Seeds of Profit: Why Fruits and Vegetable Are the New Gold
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Published 2024-02-07
Take the tomato. Through multiple hybridizations, scientists are constantly producing redder, smoother, firmer fruit. But in the process, it has lost a quarter of its calcium and more than half of its vitamins. The seeds that produce the fruits and vegetables we consume are now the property of a handful of multinationals, like Bayer, and Dow-Dupont, who own them. These multinationals have their seeds produced predominantly in India, where workers are paid just a handful of rupees while the company has a turnover of more than 2 billion euros. A globalized business where the seed sells for more than gold.
According to FAO, worldwide, 75% of the cultivated varieties have disappeared in the past 100 years. Loss of nutrients, privatization of life, We reveal the industrialists’ great monopoly over our fruit and veg.
Director: Linda Bendali
All Comments (21)
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We need more home gardeners ❤
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We ALL need to grow what we can for ourselves and buy only when we NEED to.
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Moral of the story...creating dependency has detrimental effects. Grow what you can to avoid the poison they sell us. Food quality is critical...don't trust the system to provide for you.
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Yay, for the rebel seed growers. Seeds Without Frontiers!!!!❤
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I grew super 100 tomatoes in my backyard garden. After harvesting, without washing, they remained edible for 1 month and 4 days. No mildew at all. Commercial AG is the problem.
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WE must all grow food with composting, using worms, manure and minerals---only way to improve our food content.
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Wow! I was planning to plant hybrid tomatoes to get more harvest but after seeing this, I have to plant more heirlooms. Thank you for sharing this to the public! We need to know if the food we eat is really good for our body. No wonder why so many people are sick even if they eat vegetables from the store.
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No one should ever have a patent on vegetable or fruit plants, growing food must remain a human right.
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Food getting more expensive and less nutritious. :(
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Excellent documentary on a vital topic! A key point to note is that nutrient density starts with genetics BUT is also heavily influenced by farming practices i.e. natural vs synthetic/industrial farming!
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There are lots of small independent seed companies in Canada. Most of their offerings are heirloom, open pollinated and some are organic. Some offer F1 seeds but it’s not what they’re known for. Here in Nova Scotia they offer unique pumpkin seeds from native peoples that thrive in our maritime temperate climate.Scotia tomatoes, novaspy apples, lupins etc
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Amazing documentary! I'm surprised that I didn't see anything about soil health and how it correlates to fruit nutrition though. Perhaps that could be an entire documentary of its own? Comparing nutrition in hydroponic vegetable vs small scale vegetables.
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It has not so much to do with the varieties used but with the soil. Big machinery, too much disturbance of the soil, no organic matter and synthetic fertilizers with only NPK, are killing the soil. A dead soil can't properly feed the plants.
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I’ve been talking about this and ppl think I’m going too far with what is healthiest to eat.
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An interesting experiment would be to produce heirloom and modern hybrid varieties in the same soils and with the same cultural practices and compare the nutritional profiles. That could shed light on the argument that the difference is down to culture rather than genetics.
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I can't help but think that the seed vault in Norway is somehow involved in this entire scheme. If these seed manufacturing companies continue to buyout smaller seed companies, our food choices as a people will become extremely limited. Which is why we should participate in local seed libraries and support local farmers to the best of our ability.
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I am having so much fun learning to grow all this stuff at my house. It really is the perfect thing to visit once a day and clear the mind and relax and care for plants.
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Tomatoes are picked green, they store for 1 year then they induce ripening by putting them with ripe tomatoes. The huge losses in flavour and nutrients is not really a surprise. This is practiced with many types of fruit they don't do this with leafy greens, cabbage, broccoli or similar vegetables. They also strip the land and let the wind erode the top soil off which they pump fertilizer into the soil to counter. I think this has as much impact as the genetic selection and hybrid breeding.
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That why you need local farmers
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Learning how to make soil for growing at home is a good skill to learn. Most of the problems with what plants contain are caused by the fertilizers used, and the lack of trace elements.
