The plant amaranth is native to Central America, but with permission from a collective of Maya Achi farmers in Guatemala, its seeds are being sown in the U.S., including at Stone Bend Farm near Ithaca, New York. “As we look at climate change, it’s a plant that’s so healthy, and that can adapt to so many different places and conditions,” says Sarah Montgomery, co-founder of Qachuu Aloom Mother Earth Association, who hosts events (like this one, above) to share ancestral knowledge of how amaranth is grown. Not only is amaranth a highly nutritious protein, it “holds the story inside of it of the disconnection and the genocide of people,” Montgomery says, as it was nearly wiped out during colonization times in the early 1500s. Today, the plant is making a comeback and may be useful as the planet warms, as it adapts to different growing conditions. The solution to climate change is “within nature,” Montgomery says. “We just need to learn how to listen.”
PIX: A group of indigenous Mayans hold an early morning prayer ceremony over a circle of flowers.
Aurelia v/o: Today is a great day in our Mayan Achi tradition and all the indigenous groups of Guatemala. And today is a great day to celebrate and spread the amaranth seed here.
PIX: Julián rakes the soil and tends to a field of tall, crimson amaranth plants.
TEXT: Stone Bend Farm, New York
Julián v/o: We are telling the world about amaranth seeds. And through the seeds we indigenous peoples are preserving our history. We are going back to our history and our culture.
PIX: Sabina and Sarah harvest amaranth by breaking a plant in half.
Sabina: Amaranth is a highly nutritious seed and this seed was used by our ancestors to nourish many generations.
Sarah v/o: We have guests from Guatemala. This is their seed.
PIX: Sarah and Sabina stand before an amaranth field holding their harvest.
Sarah: See how it’s grown so big in this climate that’s so different from where it came from.
PIX: Sarah and Sabina leave the field with their harvest.
Sarah v/o: As we look at climate change it’s a plant that is so healthy and that can adapt to so many different places and conditions.
PIX: Aurelia stretches up to tend to tall amaranth plants.
Aurelia v/o: Amaranth is a great example for us that there are no barriers, there are no borders.
TITLE: Seeds of Resilience
PIX: At their home in New Mexico, Sarah and her husband tend to their garden and feed chickens.
TEXT: Sarah Montgomery and her family are farmers growing vegetables and seeds, and raising chickens.
TEXT: She also supports Guatemalan farmers sharing their knowledge about amaranth in the U.S.
Sarah: You can plant the amaranth, harvest the amaranth, cook the amaranth, and know nothing about the history of the amaranth.
PIX: Sarah pours a cup of amaranth seeds into a bowl.
TEXT: Sarah learned about the grain when she was working in Rabinal, Guatemala.
PIX: A view of a mountain range in Rabinal. Guatemalan members of Farmer to Farmer meet in a field.
Sarah v/o: When I got to Rabinal, I was introduced to Farmer to Farmer, which is a methodology for farming.
Sarah: So the idea is that one farmer teaches another farmer, and they're farmers from the similar circumstances that speak the same language.
PIX: Farmer to Farmer members teach each other farming techniques.
Sarah v/o: So it's a different model than having an agronomist coming and saying, "Oh, you should do this and that to your field."
PIX: A lush, green field.
TEXT: In 2006, Sarah and a group of farmers set up Qachuu Aloom, or “Mother Earth” Association.
PIX: A girl pours seeds between her hands.
TEXT: They wanted to farm sustainably and work with ancient grains, like amaranth.
PIX: Julián is interviewed before an amaranth field.
LT: Julián Vásquez Chun - Co-Founder - Qachuu Aloom
Julián: When we formed Qachuu Aloom, that’s when we learned about amaranth. And when we learned about amaranth it changed everything because it’s new knowledge and new practices.
PIX: In Guatemala, young people tend to an amaranth field.
Sarah v/o: The amazing thing about amaranth is that it's a complete protein. It's a great plant for maintaining health. It doesn't need a ton of special attention to it.
Sarah: And then it also tells and holds a story inside of it of the disconnection and the genocide of people.
PIX: A Spanish fleet arriving in America.
TEXT: Guatemalans were an important part of the Mayan empire – until the Spanish came in the 1500s.
PIX: The conquistadors meet indigenous Mesoamericans.
Julián v/o: Amaranth disappeared in Guatemala because of the Spanish invaders.
PIX: An ancient Mayan plants amaranth.
Julián v/o: They took all the seeds from us. It was like taking our lives and our humanity.
PIX: The conquistadors attack indigenous Mesoamericans.
PIX: In Guatemala, farmers tend their fields. Children help water plants.
