For two decades, I’ve maintained a list of quotes I like by poets, writers, and thinkers I find interesting. This post is part of that series. All posts in the series are organized alphabetically. Some poets and writers have their own dedicated pages.

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A seed giving rise to a seed is a biological process.

A very important part of food safety is knowledge democracy.

At no point do regimes create justice.

Gene shufflers are not creators of life.

Healthy people don’t make the GDP rise.

I don’t call it animal food because animals don’t think it’s food, either. They’re called herbivores for a reason; they like grass.

I think genetic modification of crops is the single biggest violation of the rights of the earth and the rights of human beings.

Ignorance of harm is not proof of safety; it’s ignorance.

It is our duty as human beings to stand up … to work for higher laws … the laws of the earth.

Ninety percent of the corn and soya grown is going to fuel cars and torture animals.

On companies developing genetically modified foods: They’re not breeding anyway; they’re gambling.

On unhealthy, subsidized processed foods: It’s not just not safe; it’s not just not affordable; it’s not food.

Responsibility in science means understanding implications.

[Seed patents are] violative of every principle of science, laws and ethics.

Seventy-five percent of the health burden comes from the food system.

We ought to be calling [genetically modified plants] pesticide-producing plants.

When you love anything … the knowledge comes from that.

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These quotes from Vandana Shiva’s talk in Kansas City tonight at Unity Temple on the Plaza. Shiva is a world-renowned environmental leader and thinker. Her books include Making Peace with the Earth, Staying Alive, Soil Not Oil, Earth Democracy, Water Wars, Biopiracy, Monocultures of the Mind, and The Violence of the Green Revolution. She holds a master’s in the philosophy of science and a doctorate in particle physics. Before becoming an activist, she was one of India’s leading physicists.