Experiences that changed my life

I am a grain of wheat

Hold me in your palm

Close your eyes

And let me tell you

The story of my life…

Well, a story.

In January 1991 my friend Giannis Diamantopoulos asked me if I would like to buy a pack of seeds he had brought from abroad. At that time I had no money at all and the 5,000 drachmas (15 euros) he was asking was a lot of money for me. Despite all these something prompted me to find the money and buy those seeds. Giannis told me he had bought them from a seed bank in the U.S.A.  The packet contained a number of different seeds and roots from various plants all over the world. What was impressive for me was the  multi-coloured maize that was from Indian tribes that had disappeared!!!

In September 1992 I was distributing invitations for my brother’s wedding, in my birthplace Vamvakoussa, Serres prefecture central Makedonia district. In the yard of one house I saw a short-stemmed black corn plant. I asked the lady of the house about it. She told me that it was for making popcorn for her grandchildren. I requested for some seeds and she gladly gave me some. Right there an idea popped in my mind and I decided that in every house I deliver wedding invitations to ask for seeds from the plants they cultivated. And that is what happened. By the time I delivered the wedding invitations I ended up with an armful of corn, pumpkins, beans, etc. That black corn was the precursor of the mission that changed my life. Since then I have developed the habit of asking people about seeds they cultivate. And I gradually started asking other questions too, such as how they cook their food and how they preserve it.

In 1993 in an attempt to live close to nature I went to live in the village of Dasoto near Kato Nevrokopi in the prefecture of Drama, east Makedonia and Drama district. I lived without money in a house without electricity.

In the spring of 1995 in a moment of personal breakdown I became aware that the subject of local seed varieties was the most important topic for my life, and I started Peliti. In Dasoto there is a big oak tree the landmark of the village. It was that oak tree that I got the inspiration for the name “Peliti”. I took a piece of paper and I wrote a letter to the Genetic Material Bank and announced that Peliti had been born. Peliti started as a personal need for me until very slowly it became the point of reference and a medium of expression for many people.

The first thing that I did was to seek out the producers of local varieties. These journeys were made without money, on foot, hitch-hiking or helped by friends. Using the house at Dasoto as base of operations I went on hundreds of trips, at first in Northern Greece because this was easier, and later all over Greece.

I first started to investigate the villages of the Kato Nevrokopi area. I found the results impressive because even though the villagers lived close together  they had individually many different seed varieties. I was leaving home in the morning to visit villages which I had been told that they had their own seeds, and in the evening I returned home. Each day I was hitch-hiking two to three hundred or more kilometers. These journeys were completely safe and very successful. I learned a lot from them.

I learned that the things we see in front of us are what we already have in our head. I learned that nothing happens by chance. I learned that when we decide to do something the whole universe comprises for its success. I learned that we have nothing and nobody to fear apart from ourselves. I learnt that we are significant and important regardless of our economic condition.

The year 1997 was the one that I did most of my trips. I started at the beginning of March and finished at the beginning of October.  I set off from Northern Greece and went as far as Central Greece. It was a very exciting experience. Some time around the middle of March I went to Pomak In Xanthi prefecture east Makedonia and Thraki district. (Pomaks are a population that has lived since antiquity in the Rodopi mountain range in both sides of the border of Greece and Bulgaria. Political, religious, linguistic and other factors led them to become isolated.) First I went on my own. Everyone I visited was saying there were no more seeds. After that I went with the doctors and the teachers of the area and I found out a few things. In August 1997 with a friend of mine visited his Pomak friends.  That was a time of revelation. We found plants, seeds and indigenous farm animals. It was there, too, that I came  across spring rye. Since then I have maintained relations with these people and they are a source of seeds, of knowledge, and more. In the autumn of 1997 I had the first big event in Thessaloniki to present my findings. Thus, the first Peliti publications started circulating. Up until then all the Peliti texts had been photocopied.

In 1998 I worked at the Cereal Institute in Thessaloniki on the program of utilizing the local varieties of corn. It was a great experience. I saw all of the different corn varieties that the Institute possesses and how they preserve the seeds in the field, and in refrigerators, etc.

In the spring of 1998 I went on a three-week seminar about biodiversity in Chania, Crete. This seminar was the occasion for my first trip to Crete. The situation I found there, filled me with despair. Today I think the situation in Crete has changed for the better.  

In 1999 when I was living in the village of Karpi in the Kilkis Prefecture I saw that the seeds that I had spent such time and effort to gather had been destroyed mainly because of insufficient knowledge and resources. After each trip I changed my tactics. I gave out some of the seeds to cultivators, some to the Greek Genetic Material Bank and I kept some for myself. I had collected around 1,200 varieties. In my effort to ensure preservation of the seeds I proposed a meeting where different varieties would be distributed. There were two meetings that took place which laid the foundations for the Panhelladic Local Seed Varieties Exchange Festival, where thousands of people come to get seeds. But there was no solution to the problem with the seeds I had in my possesion. There were a lot of issues that had to be resolved.

In the fall of 1999 while we were looking for heritage varieties of potatos in the Pomak villages of the Rodopi, we passed through an area where I felt a calling to go and live there. Although I had already visited isolated settlements in other areas in our country, what I saw there was unbelievable. There the whole settlement of about ten households scattered over the mountainside was without electricity, telephone, television, etc. Through a series of coincidences I managed within a very brief period of time to rent a house and move to Soumak. There I was able to observe their entire work cycle. They cultivated their own seeds and preserved them, not only for reasons of tradition but also due to their isolated way of life.  There were no shops nearby to cover their needs but neither did they have money to make any purchases.  They were to a large extent self-sufficient. Every household had its own seed varieties. There were some houses that had up to seventeen varieties of vegetables. I noticed how carefully the women were looking after the seeds, proving that women are the guardians of seeds.  

