The Seeds of Vandana Shiva

Vandana’s inspiring life story of activism shows how one person can make a real difference:

Her David versus Goliath campaign against a handful of corporations controlling a globalised food system that destroys biodiversity, degrades soil, creates desertification and pumps up to 40% of greenhouse gasses to into the atmosphere in the end offers hope that we can each make a real difference too.

We can mitigate climate change, regenerate the environment, strengthen local communities and feed the world. How? By saving seeds, supporting small farmers and choosing organic and fair-traded food.

The Seeds of Vandana Shiva seeks to inspire viewers to:

Choose local, organic and fair-traded food.

Educate others about the interconnections between the climate, the environment, social justice, and food.

Petition policymakers to support small-scale, organic and regenerative farmers, and food and fibre producers.

Through the telling of one woman’s inspiring personal journey of lived social action, our goals are to:

In the immediate term, create a greater understanding of how the global food system impacts society, the climate, and the environment and to change viewers' behavior towards local, organic and fair traded food.

In the medium term, connect people to local and international organizations in the ecological food movement to help grow the movement’s membership, impact and reach.

And, in the long term, to help shift public policy—across community, state, national and international levels—towards climate change-mitigating, ecological and locally managed farming and food.

During production, Navdanya, Regeneration International and the Organic Consumers Association supported us with in-kind travel and accommodation. We also received financial support from Patagonia and Organic Valley, plus product donations from Patagonia, Nutiva, KeVita, North Atlantic Books, Lexicon of Sustainability, All Good Things Organic Seeds, Seed Savers Exchange, and The Omega Institute for our crowdfunding campaigns.

Our Advisory Board includes the International Director of Regeneration International, the former director of I-FOAM Organics International, the former International Director of the Center for Food Safety, the Publisher of Resurgence and Ecologist Magazine, and the Director of Movements for Ecological Learning and Community Action.

Our Advisory Board has provided us with resources for research and three of our Board members appear in The Seeds of Vandana Shiva but other than that, the filmmakers have produced, directed and have final cut of this film.

As far as it is possible for you, buy locally produced, organic, regenerative and fair-traded food.
Become part of the regenerative food movement. There are already many great organizations already working in the trenches that you can join and support.
Know that whatever your interests and aptitudes—you can be a farmer, a food producer, a scientist, an artist, a parent, a teacher, a policymaker—there is a way for you to make a difference. Everyone can find a role to play in the ecological food web.
Find out from your elected officials where they stand on food, farming, the environment, and climate change. What policies exist in your locality that could be challenged and changed toward a more regenerative future of food?

Our initial metrics already include promotional reel play numbers (to date over 30K), website visits, social media engagement (high) and newsletter open rates (also high). These serve as predictors of interest in the forthcoming film.

On release we’ll track attendance at community screenings, conferences, and educational institutions; also trailer views, newsletter sign-up rates, social media engagement, website visits, media reports and reviews, influencer shout-outs, digital downloads, and DVD sales. With key organisational partners, we’ll also track metrics to do with the film.

We will solicit feedback through audience surveys at screenings and track outcomes of specific outreach campaigns (for example, Patagonia’s Seed Savers Teach-In Tour). We will personally engage with audiences whenever we can, collecting stories for newsletters, social media, and future outreach initiatives.