Food System Transformation Begins With The Seed

Ever wonder why carrots, romaine lettuce, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, and other produce in your local market (whether organic or not), all look and taste the same? It’s all about the seed, and it’s not so good for the health of our bodies or our earth – not to mention our taste buds! New York Times

Cutting down on vegetable and fruit variety, while good for the wallets of seed industry leaders, dangerously depletes our nutrient intake, gut bacteria, and soil. Crop varieties are dependent on the seeds used, and with 4 major companies owning 60% of all seeds in the world (50 years ago there were over 1,000 seed companies), as well as an endless list of seed patents and other restrictions, crop diversity is becoming a thing of the past…

Or is it? The recently published New York Times article, “Save Our Food. Free the Seed”, brings to light the incredible restrictions placed on the seed industry in the last 100 years, dangerously limiting crop diversity, especially in organic farming, since the majority of large-scale organic farms are planted with conventional seed.  

Many organizations, such as Open Source Seed Initiative, Sierra Seeds, and Seed Savers Exchange, are coming into existence to protect ancient crop varieties and make them available, affordable, and accessible to farmers. As Dan Barber, chef, restaurant owner, and co-founder of Row 7 Seed Company, states, “These efforts need more than our support; they demand our participation, the same engagement with seeds that humans had for thousands of years. Seeds not as commodities but as a vital part of our cultural commons; seeds not as software, but as living systems: seeds as the source of a new food revolution.”

Read on to learn more… New York Times