BBFF21: The Seeds of Vandana Shiva

Synopsis

How did the willful daughter of a Himalayan forest conservator become Monsanto’s worst nightmare? The Seeds of Vandana Shiva tells the remarkable life story of Gandhian eco-activist Dr. Vandana Shiva, how she stood up to the corporate Goliaths of industrial agriculture, rose to prominence in the sustainable food movement, and inspired an international crusade for change.
In her colorful sari and large scarlet bindi, Dr. Vandana Shiva is an arresting presence: She galvanizes crowds, advises government leaders, fields constant calls from the media—then then retreats from big-city buzz to work alongside small farmers across the developing world.
Who is she? What is her mission? How did this woman from an obscure town in India become Monsanto’s worst nightmare, a rebellious rock star in the global debate about who feeds the world?
Among those engaged with organic food and farming, climate change, biodiversity, seed sovereignty, globalization, and social justice, Vandana Shiva is an icon of a global movement. Hers is the remarkable and unlikely story of a girl who trekked from highland cabin to cabin alongside her father, tended a garden alongside her mother, and passionately pursued an education that freed her from the caste and gender constraints of traditional Indian society that culminated in a degree in Nuclear Physics, and then a Ph.D. in the Philosophy of Quantum Theory.
But those achievements were merely a prelude to her awakening as a fully-committed activist.
Vandana Shiva brought her scientific expertise and Gandhian principles of nonviolent resistance to the struggles of Indian villagers whose livelihoods were being crushed by corporate capitalism. She has become a formidable opponent to those corporations whose drive for privatization and profit are destroying the environment and changing the climate.
The Seeds of Vandana Shiva focuses on the people, circumstances and seminal events in Vandana’s life—what shaped her thinking and defined her purpose.