It would take little to disrupt the primary food supplies of most New Mexicans, who rely on produce and meat from grocery stores supplied by far-off farms.
Building strong and resilient local food production systems provides better security, according to sponsors of the sixth annual Traditional Agriculture and Sustainable Living conference at Northern New Mexico College on Friday and Saturday. The conference will focus on how people can be pro-active in supporting local, sustainable farming and healthier communities.
Featured speakers include Canadian farmer Percy Schmeiser, who fought corporate seed giant Monsanto over genetically-modified organisms; ethnobotanist and author Gary Paul Nabhan; and Galen D. Knight, a biochemist promoting holistic health. Scheduled keynote speaker Vandana Shiva, a New Delhi physicist turned global food activist, is unable to attend due to illness.
Schmeiser farmed for 50 years in Bruno, Saskatchewan, and helped run his family's farm equipment business. Schmeiser, a former Bruno mayor, was sued by Monsanto in 1998 after canola containing the company's patented genetic material was found growing in his field. Monsanto is one of the largest seed companies in the world. The Canadian Supreme Court ruled that Schmeiser had infringed on the company's patent but did not profit from it.
Schmeiser, 81, said the ruling effectively means that it doesn't matter what percent of a farmer's field is contaminated by genetically modified, patented crops or how it gets there - wind, bees or intentional planting - Monsanto has the right to sue.
The company maintains it only sues farmers Monsanto believes has intentionally planted its patented seeds without a purchased license.
Schmeiser later took Monsanto to small claims court in 2008 and settled for $640 to pay neighbors who helped him remove volunteer GMO plants in a new field, where he and his wife were testing yellow mustard seed. He said it sets a small, but crucial precedent that a company can be sued for "harming" a farmer whose fields are inadvertently contaminated by patented seeds.
Schmeiser now travels the world speaking against patented, genetically-modified seeds and promoting labels that would tell consumers if the food they were purchasing contained GMOs. "Organic farmers can't exist if [others] keep bringing in GMOs," Schmeiser said.
Nabhan, who founded Native Seed/SEARCH to collect and save traditional seeds, has been called the "father of the local food movement." He's currently heads the new Southwest Borderlands Food and Water Security program at the University of Arizona. He was a Macarthur Fellow and his most recent book is Chasing Chiles - Hot Spots Along the Pepper Trail (2011, Chelsea Green), co-written with chef Kurt Michael Friese and agroecologist Kraig Kraft. Nabhan will discuss the need for diversity among seeds and farmers.
Knight is a former biochemistry researcher at The University New Mexico, where he and a colleague, Terence J. Scallen, developed a compound they claim helps immune systems fight cancer cells and became embroiled in a lawsuit with UNM over rights to the patent. Knight runs a nonprofit company called Vitale Therapeutics, which offers advice on alternative therapies for people with autoimmune, endocrine and infectious diseases.
Besides the speakers, the conference will feature local and regional experts in food security and sustainable ecology, a heritage seed exchange and several workshops.
Dozens of students from Santa Fe High, Capital High and the Santa Fe Indian School will be attending the conference Friday for a youth panel.
The conference is sponsored by Four Bridges Traveling Permaculture Institute, The Institute of Natural and Traditional Knowledge, the Pueblo of Tesuque, Sostenga and other groups. Senior citizens, school groups and Native American people can attend the conference for free. Other prices range from $25 to $50 depending on what attending.
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