It was at that time that some friends and I went on a trip to southern Bulgaria to see what seeds were being cultivated by the Pomaks on the other side of the borders. The self-sufficiency on the Bulgarian side was even greater, given that their economic situation was even more difficult. Through a number of incidents on that trip I became aware that what is important is not only to retain possession of our own heritage seeds but also to be good people. I realized that for the seeds to be saved we will have to make changes in ourselves. While it is not enough to gather and cultivate the seeds, we, have to change in a more general sense.

In 2000 I proposed the creation of a network of cultivators of local seed varieties whose names we would publish along with the names of the varieties they cultivate and whoever wanted to contact the cultivators directly to find seeds, could do so. Thus, the network that is called: “Area directory of farms preserving local seed varieties and autochthonous farm animals”, was created. Today more than 170 farmers and 20 aboriginal stockbreeders are participating in the network. Each September a manual is published, updating the names of the farmers and stockbreeders and their heritage products.  

In 2002 looking for a reason to go out to the streets with plants and make the public aware of our doings, I proposed to a schoolteacher named Nikos Dombazis to gather his pupils in the central square of Komotini, who had already been drilled into the concept of heritage preservation. At that time, I also proposed that April 7^th would be established as the day for heritage seed varieties in Greece.

This was also the year when I first met Sophia Gida who became my wife. She was a volunteer for Peliti, packing corn seeds, etc. Thanks to Sophia’s help, Peliti has reached a very high level.

In August 2003 a historic mission took place at Pomak villages of Xanthi prefecture. Together with a photographer friend, Aris Pavlos we set off to go to Kalotychos, a settlement that is among the Pomak villages of Xanthi prefecture. The settlement is inaccessible by car so we had to walk a two hour distance by foot, only it took us a whole day because we were continually getting lost on the way. And finally we arrived, lead by a donkey. On that mission we collected seeds from a number of vegetables and Aris took photographs, which photographs have become a symbol that is touring the world. Afterwards, a TV crew went there and very soon a road was opened to Kalotychos.

Since 2003 Sophia, our son and I live at Mesohori in the Municipality of Paranesti - Drama. From here, we co-ordinate all the Peliti activities. Nowadays we work more on speeches, public functions and presentations in schools. Each year we distribute about 10,000 envelopes with seeds and more than 8,000 plants. Our seeds come from cultivators throughout the entire country who are collaborating with us. We package them and send them free of charge to whoever asks for. In collaboration with nurseries and school pupils we also plant and give out plants free.

Peliti survives from its books and publications and from the contributions of its financial supporters and others. .

On January 27^th 2009 we posted a text at the Peliti website announcing that we were about to construct the first Peliti building. This is the next step we want to take. We feel that Peliti has to acquire its own premises, its own land and equipment so as to be able to cope with existing requirements. Seeds are the key focus of Peliti’s concern and it is around them that we want to construct a community of people.  Peliti is already a community of people, but is scattered all over Greece. We hope to gather in one place because this makes it easier to deal with the issues that come up in our everyday life: the social, the financial issues, and so on.

Our first step was to purchase a plot of land. Some time ago we circulated a double CD entitled “singing for Peliti”. 130 musicians, artists, etc., all on a voluntary basis. The proceeds from the CD will go towards the construction of the first Peliti seeds bank building.  

On the March 22^nd 2009, -international day of biodiversity- Bioversity International and the Municipality of Rome honoured me in Rome –together with six other people – as a “Guardian of Biodiversity of the Mediterranean”, in recognition of the importance of my work on the safeguarding, preservation and use of agricultural diversity in Greece. It was a great distinction and honour, and I thank all the people that helped me reach this honourable distinction. I, in my turn, award this distinction to my wife and to all women in the world for their contribution to agricultural biodiversity, because biodiversity was preserved thanks to women.

In September 2009 Peliti acquired its own land in Mesochori, Municipality of Paranesti, a stretch of land of 6000 square meters. On April 10^th we inaugurated the land of Peliti by holding the 10^th Pan-Hellenic Festival of Exchange of Local Varieties, which was the central event of Peliti to celebrate the International Year of Biodiversity. Approximately 2500 people from all over Greece attended this festival and more than 30 volunteers participated from all over the planet.

The next step we wish to make is a building to house the needs of Peliti. We feel that Peliti must have its own building and equipment to cope with the needs that exist. The issue of seeds is the main issue for Peliti and arounf this issue we wish to create a community of people. Peliti is a community of people but it is dispersed in Greece. We want to gather together in one place because in this way problems that come up daily –social, financial etc- are easier to deal with.

Everything created by a human being has passed first through his imagination: the clothes I wear, the computer I have in front of me, the houses we live in, the cars we drive. In the beginning everything seemed like intangible dreams. But with patience and persistence they became a reality. This is true also for our community. With patience and persistence it is growing, and it is a reality.

From hand to hand and from generation to generation so that we don’t lose tomorrow what we have today.

If you wish, you could also become a supporter of “Peliti” by depositing money to the following bank account number:
Agricultural Bank of Greece,

account number: 198 04 003033 49

IBAN:GR21 0430 2120 0019 8040 0303 349

BIC:ABGRGRAA

With best regards Panagiotis Sainatoudis

Coordinator of the Peliti Alternative Community

www.peliti.gr

info@peliti.gr

Contact  with us:

By post:        

Alternative Community  "Peliti"

Coordinator:  Panagiotis  Sainatoudis

P/R Paranesti

Paranesti    T.K. 66035

GREECE