It’s time to reverse this trend.
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Two megacompanies. Well… Competition is asured under the law. Although it only takes an afternoon over tea for those two to plot. But i wouldn’t dare suggest any of the kind because that would mean i believe in conspiracy. And as every sane person will tell you the only way forward is to completely and utterly discard that thought. Because naivety only is beauty.
Why would two captains of industry, two people to dedicate all their lives, working 80 hrs a week, sacrificing all on their way to the top, come together for a cup of tea and plot for more…
Anyway. That is sarcasm.
Yes. Seed companies try to take over the world, they lobby our corrupt politicians to restrict folk at every given chance. The politiciens comply happily. Controlling the food supply means controlling the people.
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Yes, it all sounds dire. But at least the problem is being acknowledged. Our community is definitely a part of the movement required to turn this situation around:
"Thus, to protect plant biodiversity and promote innovation in the face of a changing climate, the USDA recommends investing in public seed breeding programs and partnerships with nonprofits or small, independent breeders. "
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Hi All
I live in Ireland and as a member of the E.U we have to(are supposed to)abide by the D.U.S laws since we joined in the 1980s.
This is most definitely a control effort to make it as hard as possible for those without the huge sums of money to not only register the seeds they are selling but also to have the seeds tested to see if they fit into the D.U.S category.
I started to hear worrying noises about loss of genetic diversity years ago and now there is a new law allowing only certified Organic growers to sell seeds of Heterozygous populations with lots of bureaucracy attached to it.
We started allowing some promiscuous pollination about 10 years ago and the crops just got better,its a natural extension of saving seeds and sharing.
I dont sell seeds anymore. I consider them too sacred compared with the greed of the seed corporations and others who cannot seem to see that seeds are food.
We see the living seeds as social collateral helping ourselves and other communities to grow food we like with as many beautiful characteristics as possible.
Change is the Order of the Universe.
So keep it going Folks after saving seeds for more than 50 years,for the first time this feels right,it feels like Freedom.
Kevin Dudley.Cloughjordan,Co Tipperary
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Kevin, great to have you with us. Just wondering, are you able to sell your promiscuously pollinated crops? Or are there restrictions on that as well? And there is the question of whether one’s customers would accept obvious diversity in their vegetables.
Hey DebbieA
I don’t really think that we have any idea here, as I farmed on a CSA we had more contact with our members and food. Basically we are still finding out about Kohlrabi,Squash and Garlic in most places.
No it is not illegal to sell promiscuously pollinated crops as far as I know, just the seeds.
I think once folk try any good food even though it might not look the same as they are used to they soon seek it out.
We need to work on dried Legumes here as our dependence on Bovines is not doing us any good and all the dried beans are imported, except for Field Fava beans that are fed to stock.
We can’t get seed from the U.K since Brexit but there is a small company in the U.K called ‘Hodmedods’ that we could piggyback on their research as they have a white flowered fava bean.Crazy to think of smuggling plant genes around the world.
Kevin D
Have you tried planting legumes that you buy from the grocery store? Last year I bought bags of different beans from a local Hispanic grocery store and planted some of each. Several produced seed that I’ve saved for this year. A bean mix for soup is a potential source of several different varieties in one bag. There is the added bonus of eating the extra seed that doesn’t get planted!
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