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Happy Winter Solstice!
The power of Mother Nature shines and human plans pale. I was acutely reminded of this yesterday when snow kept me from reaching my family in tiny Ord, Nebraska – the Main Street I grew up on. (Photo of my Omaha ‘snowed in’ view.)
Can hardly wait to see Cyndi, a hometown friend and Mainstreet Woman, who shared this during our interview for the upcoming book:
What’s really important to me is that my children, who are adults now, and my grandchildren, have a world that continues to be a safe place. We’re changing our earth and I need to educate myself and my family because they need a safe place. We have to change how we are toward our earth – that’s the top thing that is important to me.” Cyndi, NE
Mainstreet Women all across the U.S. echoed Cyndi’s voice: we’ve got to learn, we’ve got to change. As Stefani, MO put it, “think seven generations that follow.”
SEED INSPIRES
A couple of months ago, I was rather crabbily sitting in the back of a full Southwest airlines flight from San Francisco to Portland, OR. Two gentlemen squeezed in next to me: Jon Betz and Taggart Siegel. These men took me from cranky to inspired in 5 minutes flat!
Jon and Taggart are documentary filmmakers who share Mainstreet Women’s deep concern and respect for our earth. They had just finished a first round of shooting for their new film, SEED: The Untold Story.
I sat wide-eyed, increasingly exhilarated as I listened to what they’re up to. SEED will be their third film in a trilogy that began with the award-winning films Real Dirt On Farmer John & Queen of the Sun.
In SEED, they investigate the dramatic story of seeds, the basis of life on earth. For 12,000 years humans have been nurturing and cultivating seeds to form the backbone of civilization. Now, 94% of our seed varieties have been lost and many more are nearing extinction.
SEED will unveil a David and Goliath battle for the future of our seeds by examining how five chemical corporations have taken control of seeds through patents, copyrights and genetic modification. These companies are placing ownership on the seeds, literally stealing the genetic material from our ancestors who nurtured these seeds for thousands of years.
MODERN-DAY HEROINE: VANDANA SHIVA
Dr. Vandana Shiva is a living, breathing heroine in the film who reminds us that “the threat to seed freedom impacts the very fabric of human life and life on the planet. Seed is not just the source of life. It is the very foundation of our being.”
As many irreplaceable seeds are nearing extinction, Taggart and Jon’s film follows Dr. Shiva in India, others around the globe, and seed activists here in the U.S. These committed people are working tirelessly to preserve agricultural security and seed diversity in an uphill battle against high-tech industrial seed companies and an impending global food crisis.
BACK SEED & MORE
After meeting Jon and Taggart, I can personally vouch for their integrity and passion. They have a Kickstarter Project to gain more backers so that they can complete the film. I encourage you to WATCH A SHORT VIDEO TRAILER and if you are able, join me in backing this film: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1165887134/seed-the-untold-story-documentary-film
Not only can we help birth SEED into the world’s learning and action agenda, but as 80-90% of the consumer muscle in our nation, if we decided to act together to change what’s happening to our food supply, what do you think we could accomplish? Could these Goliath corporations really stop us?
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
Again, Happy Winter Solstice! If you’re traveling over the holidays, safely reach your destinations.
Hint, hint — for the holiday gift and my undying gratitude — remember to ask/get people to share “what’s one thing really you’re really proud of and wish every girl in America could experience too?” (Mainstreet Women blog post: Why You Keep My Hope Alive)
Sending you warmest wishes for 2013! Jone
Update on SEED: The Untold Story Kickstarter progress!
Here’s where we’re at so far:
• 75% to our goal of $50,000 to fund continuing production for SEED: The Untold Story.
• We’ve gotten 6,825 likes on Facebook and our video has been watched over 6,866 times!
• We’ve been featured as the Kickstarter of the Week on the front page of The Cultural Weekly and Organic Consumers Association has given SEED a shout-out in their widely read weekly e-newsletter.
• There are an amazing 617 backers (that’s you) backing this film…and 183 of you donated $100 or more, so you are set to receive SEED on DVD when we finish the film. Awesome.
Still time! Can you give them a boost with at least $5 dollars?
UPDATE ON SEED: THE UNTOLD STORY
Dear Friends,
We did it! Thank you all 823 of you for joining together to support SEED: The Untold Story.
With this initial goal met we are set to begin development on a website for SEED: The Untold Story, we’re ready to work with animators to brainstorm our first animation sequences and we’re already getting our existing footage logged, transcribed and translated so it’s ready to edit into a film.
Taggart is shooting for the next week with incredible seedsmen and women in New Zealand. I have been on the phone today setting up shoots for key stories in the film that we are eager to capture soon. We are unearthing stories of consolidation, biopiracy and genetic contamination and stories of hope: seed savers finding endangered seeds that have nearly disappeared, seed discoveries that could result in better adaptations to climate change, indigenous cultures revitalizing their seed stocks and more.
So, can we still use more to make this all happen? Yes! Our initial goal represented the bare minimum to continue SEED and get closer to the finished film. With 11 days left, we now we have the opportunity to bring in enough to cover the costs of finishing the film! With the trajectory we are on, we believe we can reach this STRETCH GOAL of $75,000.
Why keep spreading the word and/or donate more?
1. It will allow us to make a better film. Every dollar we go beyond our goal will allow us to focus more on the story of SEED without returning to the drawing board for funding. Our budget for the finished film is more than what we’ve raised, so every dollar gets us closer to this ideal budget. If we reach this goal, we will be able to document important stories unfolding in the world of seeds that we will not otherwise be able to film AND we will be able to hire the team necessary to do important work that will drastically speed up the process of completing the film. This means a greater likelihood of finishing on track in early 2014!
2. The film will look and sound better. More funding will pay for color-correction so that the film looks great, it will pay for a sound mix so it sounds great too.
3. The animation will be stunning. More funding will also be used to complete a more ideal number of animation sequences which the initial goal did not cover. Not only that, but these crucial animations will get completed on time and look stellar.
We have the momentum. Please help us reach this “stretch goal” of $75,000. This is the minimum expense for finishing work on SEED and will be instrumental in helping us complete the film. It will make a huge difference.
Our thanks and gratitude,
Taggart, Jon and the Collective Eye Films Team