Abstract
(This title contains the DVD bonus/additional content that was available along with the main title) As industrial agriculture spreads around the world, many small-scale farmers are losing their land. Nowhere is the situation more desperate than in India, where every 30 minutes one farmer, deep in debt and unable to provide for his family, commits suicide. It's an epidemic, which has claimed over a quarter million lives.
Following a U.S. complaint to the World Trade Organization, India had to open its doors to foreign seed companies like the U.S.-based Monsanto. Now only genetically modified (GM) seeds for some major crops are available at the seed shops. The GM seeds are much more expensive; in addition to precious water, they need additional fertilizers and insecticides and must be re-purchased every season. Large farms have prospered, but the majority of farmers are now struggling to make a living off their land.
Ram Krishna, a cotton farmer at the epicenter of the suicide crisis region, is struggling to keep his land. Manjusha, the neighbors' daughter, is determined to overcome village traditions and become a journalist. Ram Krishna's plight becomes her first assignment.
Bitter Seeds raises critical questions about the human cost of genetically modified agriculture and the future of how we grow things.
Bitter Seeds is the final film in Micha X. Peled's Globalization Trilogy. Store Wars: When Wal-Mart Comes to Town focused on consumption in the U.S., and China Blue investigated the manufacturing of the clothes we all consume. Bitter Seeds looks at the raw materials. It goes to India and follows the farmers growing the cotton exported to China's garment factories to be used for the clothes sold in the West. Each film explores a deeper layer of the production-consumption chain.
Following a U.S. complaint to the World Trade Organization, India had to open its doors to foreign seed companies like the U.S.-based Monsanto. Now only genetically modified (GM) seeds for some major crops are available at the seed shops. The GM seeds are much more expensive; in addition to precious water, they need additional fertilizers and insecticides and must be re-purchased every season. Large farms have prospered, but the majority of farmers are now struggling to make a living off their land.
Ram Krishna, a cotton farmer at the epicenter of the suicide crisis region, is struggling to keep his land. Manjusha, the neighbors' daughter, is determined to overcome village traditions and become a journalist. Ram Krishna's plight becomes her first assignment.
Bitter Seeds raises critical questions about the human cost of genetically modified agriculture and the future of how we grow things.
Bitter Seeds is the final film in Micha X. Peled's Globalization Trilogy. Store Wars: When Wal-Mart Comes to Town focused on consumption in the U.S., and China Blue investigated the manufacturing of the clothes we all consume. Bitter Seeds looks at the raw materials. It goes to India and follows the farmers growing the cotton exported to China's garment factories to be used for the clothes sold in the West. Each film explores a deeper layer of the production-consumption chain.
Collection
Subject
Series
Globalization Trilogy
Contributors
Peled, Micha X. (director), Peled, Micha X. (writer), Peled, Micha X. (producer), Ilfman, Frank (composer), Feinstein, Loenard (editor), Golatkar, Devendra (videographer), Bari, Prachi (producer), Dharmadhikari, Shyam (contributor), Kharade, Kaamod (sound designer), Pande, Anand (contributor), Fifer, Sally Jo (executive producer), Teddy Bear Films (producer), Independent Television Service (ITVS) (producer), Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) (collaborator)
Duration
00:19:18 (HH:MM:SS)
Language:
English
Target or Intended Audience
adult/continuing education, higher education, high school (grades 10-12), college
Copyright Holder
| Name | Bullfrog Films (Firm) |
| Role | distributor |
| Telephone | 800-543-3764 |
| Address | Bullfrog Films, PO Box 149Oley, PA 19547 |
| [email protected] |
Copyright Date
2011-01-01
Rights Declaration:
This video is protected by copyright. You are free to view it but not download or remix it. Please contact the licensing institution for further information about how you may use this video.
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