Dear Editor,
The month of September is designated Amerindian Heritage Month. As an Amerindian from the Macushi Nation, I take this opportunity to briefly address one of the aspects of our Indigenous heritage – the practice of protecting the earth’s diversity. This is a broad topic but I would like to narrow my point of interest to addressing the issue of securing our traditional foods.
People all over the world are becoming increasingly concerned about the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides in the production of their food. Studies reveal that the use of these chemicals has led to an increase in cancers, allergies, digestive disorders, infertility and other diseases. Our ancestors never had these kinds of diseases. The reason is that their survival depended on mother earth. All the foods they consumed were produced naturally and were safe, nutritious and healthy for consumption. Mixed cropping has been our tradition, which provided fresh vegetables, fruits, legumes, and ground provisions. This type of farming did not cause any ecological distress to mother earth but revitalized her nutrients. My ancestors were healthy, strong, disease resistant and a happy people prior to the introduction of industrialized foods into our diet.
Today the concept of depending on mama earth for our survival has changed dramatically in most Amerindian communities. Our ancestors would not recognize the food we consume today. That is because the majority of what we now eat is not indigenous to our communities. Carbonated beverages, chicken, soya oil, butter, genetically-engineered rice and corn, peanut butter, white sugar, you name it, were all introduced to us. The taste for organically produced foods has changed to a taste for industrialized foods. Processed foods, etc, are filling the kitchens of my fellow Amerindians today. We are eating more and worse, not more and better. There has been a steady decline in organic food production in the villages. We are moving away from cultivating diverse foods to the cultivation of mono-crops.
I remember years ago SIMAP, an agency in Guyana went into my village and started a ‘Food for work’ programme as part of their self-help activities which provided certain food items as a stimulus for community upgrading activities. Food supplies were not considered to be payment for work but additional support. What actually happened was that the villagers began to plant crops that were not indigenous to our communities but foreign. I suspected that genetically modified seeds in packets were distributed by this agency to some of the farmers in the community. These crops required excessive fertilizers and pesticides, whereas in contrast, our traditional crops required no fertilizers or pesticides and were disease resistant, and as a result were healthy for consumption. We became dependent on the food items provided by this organization and no longer wanted to plant traditional crops.
Instead of supplementing our income, we spent more money to keep the plants healthy and of course, to receive more foreign food items. Today we produce less and less of our own foods and rely upon foods that are imported from other countries that are displayed on the shelves of the stores. Depending on the stores has destroyed our sense of independence and relationship with mother earth. This is not a sustainable way to live. We need to break this cycle of dependency and become self-sustaining. It is sad to see vegetables and other foods across from Brazil sold in Lethem. Purchasing these imported food items from the grocery stores has drained income and wealth from our economy. This crisis is a major contributor to poverty in the communities. When we spend money at any store and buy foreign foods, those dollars go outside of our communities, the goods are produced far away, money is required to transport them, and the profit goes away to distant owners. However, when we spend our dollars at locally owned businesses that sell locally produced food such as bora, yams, sweet potatoes, eddoes, plantains, papayas, etc, we are supporting our community’s economy.
The food security of our Amerindian communities is under pressure and the time to make critical decisions as Indigenous peoples regarding our country’s future is now. Our cultural survival as Indigenous peoples is hinged on our traditional foods. For us to determine our destiny, we must address the issue of food security. We are all faced with an industrial food system that is damaging our health and mother earth at an alarming rate; we must fight to restore our heritage.
We must decide whether we want to decide our own future or permit others to do so by ignoring this call. As stewards in the web of life, I call on all Indigenous peoples of Guyana, especially the leaders during this month to rise up and let their voices be heard on the issue of food security at every level. We must restore our heritage by safeguarding our food and the seed where our food comes from. Let us stand up and resist the introduction of genetically modified seeds into our communities. We must open our eyes to the many Trojan horses that are entering our communities in the name of development. It is not too late.
A happy and reflective Amerindian heritage month to all Guyanese!
Yours faithfully,
Samuel Frederick
Region 9
