Few things on Earth are as miraculous and vital as seeds. Worshipped and treasured since the dawn of humankind. “SEED: The Untold Story” follows passionate seed keepers protecting our 12,000 year-old food legacy. In the last century, 94% of our seed varieties have disappeared. As biotech chemical companies control the majority of our seeds, farmers, scientists, lawyers, and indigenous seed keepers fight a David and Goliath battle to defend the future of our food. In a harrowing and heartening story, these reluctant heroes rekindle a lost connection to our most treasured resource and revive a culture connected to seeds. SEED features Vandana Shiva, Dr. Jane Goodall, Andrew Kimbrell, Winona Laduke and Raj Patel.
After the screening of the documentary film SEED: the untold story, on 24 May, there will be a short intervention by Frank Adams, from SEED Luxembourg, with Aline Ouvrard, from CELL and with Tania Walisch, followed by a debate.
Frank Adams is a market gardener and an organic seed producer. For 30 years he has been practicing the "ecosystemic cultivation" of vegetables and seeds, without ever having used a single pesticide. For the past 13 years, he has also worked as a teacher and trainer in market gardening. Frank is the secretary of the SEED association, founded in 2012 as a platform for plant diversity, especially food crops. He is also president of the "Réseau Meuse-Rhin-Moselle pour les semences paysannes et citoyennes" which acts interregionally in the Greater Region. At the European level, he is involved in political work for legislation favouring the diversity of traditional seeds. In Luxembourg, he is involved in the development of a "citizens' seed network" and in the project "from seed to plate" with local market gardeners. He also organises conferences and workshops on the artisanal cultivation of vegetable seeds.
CELL is an association founded in 2010, which aims to promote social concepts and lifestyles, which have a reduced impact on the environment. The association offers a positive perspective on a possible collective future in which people have created equitable living conditions and community resilience.
Aline Ouvrard is involved in the Urban Gardening and Polynatur projects, supported by the Ministry of Environment, Climate and Sustainable Development. These projects aim to support community gardens and implement actions for pollinators.
Tania Walisch, is a curator at the natural history Museum, she does research in plant ecology and evolution, and manage the virtual collection of bio- and geo-diversity data. She has been involved in activism for global social and environmental justice since 2003. She is participating in the transition movement in Luxembourg, where she is involved with food transition/permaculture and co-lead a urban community garden and farm project.