I know you’re all tired of hearing about the Pandemic, but it’s a very difficult subject to avoid. Some might also want me to avoid the topic of civil rights, but I am about to delve into that field… unapologetically, might I add.
Today, I would like to highlight one good thing that has come out of the current global situation… As well as one thing we should all be mindful of.
With job losses, reduced income and increased spare time, many staunch urbanites have tried their hands at an unexpected pastime; gardening!
Whether it be to bolster flagging pantry stocks, to avoid grocery trips or out of simple boredom, this spring saw record numbers of suburb and city-dwellers planting peppers in their gardens, rather than petunias.
As an avid gardener myself, I take great pride in the fact that my family is currently subsisting on a diet comprising mainly crops we have grown in our own back yard.
But planting a garden is not always easy.
If, like me, you have tried your hand at a kitchen garden, you may have discovered that not all seeds are created equal.
Crop strength and seed quality depend on many factors. Some are natural; climate, soil quality, seed species and variety as well as pests are all elements which are difficult, if not impossible for us to control.
However, some factors which influence crop outcomes are anthropogenic. That is to say – they are caused by human activity.
Over-farming, pollution, the extermination of pollinators such as honeybees, and the introduction of foreign invasive species are among the many ways that man may have a negative impact on agriculture, be it on a small or a larger scale.
In recent years genetically modified organisms have added themselves to the long list of factors which might influence the hardiness of the crop which results from the seeds you have sown.
WHERE DO SEEDS COME FROM?
With all these natural and man-made threats faced by plants in their natural habitats, one might wonder how civilizations ever managed to ensure their food security.
Moreover, how can we continue to ensure food security in an increasingly overpopulated, globalized and polluted world?
The answer may lie in the origin of our seeds.
Have you ever stopped to wonder where seeds come from?
No, I don’t mean fruits – I’m sure we all know at least that much. I’m asking you to look beyond that.
Who maintains a catalogue of seeds?
If nobody planted Black Russian Tomatoes this spring, where would farmers go to get the seeds for Black Russian Tomatoes in 2021?
China, India, Russia, Ukraine and the US are the largest pumpkin producers in the world. If a blight were to wipe out all Musquée de Provence pumpkins in these 5 countries, would that herald the extinction of the genus?
Enter ‘seed savers.’
Seed savers are individuals and organisations whose mission is to create and maintain seed banks – collections of seeds that will produce identical plants year after year. These seeds, and the specific properties of the plants they produce, are catalogued in a detailed database.
When the pandemic began, one Australian seed saver, Aiden Louie, was able to plant 2000 seedlings for people in his local area, to ensure that they could access low-maintenance crops, wired to thrive in the specific environment in which they live.
But there is nothing new about seed-saving.
In fact, the practice has been vital throughout history as a way for farmers to help crops adapt to their natural environment. Seed-saving was the way our earliest ancestors ensured that their crops would resist drought, flooding or pests.
Yes, you heard right, for millennia, peasant farmers have been doing the work that modern scientists are now trying to accomplish using GMOs. But, as you can imagine, their methods have typically been far less harmful to the environment than those of Monsanto.
With traditional seed-saving, the seeds are selected through a symbiotic partnership between the farmer and the land. That is to say; the only crops that can be harvested are those that have first survived a process of natural selection – overcoming parasites, inclement weather and changes in soil quality.
Of these crops, farmers then save seeds from the plants which produced the most bountiful, attractive or appetizing fruit.
This co-evolution means that the resulting crop is well-adapted to low-input crop systems; less labour is required for their production and the farming activity has a smaller carbon footprint.
I cannot understate how important this is, especially in light of climate change.
THE PLIGHT OF THE PEASANT FARMER
Many traditional seed savers today are small-scale peasant farmers. They often hail from remote indigenous communities in places like Africa and South America.
As such, it was with no small amount of displeasure that I recently discovered that many peasant farmers across the world have lost the right to plant their own seeds.
This dates back to 2001, when the FAO created a multilateral system aimed at providing facilitated access to plant genetic resources.
It was supposed to be an insurance policy for the world’s crops.
Peasant farmers were asked to donate seeds to the Multilateral System. Many farmers, understanding the value of conservation, happily complied.
Subsequently, the properties of many of their seeds were studied, sequenced and (here’s the kicker) patented by major commercial seed banks.
So, a farmer with a wealth of knowledge acquired through generations of experience may have donated a seed for a frost-resistant variety of corn.
This farmer may now find himself without the right to grow the very variety of corn that he donated, because it is now owned by a multinational seed bank.
I am as disgusted by this as you are.
It feels like a betrayal.
After all, who among us is not descended from a farmer, if we look far enough back into our history?
Worse, I feel powerless to do anything to protect the rights of those whose ancestral wisdom has fed the world for centuries.
But I will use the tools that I do have; my voice, to ask that you do everything you can to support peasants rights, and my kitchen garden, where I honor the work of all the farmers who came before me.
xo
J