Let’s pretend you and I are running a seed company 100 years ago. We are in a meeting discussing ideas for making more money and increasing our control over the market.
I say to you: “It’s too easy for our customers to save their own seed.”
You: “Yeah, seed saving is bad for business. How do we make it unattractive for our customers to save seeds from our lines?”
I say, “I know two things about human nature for sure. One, they like predictable results. Two, complication is a deterrent.”
You say, “Let’s grease up the propaganda machine. Public discourse concerning seed saving should focus on fear of unpredictable results, a complicated seed saving process, and isolation distances.
I say, “exactly, let’s make the conversion about making sure varieties stay “pure.” Let’s talk about FrankenSquash, all the nasty unpredictable bad freaks of nature food you get when you let varieties cross together.”
You, “Yeah, that’s brilliant. I like that freak of nature concept. Let’s extend that to what we grow. Do you remember hearing about that Royal family that “kept it pure” for so long they started developing huge chins and other deformities?
You, Well, let’s inbreed our lines for at least 7 generations. Then we will let two inbred sister lines finally break free of this inbreeding curse for 1 time. I bet this will cause an increase in vigor when comparing it to the “The Habsburg Jaw” heirlooms we will promote to make our hybrids the best choice.
mwahahaha, muwhahaha, muahahaha, bwahahaha”