The Goddess Demeter ruled over grain, the harvest, agriculture and fertility in ancient Greece. A hugely important deity believed to have existed long before the concept of the Olympian pantheon, the grain-mother was said to have taught the processes of agriculture to the Greeks back in the mists of time.
Demeter’s beloved daughter Persephone (Kore) was equated with the fresh green shoots of Spring regrowth. When Hades, God of the Underworld, snatched Persephone as she played in the fields with her friends, Demeter was devastated and inconsolable. She roamed and wailed over all the land, looking for her daughter, refusing to do her godly duties until Persephone was returned to her. The harvests failed and famine set in.
Finally, Zeus had to intervene in the matter, as the people of Greece were starving. He sent the divine messenger, Hermes, to convince the Dark Lord, Hades, to let Persephone return to her mother. Hades reluctantly agreed, but to ensure Persephone would have to return, he tricked her into eating a pomegranate seed. From that moment, she was forever altered. Persephone became Queen of the Underworld, and though she was able to return to her mother, she was bound to spend part of every year underground with Hades.
The myth has many layers and relevance for modern times, but this week I was reading about genetic modification of grain and the campaign against Monsanto, the manufacturer of over 90% of genetically-modified seed. There are many serious health and environmental concerns surrounding the production of GM crops – fears surround appropriate food labelling, possible toxicity, cross-pollination and so on. But reading a little deeper into the material available on GM crops makes me think that Monsanto, and other GM crop companies like Bayer, are effectively at war with Demeter.
In particular, the issue of ‘terminator’ technology relates very closely to the myth. Terminator technology is a genetic modification process designed to protect the patented seeds produced by companies like Monsanto. How could the manufacturer prevent farmers from saving seeds from the modified crops and using (or selling) them in the future? The answer was to develop a genetic modification that effectively made the second generation seed sterile. Thus, farmers would have to come back every year to buy the GM seeds.
In agricultural terms, the Goddess Persephone disappears underground during the germination phase, re-emerging as the fresh shoots of new growth in the Spring. She rejoins her mother Demeter during the growth and harvest phases , effectively becoming one with her as the crop reaches maturity, is harvested and the process begins again. The sacred cycle of life in the fields is generational. Terminator seed technology interrupts this natural cycle. Demeter is simply producing herself year after year. Hades is cheated of his bride. There is no generative relationship between one crop and the next. It represents the death of the mother-daughter principle, held sacred since agriculture began.
And we already know how Demeter responds when she is separated from her beloved daughter.
Concerns have been raised that terminator genes will pass from Monsanto crops to natural crops, through the pollination process, effectively rendering them sterile. (Rumour has it this is one reason we are seeing the disappearance of bees planet-wide). Cross-pollination with terminator plants has huge implications, particularly for subsistence farmers and growers in developing nations, who can’t afford to buy Monsanto seed and whose fields feed millions of people every year. If those crops become sterile, famine is the likely result. Demeter will wail across many lands.
With certain caveats on development of the technology for other purposes, Monsanto has made a public commitment not to use terminator technology ‘for commercial purposes’ – for the time being. I can’t help making a mental comparison with Hades in his Underworld domain, holding onto the germinating Persephone, she of the green shoots. He is altering her, feeding her pomegranate seeds so she is forever changed. Demeter, represented by small farmers, organic growers and concerned citizens worldwide, is calling for an end to genetic interference with Persephone. And this time, Zeus seems to be looking the other way.
* Joanne Lock is an independent writer based in Australia. To contact Joanne or to read more of her work, please visit www.joannelock.com or @tweetmags on Twitter.