Interviews with Helena Norberg-Hodge

  • 'Thinking Outside the Box' David Barsamian interviews Helena Norberg-Hodge on Alternative Radio, Jan. 2010.
  • Planetary Voices Radio
  • Learning from Ladakh - Helena Norberg-Hodge on how the development that changed "Little Tibet" can shape our thinking.
  • Interviews with Helena Norberg-Hodge from the UN World Summit on Sustainable Development. Michael O'Callaghan’s interviews with Helena Norberg-Hodge filmed at the UN World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002, available to watch online at Big Picture TV.
  • Listen to clips from ISEC's Global Prosperity Conference 2000
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On the site you will find the following five clips:

Sustainable Economics

Helena Norberg-Hodge talks about corporate-led globalization. She explains how governments across the political spectrum pander to private sector demand often at the expense of smaller businesses. Deregulation and subsidies mean that big business is driving farmers and other small enterprises into extinction. Many small businesses are forced to merge in order to survive, thereby creating a stress-ridden corporate culture based on survival of the biggest. What is needed, Norberg-Hodge says, is the globalization of an awareness that a sustainable economy ultimately depends on the health of the world’s natural and social environment. She notes that this is already happening as diverse interest groups link up to form an unprecedented united front against the status quo.

Local Food (Part One)

In the first of this two-part series, Helena Norberg-Hodge talks about the benefits supporting the local food economy can bring to consumers and producers. By reducing food miles, consumers can help ease climate change and support the livelihoods of local farmers. While local farms struggle to compete with giant agribusinesses, small farmers everywhere are also having to meet costly regulatory requirements brought about, in many cases, by the polluting practices of their much larger competitors. This means spending money they don‚t have. So find and support a local farmers' market and bring the food economy home

Local Food (Part two)

In the second part of this two-part series, Helena Norberg-Hodge explains why supporting the local food economy needn‚t mean we stop buying coffee, tropical fruits and other items flown in from many miles away. Consumers can be more aware of the origins of their staple foods ˆ that way they can make conscious choices to support local growers where possible. This cuts down on pollution and transportation costs and offers a host of other advantages to consumers and small producers alike.

Why GM Won't Solve Hunger

Many Bio-tech companies market their GM seeds by claiming that GM is the answer to world hunger. Here, Norberg-Hodge explains how these profit-driven behemoths are in reality preventing third-world farmers from planting native seeds they have used for generations. She also cites the lack of in depth risk assessment as a reason for putting the technology on hold.

Roots of Fundamentalism

Helena Norberg-Hodge looks at the root causes of much of the terrorism and ethnic violence we have witnessed in recent years. She sees the problem as being one of economics. Greater and greater competition is forcing smaller businesses into bankruptcy while others merge in order to survive. Jobs are being lost all around the world, creating a climate of stress and instability. The friction that results leads violence in some countries as national governments often favour specific ethnic groups. This is exacerbated as exported western values erode local cultural identity.