Seed Diversity In The News

The importance of seed diversity to our food supply is quickly losing ground to the political clout of large corporations (the Monsantos of the world), which in some countries forbid even home gardeners to collect, share, or swap seeds. Under the guise of trademark/patent protection, we are slowly losing the genetic diversity in our food supply, meaning plant disease could cause devastating widespread famine, or at the very least, a necessary reliance on chemical pesticides just to keep plants alive. Our planet was designed to house a HUGE diversity of species of plants - messing with this natural design may have consequences we can't even imagine.

As Ben Raskin, Head of Horticulture for the Soil Association in Brussels says, “For both amateur growers and commercial producers, the resilience of our farming systems depend on a wide range of genetics within the food chain. It is vital that these varieties are maintained as a living collection amongst growers. Every variety lost weakens our ability to create an effective food system that can cope with the increasing challenges of climate change and resource scarcity.”

 Check out some of these recent articles to learn more about this pressing issue, and why you should care, as well as what you can do about it.

Diversity in dry common beans (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Vandana says “Occupy the Seed” - Permaculture Research Institute
The seeds of this diversity are at the heart of an agriculture of permanence. This is why you have an extremely important role to play in the Global Campaign for Seed Freedom both to save the diversity of seeds as well as our ...
Publish Date: 08/20/2012 9:44
http://permaculturenews.org/2012/08/20/vandana-says-occupy-the-seed-join-the-seed-freedom-fortnight-of-action-2-16-october-2012/

Reclaiming the seed: How the Seed Satyagraha movement is ...
The last twenty years have seen a very rapid erosion of seed diversity and seed sovereignty, and an intense concentration of the control over seed by a very small number of giant corporations. In 1995, when the United ...
Publish Date: 08/20/2012 8:56
http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_analysis/1547185/reclaiming_the_seed.html
 
Brussels rules against seed diversity – News story from Garden ...
Seeds of edible plants must be kept free of restrictive EU rule which favours the corporates at the expense of small farmers, gardeners and our food security. Brussels rules against seed diversity – News story from Garden ...
Publish Date: 08/13/2012 5:08
http://kitchengardennotebook.wordpress.com/2012/08/13/brussels-rules-against-seed-diversity-news-story-from-garden-organic/

Preserving Seed Diversity | Food Security
Without a strong base of diverse seeds, food production is threatened by disease and climate change. Promoting the use of diverse seed types enhances food security and promotes the preservation of traditional cultural practices and values.
Publish Date: 07/14/2012 23:00
http://foodsecurity.uchicago.edu/research/preserving-seed-diversity/

Defending seed sovereignty - The Ecologist
Declaration on Seed Freedom • Seed is the source of life. It is the self-urge of life to express itself, to renew itself, to multiply, to evolve in perpetuity in freedom. • Seed is the embodiment of biocultural diversity. It contains ...
Publish Date: 08/20/2012 10:55
http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_analysis/1547385/defending_seed_sovereignty.html