Seed saving and sharing key to a grassroots food revolution

By Mirella Ferraz, Shareable

Seed sharing has become a global phenomenon that can secure diverse and nutritious food for generations to come. We can all learn how to do it, too.

The Richmond Grows Seed Library

By Rachel Klucewicz, Transition US

In May of 2010, spearheaded by Rebecca Newburn, the Richmond Rivets Transition Initiative opened the Richmond Grows Seed Lending Library.

A Call for Community-Based Seed Diversity During the COVID-19 Pandemic

By Gary Paul Nabhan, Jared Kaufman, Food Tank

We would be remiss not to sow true, place-based seed sovereignty in every region and among every culture on this planet, well before a future crisis could uproot us again.

Seed of Self-Worth: Reviving the Lost Foods of Palestine

By Megan Perry, Sustainable Food Trust

The problem Vivien identified, of people not wanting to be who they are, is reflected throughout many cultures. Even in the UK, there is a disconnect between wider society and traditional farming practices.

How Native American Diets Benefit From Tucson’s Indigenous Seed Bank

By Lisa Waterman Gray, Food Tank

The organization’s Native American Seed Request program distributes up to 10 free or low-cost traditional seed packets, annually, among individual Southwest Native Americans, and regional tribe members who live elsewhere. 

The Palestine Heirloom Seed Library and El Beir, Arts and Seeds.

By Vivien Sansour, Oxford Real Farming Conference

In 2014, I founded the Palestine Heirloom Seed Library. The Library and associated El Beir Arts and Seeds symbolize this core belief: that agriculture is truly comprised of both “agri” (traditional farming practices) + “culture” (the associated lifestyle/livelihood traditions essential to a community’s identity).

Garden Organic

By Walter Lewis, Feeding Body and Soul

Tucked away along a country lane just outside Coventry is Ryton Organic Gardens and home of a charity, Garden Organic, which brings together thousands of people who share a common belief that organic growing is essential for a healthy and sustainable world. Open to the public, it’s a place more than worth a visit.

Check Out This Seed Library in Boston and Learn How to Start Your Own

By Shareable Staff, Shareable

Around the globe, seed lending libraries have been sprouting up in public libraries. The seed libraries function very much like regular libraries, except instead of books, you check out seeds and bring them back once you've harvested them. These programs aim to improve access to seeds and preserve seeds for future generations. Seed libraries are just one way people can share seeds.

As Climate Change Threatens Food Supplies, Seed Saving is an Ancient Act of Resilience

By Sarah van Gelder, YES! magazine

On a recent Saturday afternoon, a group of volunteers in the northern Montana city of Great Falls met in the local library to package seeds for their newly formed seed exchange, and to share their passion for gardening and food security.

Tales of Agri-Resistance

By Vivien Sansour, Juman Simaan, STIR to Action

There is nothing quite like the smell of the brewing of Arabic coffee prepared on burning olive branches, just pruned during the olive harvest. The smell of heil (cardamom) cooked in coffee, and the aroma of the burning wood, are almost as delicious as the day’s first cup sipped atop the dry limestone walls that separate the terraces of the wadi (valley).

New Book Does a Deep Dive Into Running a Seed Library

By Cat Johnson, Shareable

In her new book, Seed Libraries: and Other Means of Keeping Seeds in the Hands of the People, Conner does a deep dive into issues surrounding seeds and seed sharing.

Seed Sharing Movement Wins Big with New Legislation

By Cat Johnson, Shareable

Since the crackdown on seed libraries by some U.S. states last year, organizers (including Shareable) around the country have been working to protect seed sharing. In both Minnesota and Nebraska, bills that specifically exempt non-commercial seed sharing from commercial seed laws were recently signed into law.