Seeds Of Life

In February 2008, on the remote Norwegian island of Spitsbergen near the North Pole, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault was officially opened. The underground installation was drilled from permafrost and took less than a year to build. Otherwise known as the “Doomsday Vault”, it aimed to house nearly three million varieties of seeds from across the globe, and was promoted as a humanitarian cause. Through the collection and copying of seeds, the vault officially provided protection of what amounts to the planet’s lifeblood in the event of a global catastrophe. But considering that seeds of plants are already stored in various gene banks across the globe, there were immediate questions raised as to another explanation for the Norwegian installation.

The official position is that the vault was the undertaking of the Norwegian government, yet most of the funding came from outside sources. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation spearheaded the project, and under the auspices of the Global Crop Diversity Trust – an independent organization – will direct and maintain the vault. Of course, there is a ‘conspiracy theory’ here if one wishes to find one. Considering that funding for the vault also came from such organizations as the Rockefeller Foundation and the Monsanto corporation, questions were obviously raised as to other possible explanations for the construction of the vault by many online researchers.

For example, the idea that the vault was built in case of a global catastrophe wiping out the planet’s seed banks, prompted many to ask if the wealthy elite knew something we didn’t? Was it simply their personal insurance policy? Or was it yet another move towards complete control of the planet through subjugation of the world’s food supply? It is no secret that many wealthy families have private underground installations that have the sole purpose of housing their rich bones during a nuclear or biological disaster - so is the seed vault simply an extension of this sub-surface agenda? Many also point to the actions of corporations like Monsanto - and other “Doomsday Vault” sponsors such as DuPont – who have spent billions on seed research, especially genetically modified organisms (this is another story altogether!), rendering the Svalbard Global Seed Vault to defy the philanthropic nature as advertised.

The vault is surely an impressive structure. Blast-proof doors guard the entrance, with state-of-the-art security and steel-reinforced concrete one metre thick protecting the precious seeds held within. But its purpose for what appears to be the benefit of a few rather than the entire globe, has done nothing but increase its infamy, even in the face of such plaudits from everyone from National Geographic to the UN.

For more on the Svalbard Global Seed Vault and its history, I urge any interested person to read the excellent article by F.William Engdahl here:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=7529


by Max Drake
(Freelance writer and artist for GritFX.)