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Quote by Vandana Shiva

“We have a very old conservation movement, particularly in the United States, which has focused on campaigns to protect endangered species: the spotted owl, the old-growth forest. But usually it stops there. To me, biodiversity is the full spectrum. Species conservation is not only about wilderness conservation. Its also about protecting the livelihood of people even while changing the dominant relationship that humans have had with other species. In India, its an economic issue, not just an ecological one.”

Quote by Vandana Shiva

Author

Vandana Shiva is an Indian environmental activist, food sovereignty advocate, and author. Born on November 5, 1952, she is recognized for her efforts in promoting sustainable agriculture and organic farming. Shiva has authored many books and articles on environmental issues and is a vocal critic of corporate control over seeds and food systems. more

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“American firms are beginning to reproduce nonsustainable systems, to force the elite of India to become energy consumers of the kind that the U.S. has become. Thats what globalization is about: Find markets where you can.”

Kind Energy Force India Consumers Firm Elites Globalization

Author:Vandana Shiva

“If India is an emerging economy with millions of new consumers, sell them the Volvo. Sell them the Cielo car. Sell them whatever you can, hamburgers and KFCs. Its the middle classes who have moved into being able to own a car, a refrigerator. For them there is this mantra that the General Electric refrigerator is better than some other model, that the Cielo car is fancier than the Ambassador.”

“Because of these new car models there is suddenly on the streets of Delhi a new intolerance by the motorists for both the cows and the cyclists. So for the first time the sacred cow in India, which used to be such a wonderful speed-breaker, is now seen as a nuisance. For the first time, Ive seen cows being hit and hurt. These guys just go right past, and if the cow is sitting on the road, they dont care. We cant afford to have a sacred car rather than a sacred cow.”

Ifs Firsts Care Past Used Guy Hurt Wonderful Streets Car Models Sitting First Time India Sacred Don't Care Speed Used To Be Cows Intolerance Nuisance New Car Delhi Cyclists Sacred Cows

Author:Vandana Shiva

“Amory Lovins has said that the only reason Americans look efficient is that each has 300 energy slaves. Those 300 energy slaves will now be reproduced among the elite of India.”

Looks Said Reason Energy India Slave Efficient Elites

Author:Vandana Shiva

“The poorest of families, the poorest of children, are subsidizing the growth of the largest agribusinesses in the world. I think its time we recognized that in free trade the poor farmer, the small farmer, is ending up having to pay royalties to the Monsantos of the world.”

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Author:Vandana Shiva

“Its not that Monsanto is making money out of the blue. Its making money by coercing and literally forcing people to pay for what was free. Take water, for instance. Water has always been free. Weve never paid for drinking water. The World Bank says the reason water has been misused is because it was never commercially priced. But the reason its been misused is because it was wasted by the big usersindustry, which polluted it.”

People World Has Beens Reason Bigs Water Pay Industry Paid Blue Drinking Instance Making Money Users Drinking Water Misused World Bank Monsanto

Author:Vandana Shiva

“Today you have a situation where now the prescription is: People who dont have enough money to buy food should end up paying for their drinking water. That is going to be the kind of situation in which you will get more child labor. You will get more exploitation of women. Youre going to get an absolutely exploitative economy as the very basis of living becomes a source of capital accumulation and corporate growth. In fact, the chief of Coca-Cola in India said: Our biggest market in India comes from the fact that there is no drinking water left. People will have to buy Coca-Cola.”

“Something is very, very wrong when people dont have access to drinking water, and Coke creates its market out of that scarcity.”

People Water Drinking Access Coke Scarcity Drinking Water

Author:Vandana Shiva

“If you read Wall Streets reports, they dont talk of soya bean as originating in China. They dont talk of soya bean as soya bean. They talk of Monsanto soya. Monsanto soya is protected by a patent. It has a patent number. It is therefore treated as a creation of Monsanto, a product of Monsantos intelligence and innovation.”

Ifs Numbers Streets Creation Products Wall Innovation China Treated Reports Protected Beans Patents Monsanto

Author:Vandana Shiva

“The kind of capitalism we are seeing today under this expansion of property into living resources is a whole, new, different phase of capitalism. It is totally inconsistent with democracy as well as with sustainability. What we have is capital working on a global scale, totally uprooted, with accountability nowhere, with responsibility nowhere, and with rights everywhere. This new capital, with absolute freedom and no accountability, is structurally anti-life, anti-freedom.”