Feature story - October 29, 2007
Come see a series of photos commissioned by Greenpeace that depict life of rice farmers in rural China. The photos were taken by local residents, and depict everyday life of traditional farmers practicing sustainable agriculture in Yunnan, China. What you WON'T see is the pressure these farmers are under by multinational agribusiness to change their practices.
Planting rice and carrying a child in Yunnan, China.
The Land Gives Me Rice, Rice Gives Me Life
photo exhibit will be held November 8-18, 2007 at the RIDM
Lounge du Cœur des sciences de l'UQAM, 175 av. Président Kennedy
(near Métro Place des Arts), Montréal, QC.
Sustainable agriculture is still being practiced in Yunnan,
China, where in 2004 Greenpeace China organized The Road of Rice - The Ecological Agriculture Tour
to promote and celebrate biodiversity and food security. As part
of this tour, five traditional rice farmers from five different
villages were given cameras and invited to document a year in the
life of their villages, 2005 - 2006. Geng Yunsheng, a well known
Yunnan-based photographer, was hired to oversee the project and
select the photographs for a book distributed by Greenpeace China
entitled Rice Is Life upon which this exhibit is based.
You can see examples
of the photos here
These photos depict rich and vibrant cultures built on
sophisticated, traditional agricultural and ecological practices.
What you do not see in these photos is that these communities are
under attack by Western-based multinationals such as Bayer and
Monsanto, which seek to monopolize the biodiversity stewarded by
these people and undermine their way of life with crude and
dangerous genetically engineered strains of rice.
"This exhibit focuses on the ecological and agricultural
traditionsstill practiced by farmers in Yunnan Province. But keep
in mind thatthese communities are threatened by genetically
engineered rice strainswith which western-based multinationals seek
to monopolize thebiodiversity of the rice fields," said Josh
Brandon, GE campaigner,Greenpeace Canada.