The Patenting of Life, Limiting Liberty, and the Corporate Pursuit of Seeds [Hardcover]

The Patenting of Life, Limiting Liberty, and the Corporate Pursuit of Seeds addresses one of the most important but least discussed issues of our times. Seed is the first link in the food chain. Ali M. Nizamuddin shows how Patents on life are the biggest threat to freedoms of farmers to save seed, and freedom of citizens to know what is in their food. If you care about your food and your freedom, this is a book you must read.At a time of growing global food insecurity much of the worlds food supply is dominated by a few, huge corporations. In this important and disturbing book, Ali Nizamuddin outlines his concerns over corporate control of the global diet and food supply for profit, and the risks to health and sustainability this poses. If you eat, you should read this.This book examines the impact of genetically modified seeds on traditional societies and the corporate monopolization of the worlds food supply. The time-honored practice of reclaiming and replanting the seed has become a crime, thereby fostering a feudalistic relationship of perpetual dependence on the corporation.Throughout world history, what human beings ate was determined by what local producers cultivated, and what they planted was determined by seasonal cycles. After the harvest, farmers reclaimed the seeds so that they could replant them the following season. Today, however, these age-old practices that guided countless generations are becoming extinct. What we eat, the quality of our food, and even the tastes that we develop are dictated by powerful corporations who are driven by the profit motive.This book investigates the corporate dominance of the worlds seed supply. The seed is natures gift and the first link in the food chain. This life form is becoming the exclusive intellectual property of the corporation. The advent of genetically modified seeds and strict patent protection accorded to them enable companies to own the seed even after the farmer has bought, planted, and harvested tlãT