earth
Title: Protecting water as a human right and as a public resource
Adam Scow California Campaign Director at Food and Water Watch Julia DeGraw Northwest Organizer for Food and Water Watch Cindy Black Local Organizer & Volunteer for Food & Water Watch Choir Room
Title: Market Based Solutions-Preview of New Seed Sourcing Tool
Melanie Cheng Founder of FarmsReach Renee Anderson Interaction Designer at FarmsReach Campbell Hall
Title: Community Organizing: A Tool for Movement-Building
Christina Spach Program Manager at Community Food and Justice Coalition Jessy Gill Policy Specialist at Community Food and Justice Coalition Courtney Hendrix Communications Specialist at Community Food and Justice Coalition Room A
Title: Untying the GMO Gordian Knot Room B
Michael Sligh Rural Advancement Foundation International (RAFI-USA)
Networking Sessions 12:25 PM - 1:15 PM
Just Label it!
Facilitator: Cindy Black Local Organizer & Volunteer for Food & Water Watch
Action research
Facilitator: Eric Holt-Gimenez Executive Director of Food First/Institute for Food and Development Policy
Brainstorm, Biosafety Alliance Next Steeps
Facilitator: Miguel Robles Co-Founder and Project Director of Biosafety Alliance
Food Justice
Facilitator: Jessy Gill Community Food and Justice Coalition
Radical Organizing & Revolutionary Farming
Facilitator: Effie Rawlings
Lunch 1:15 PM -1:55 PM Campbell Hall
Plenary VII 2:00 PM – 2:45 PM
Investing in My Values
Facilitator: Sanctuary
Theo Ferguson Founder of Vital Systems/Founding Member of Slow Money
Speakers:
Mr. Tezozomoc South Central Farmers Cooperative
Rachel Hynes Slow Money Northwest
Jim Gerristen (Comments to be read aloud and distributed)
Plenary VIII 2:50 PM – 3:35 PM
GMO Creative Responses for Local Action
Facilitator: Sanctuary
Lori Lively Editor of Sound Outlook and Steering committee for Yes on 522
Speakers:
Trudy Bialic Director of Public Affairs for PCC Natural Markets
Alexis Baden-Mayer Political Director of the Organic Consumers Association
John Roulac Founder and CEO of Nutiva
Dave Murphy Founder and Executive Director of Food Democracy Now!
Chris Hardy Co-Founder of GMO Free Jackson County
Marney Reynolds GMO-Free San Juans
Open Forum 3:45 PM - 6:00 PM Sanctuary
Party 7:00 PM
GMO Awareness Week Film Series
Films July 29th/August 1st Campbell Hall
GMO OMG.
Director Jeremy Seifert. Monday July 29th, 6:00 PM (90 Minutes)
Explores the systematic corporate takeover and potential loss of humanity’s most precious and ancient inheritance: seeds. Director Jeremy Seifert investigates how loss of seed diversity and corresponding laboratory assisted genetic alteration of food affects his young children, the health of our planet, and freedom of choice everywhere. GMO OMG follows one family’s struggle to live and eat without participating in an unhealthy, unjust, and destructive food system.
QUEEN OF THE SUN: What Are the Bees Telling Us?
Director Taggart Siegel. Monday July 29th, 8:00 PM(83 Minutes)
QUEEN OF THE SUN: What Are the Bees Telling Us? is a profound, alternative look at the global bee crisis from Taggart Siegel, director of THE REAL DIRT ON FARMER JOHN. Taking us on a journey through the catastrophic disappearance of bees and the mysterious world of the beehive, this engaging and ultimately uplifting film weaves an unusual and dramatic story of the heartfelt struggles of beekeepers, scientists and philosophers from around the world including Michael Pollan, Gunther Hauk and Vandana Shiva. Together they reveal both the problems and the solutions in renewing a culture in balance with nature.
The Garden.
Scott Hamilton Kennedy. Tuesday July 30th, 6:00 PM(80 minutes)
The Garden is about the South Central Farmers, a group of dirt-poor Los Angelenos who took a track of urban ruin and turned it into an Eden--only to see the flora they so lovingly planted and tended be bulldozed by a selfish landowner. This film is about their dignity, determination and their fight to preserve their garden--and what they've done to recover from its loss.
Dirt! The Movie.
