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Yumiko Ohtani's report on
Vandana Shiva's lecture (March 25, 2003)

"Now, we are on the journey toward peace. This is a journey to stop the war against food." She continued, "Now we are surrounded by lots of wars, a war against food, a war against the earth, a war against our bodyc.The poisons once used as weapons are now called pesticides. What was once used for wars is now being used for agriculture and is called modern."

Vandana Shiva started her lecture in Shibuya, Tokyo with these strong messages. She is one of the most active and famous activists on sustainable and organic agriculture.

In the lecture, she mainly gave us the following three strong messages.

First, that the modern food system was created by the people who cause wars, and is destroying our body.

Second, the attempt by the chemical industry to expand their market is necessarily preceded by the following three weapons, 1) GM (genetically modified) food, 2) patent laws, and 3) the modern trading system.

Finally, she emphasized the dangers of GM foods as a war against the earth and the human body.

Several years ago I came across Shiva's book for the first time. It was the translated version of "Staying Alive" and I still can remember how excited I was. In the book she pointed out that 80% of modern scientific research is for the military and related industry. She went on to address the history of destruction of nature, and its far-reaching effects. From the start of modern scientific research in the 15th century, the principle of feminine values was denied; this denial of power was further entrenched during the 17th century colonial project, and continues to this day. Her book and philosophies have been a huge sustenance for me as an activist, for a long time.

There are five principles in "Food for the Future"(link shown here). The fourth principle is "To eat foods that don't harm humans or the earth". To introduce "Food for a Future" to many more people, we established the eco-party planners and catering company "Team E". This year, the theme of Team E is "Peace Earth Food". (Note: this is Japanese Eng and it means peaceful and earth friendly food)

Shifting our life into peace and a symbiosis with nature starts when we liberate ourselves from the now-mainstream worldview, which overly relies on scientific research, and awaken our principle of femininity, or in other words, our principle of life. It is "Food for a Future" that is trying to practice this awakening, starting from our kitchen and our way of eating. It is challenging but well worth it.