I
first heard the name Vandana Shiva as the name of a chocolate. Lagusta’s
Luscious chocolate shop in New Paltz has a series of candies named after
feminist icons. The one called Vandana Shiva is a piece of bittersweet
chocolate with bits of vanilla bean, cinnamon and chilies. Its unique gritty
texture is the result of omitting the surface-scraping “conching” process. Conching
is what produces the familiar smooth texture of European chocolate. Instead, Vandana
Shivas are stone ground which produces a granular chocolate.
The
real Vandana Shiva is a world-renowned environmental leader, activist and eco-feminist.
Born in India in 1952 to a farmer mother, she has spent decades defending indigenous
knowledge and biodiversity. Campaigned against corporate patents in seeds,
received the Right Livelihood Award in 1993, and serves as an advisor to governments
on issues including women, food justice, and third world countries.
Vandana
Shiva was in the Hudson Valley for Omega Center’s Making Peace with the Earth retreat
on July 6-8. She spoke about colonization, the process of establishing control
over an indigenous population, and the ensuing clash of not just cultures but
economies as well. She brought up the famines in India after the country was
overtaken by British rule. When war was brought to an end by treaty in 1765, the
British East India Company claimed lands in the Ganges river valley. The effects
of scarce rainfall were compounded by British practices of charging rent for
land people were already on, war levies, and export crops replacing food. During
the Bengal famine of 1770 almost a third of the country’s population starved to
death. Colonization caused native populations to lose control of their independence.
British rule took what didn’t belong to them and turned it into a source of
rentals. Taxation increased and forced people to sell food stores meant for
protection against famine.

The
3-day event at Omega focused on a move toward earth-centered politics. Other topics
included inner colonization, food justice, sustainable agriculture, and mindful
approaches to social change. The weekend featured lectures, panels, Q&A
sessions, a seed exchange, and an in-depth tour of the Omega Center for Sustainable
Living (OCSL)’s EcoMachine, an on-site sustainable water reclamation center.
Omega:
www.eomega.org