Directed by Bill Benenson. Tuesday July 30th, 8:00 PM (86 Minutes)
A look at man's relationship with Dirt. Dirt and humans couldn't be closer. We started our journey together as stardust, swirled by cosmic forces into our galaxy, solar system, and planet. We are made of the same stuff. Four billion years of evolution created dirt as the living source of all life on Earth including humans. Dirt has given us food, shelter, fuel, medicine, ceramics, flowers, cosmetics and color --everything needed for our survival. For most of the last ten thousand years we humans understood our intimate bond with dirt and the rest of nature. We took care of the soils that took care of us. But, over time, we lost that connection. Our species became greedy and careless. We still depend on dirt, but now we abuse and ignore it. We are destroying our last natural resource with our agriculture, our mining, and our paving over the planet for cities. We turned dirt into something "dirty." In doing so, we transform the skin of the earth into a hellish and dangerous landscape for all life on earth.
The Power of Community; How Cuba Survived the Peak Oil.
Director Faith Morgan. Wednesday July 31st, 6:00 PM (53 Minutes)
When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1990, Cuba's economy went into a tailspin. With imports of oil cut by more than half – and food by 80 percent – people were desperate. This film tells of the hardships and struggles as well as the community and creativity of the Cuban people during this difficult time. Cubans share how they transitioned from a highly mechanized, industrial agricultural system to one using organic methods of farming and local, urban gardens. It is an unusual look into the Cuban culture during this economic crisis, which they call "The Special Period." The film opens with a short history of Peak Oil, a term for the time in our history when world oil production will reach its all-time peak and begin to decline forever. Cuba, the only country that has faced such a crisis – the massive reduction of fossil fuels – is an example of options and hope.
Edible City: Grow the Revolution.
Director Andrew Hasse. Wednesday July 29th, 7:00 PM (60 minutes)
Edible City is a feature-length documentary film that tells the stories of extraordinary people who are digging their hands into the dirt, working to transform their communities and doing something truly revolutionary: growing local Good Food systems that are socially just, environmentally sound, and economically resilient.
The Future of food Thursday.
Director Beborah Koon Garcia. August 1st, 6:00 PM (88 Minutes)
THE FUTURE OF FOOD offers an in-depth investigation into the disturbing truth behind the unlabeled, patented, genetically engineered foods that have quietly filled U.S. grocery store shelves for the past decade. From the prairies of Saskatchewan, Canada to the fields of Oaxaca, Mexico, this film gives a voice to farmers whose lives and livelihoods have been negatively impacted by this new technology. The health implications, government policies and push towards globalization are all part of the reason why many people are alarmed about the introduction of genetically altered crops into our food supply.
Symphony of the Soil, Thursday.
Director Beborah Koon Garcia. August 1st, 8:00 PM (104 Minutes)
Drawing from ancient knowledge and cutting edge science, Symphony of the Soil is an artistic exploration of the miraculous substance soil. By understanding the elaborate relationships and mutuality between soil, water, the atmosphere, plants and animals, we come to appreciate the complex and dynamic nature of this precious resource. The film also examines our human relationship with soil, the use and misuse of soil in agriculture, deforestation and development, and the latest scientific research on soil's key role in ameliorating the most challenging environmental issues of our time.
GMO Speaker Training with Jeffrey Smith
Sunday August 4, 2013
9am - 11am Labeling Training or 9am - 6pm Full Speaker Training
Separate registration directly with IRT:
https://org2.salsalabs.com/o/6236/p/salsa/event/common/public/?event_KEY=67563
Conference Steering Committee includes: Acequias Institute, Agra Watch, Basil, Biosafety Alliance, Center for Farm Worker Families, Community Food and Justice Coalition, Food First, IDEX, Navdanya Institute, South Central Farmers Cooperative, Vital Systems, Washington Biotechnology Action Council.
The Biosafety Alliance is a cross sector, multilevel and inter-ethnic alliance of individuals and organizations working together to engage in broader outreach around genetically modified (GMO) food issues and to bring together strategic coalitions of diverse stakeholders to advocate for a GMO free food supply as a means of pushing for a shift from an industrial food model, to a model of local resilience.GMOs are a symbol that represent the industrial food system and a key point that needs to be addressed in order to address and shift the industrial food model.
Our vision is to get the multi-faceted number of issues with GMOs, from health, to social justice, to environmental issues, to corporate consolidation, to enter the framework of various groups who have not traditionally focused on the issue of GMOs as a central theme and point that needs to be addressed to push for a systemic shift in the current corporate food regime.http://biosafetyalliance.org