permaculture

[Paul Cereghino <paul.cereghino@comcast.net>]

Reason for the continued requests is that a PDF may be a real document, 
perhaps in an official format, that could be added to a press packet or 
a fact sheet.  Some text pulled of the internet doesn't carry the same 
psychological weight.
~Paul

Keith Johnson wrote:

> I'm still getting requests that I send out the PDF image of this 
> document despite having sent it out in text form, thanks to David 
> Buitenveld who converted it with OCR.
> Here it is, again, in text form form.
> Keith
>
>  SANTA FE COUNTY
>  Resolution No. 2007 - 9
>
>  A Resolution in Support of a "Declaration of Seed Sovereignty: A
>  Living Document for New Mexico"
>
>  WHEREAS, our ability to grow food is the culmination of countless
>  generations of sowing and harvesting seeds and those seeds are
> the continuation of an
>  unbroken line from our ancestors to us and to our children and
> grandchildren.
>  WHEREAS, our ancestors developed a relationship with plants that
>  allowed their cultivation for food and medicine and this has
> been a central element
>  of our culture and our survival for millennia in regions
> throughout the world.
>  WHEREAS, the concurrent development of cultures of Eurasia,
> Africa,
>  and the Americas resulted in a plethora of food and crop types
> including
>  grains such as maize and wheat; legumes such as beans and
> lentils; fruits such as squash and
>  chile; vegetables such as spinach and those of the cabbage
> family; and roots such as potatoes
>  and turnips.
>  WHEREAS, these foods and crops, though developed independently
> of each
>  other, came together in New Mexico with the meeting of Spanish,
> Mexican, and
>  Native American cultures to create a unique and diverse
> indigenous agricultural system
>  and land-based culture.
>  WHEREAS, just as our families are attached to our homes, our
> seeds learn to thrive in
>  their place of cultivation by developing a relationship with
> the soil, water, agricultural·
>  practices, ceremonies, and prayers; thereby giving seeds a
> sacred place in our families
>  and communities.
>  WHEREAS, the way in which seeds become attached to a place
> makes them native
>  seeds, also known as landraces, also makes them an important
> element of the
>  generational memory of our communities.
>  WHEREAS, the continued nurturing of native seeds or landraces
> has provided the basis
>  for the community coming together for communal work such as
> Cleaning acequias and
>  preparing fields as well as in ceremony, prayers, and blessings
> thereby binding our
>  communities, traditions, and cultures together.
>  WHEREAS, the practices embodied in working the land and water
> and caring for seeds
>  provides the basis for our respectful connection to the Earth
> and with each other.
>  WHEREAS, our practices in eating for native seeds (Iandraces)
> and growing crops
>  provide for much of our traditional diet and results in our
> ability to feed ourselves with
>  healthy food that is culturally and spiritually significant.
>  WHEREAS, clean air, soil, water, and landscapes have been
> essential elements in the
>  development and nurturing of seeds as well as the harvesting of
> wild plants; and that
>  these elements of air, land, and water have been contaminated
> to certain degrees.
>  WHEREAS, corporate seed industries have created a technology
> that takes the genetic
>  material from a foreign species and inserts it into a landrace
> and is known as Genetically
>  Engineered (GE) or transgenic crops.
>  WHEREAS, seed corporations patent the seeds, genetics, and/or
> the processes used in
>  the manipulation of landraces, and have gone so far as to
> patent other wild plants or the
>  properties contained in the plants.
>  WHEREAS, GE crops have escaped into the environment with maize
> in Oaxaca, Mexico
>  and canola in Canada and crossed into native seeds and wild plants.
>  WHEREAS, organic farmers have been sued by seed corporations
> when these patented
>  genetic strains have been identified in the farmers' crops,
> even though the farmers were
>  unable to see or stop pollen from genetically engineered crops
> from blowing over the
>  landscape and into their fields, thus contaminating the
> farmers' crops.
>  WHEREAS, the effect of this technology on the environment or
> human health when
>  consumed is not fully understood.
>  WHEREAS, the seed industry refuses to label GE seeds and food
> products containing
>  GE ingredients.
>  WHEREAS, the pervasiveness of GE crops in our area cannot then
> be fully known due
>  to the lack of labeling and therefore carries the potential for
> genetic pollution on our
>  landraces.
>  WHEREAS, countries such as Japan, England, and countries in
> Africa have refused
>  genetically modified foods and prohibit the introduction of GE
> crops on their lands
>  because of their unknown health effects.
>  WHEREAS, indigenous cultures around the world are the
> originators, developers, and
>  owners of the original genetic material used in the genetic
> engineering of crops by
>  corporations today.
>  WHEREAS, this declaration must be a living, adaptable document
> that can be amended
>  as needed in response to rapidly changing GE technology that
> brings about other
>  potential assaults to seeds and our culture.
>
>  NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Board of County
> Commissioners of
>  Santa Fe County supports the following:
>  • The traditional farmers of Indo-Hispano and Native American
> ancestry of current day
>  northern New Mexico collectively and intentionally seek to
> continue the seed-saving traditions
>  of our ancestors and maintain the land races that are
> indigenous to the region of northern New Mexico;
>  • Seek to engage youth in the continuation of the traditions of
> growing traditional
>  foods, sharing scarce water resources, sharing seeds, and
> celebrating our harvests.
>  • Reject the validity of corporations' ownership claims to
> crops and wild plants that
>  belong to our cultural history and identity.
>  • Object to the seed industry's refusal to label seeds or
> products containing GE
>  technology and ingredients and demand all genetically modified
> seeds and foods
>  containing GE ingredients in the State of New Mexico to be
> labeled as such.
>  • Object to the cultivation of GE seeds in general but
> especially within range of our
>  traditional agricultural systems that can lead to the
> contamination of our seeds,
>  wild plants, traditional foods, and cultural property.
>  • We will work with each other, local, tribal, and state
> governments to create zones
>  that will be free of genetically engineered and transgenic
> organisms.
>  • We will also work together to address other environmental
> abuses that
>  contaminate our air, soil, and water quality that certainly
> affects our health, the
>  health of our seeds and agriculture, and the health of future
> generations.
>  • We will work together with the traditional farmers
> representing various acequia,
>  Pueblo, tribal, and surrounding communities to create, support,
> and collaborate
>  toward projects and programs focused on revitalization of food
> traditions,
>  agriculture, and seed saving and sharing.
>
>  PASSED, APPROVED and ADOPTED this 30th DAY OF JANUARY, 2007.
>  BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
>
>  ATTEST:
>  Valerie Espinoza, Santa Fe County Clerk
>  APPROVED AS TO FORM:
>  Attorney
>  BCC RESOLUTIONS
>  Hand And Seal Of Office
>  Valerie Espinoza
>  Clerk, Santa Fe, NM
>  COUNTY OF SANTA FE
>  STATE OF NEW MEXICO
>  I Hereby Certify That This Instrument Was Filed for
>  record On The 31ST Day Of January A.D., 2007 at 11:14
>  And Was Duly Recorded as document # 1469051
>  of The Records Of Santa Fe County
>
>