Sarah v/o: We started Qachuu Aloom with 12 people. They began to see that by using these sustainable practices, by building compost, by using cover crops, that they could have healthy gardens.
PIX: Julián teaches children how to handle amaranth seeds.
L/T: Aurelia Xitumul Ivoy - Member - Qachuu Aloom
Aurelia: The families that started planting one ounce, or less than one ounce, of amaranth, now they are already harvesting 200 pounds, 300 pounds. They have earned money, not only economic income, but also they have improved their families’ health, because they eat the food they grow.
PIX: In their kitchen, Guatemalan women knead amaranth flour. Syrup is poured over amaranth pancakes.
Aurelia v/o: They make popped amaranth. They make flour for home consumption.
PIX: An open bag of amaranth flour. A woman measures cups of the flour.
Aurelia v/o: They keep their seed.
PIX: Bags of amaranth being sold at the market.
Aurelia v/o: They sell the surplus in the market.
PIX: Guatemalan families line up to receive their paychecks from Qachuu Aloom.
TEXT: Qachuu Aloom now works with over 500 families in Rabinal.
PIX: Back to the bright green fields of Stone Bend Farm in New York.
LT: Stone Bend Farm, New York
PIX: A tall, crimson amaranth plant.
TEXT: Every year, Sarah brings the team up from Guatemala to share their knowledge with North American farmers and gardeners.
PIX: Aurelia and Sabina lead a procession out of a barn to the amaranth field.
Aurelia v/o: Today we have the honor of being here with you. We want to share the way we harvest our plants.
PIX: In the amaranth field, participants line up to watch Aurelia lead the thanksgiving ceremony.
TEXT: Many in the U.S. are surprised to learn about amaranth, where it’s considered a weed.
Sarah: There's a way of using language to say that this plant is not important. One of the ways is that amaranth is known in the United States is pigweed.
PIX: An animated soldier attacks an amaranth plant; the title “Weed of the Week” appears. Two white farmers give an interview denigrating “pigweed.”
SOT: You may have Palmer pigweed and you say, there’s nothing I can do about this, I can’t stop this weed. Yes, you can!
PIX: Drone shot of a corn field.
Sarah v/o: In these giant GMO corn fields we have across the country, here is these wild amaranths that come up like they always have, accompanying the corn in the fields.
PIX: A tractor sprays weed control over a field.
Sarah v/o: But it's seen as this massive pest in industrial agriculture.
PIX: Aurelia, holding a candle in the direction of each dedication, leads the amaranth ceremony as Sarah translates for the crowd.
Sarah v/o: First, I asked permission from the great spirit of the sun. We also ask permission from the direction of the water. We also ask permission from where the wind comes from. And if everybody brings just one seed home today, we can multiply this plant in every one of your gardens.
Crowd: Yay!
PIX: Julián takes over for Aurelia, explaining amaranth harvesting to the crowd. Sarah translates.
Sarah v/o: When you see that the birds are flying on top of the flowers, that’s the sign that amaranth is ready to be harvested.
PIX: The crowd approaches Julián to feel amaranth seeds.
Sarah: We’re going to harvest just one flower per person.
PIX: Julián bends an amaranth plant in half.
Sarah v/o: You just do it like this. So if you’d like to join us in harvesting one?
PIX: The crowd mingles and harvests their plants.
PIX: Julián leads the crowd to the cleaning site. Each person holds an amaranth flower in their arms.
PIX: Participants gather by huge white cloths on the ground to start cleaning their plants.
Boy v/o: Can you eat all the amaranth leaves?
Sarah: You can eat all amaranth leaves when they're younger. But like, you wouldn't want to eat these leaves because right now the plant is sending all of its energy up into its flower to produce seed.
PIX: Participants rub amaranth plants between their hands to harvest seeds.
Sarah v/o: The best way I can describe working with amaranth, is that it feels good, it feels happy. There's a lot of hope in this seed that can grow in so many different climates.
PIX: Aurelia gathers her group’s seeds into the center of their cloth.
Julián v/o: Amaranth is very resistant to climate change. We as small farmers, as indigenous people, we know very well that our life depends on nature.
PIX: Julián sifts his group’s seeds from a metal colander onto a tarp as the crowd looks on.
Sarah: We might want to think that the solution to climate change, it’s going to be like this top-down thing where someone comes up with a great idea.
PIX: Aurelia sifts seeds from one bowl to another as a fan blows the amaranth flowers away.
Sarah v/o: But really we’ve had the solution all along. The solution is already there. It's within nature. It's within the seeds, and we just need to learn how to listen.