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Seeds of Hope

Trends in agribusiness, the production, processing and distribution of food on a large scale (and the economics thereof), have led to some troubling events in the past – and are poised to wreak further havoc all over the globe. The most visible and highly touted aspects of global agribusiness are centered on availability and affordability. Consumers are able to purchase seasonal vegetables all year round, and pay bargain-basement rates for meat, but there are more costs to be considered than convenience and pennies-per-pound: we are losing crop diversity, lowering the quality of the food that we are eating, and losing touch with what food is supposed to taste like.

While it is tempting to use the term agribusiness as an epithet with a purely negative connotations in contrast with the ideal of the pastoral local farm, it is also incorrect. Agribusiness itself is not a villain; while it is often viewed as “corporate farming” and the quintessential mega corporations, it can also refer merely to a co-operative of small farmers pooling their resources and contacts to create a more solid market for their goods. Where controversy lies is with the maximizing of profit at the expense of the product, an occurrence that is most often seen in large conglomerates who operate on an international scale.

One of the main ways that our food crops are suffering in the hands of these large corporations is when economic pressure is applied to their supplier-farmers to increase monoculture planting. A singular example of the danger of monoculture crops is the ever-popular, common banana. Even putting aside the issues of exploitive labour conditions, of soil-depletion, and water contamination, the monoculture of the banana industry illustrates a growing number of resistant pests and disease control issues as most of Central and Latin America are all growing only the Cavendish varietal. While it seems perfect in every way, the Cavendish has such a limited range of genetic material that it is at prime risk for complete extinction, should the right fungus come along. Sounds far-fetched? It’s already happened to the banana once. The pre-1960s banana of choice was the Gros Michel, which fell prey to Panama Disease (a relative of today’s Dutch Elm Disease) and was completely wiped out as a commercial crop. In 1992, a new strain of fungus, black sigatoka, was discovered – one which affects the Cavendish, and is more virulent than the yellow sigatoka fungus that can be controlled with pesticides – and it has since, along with a new mutated strain of Panama disease (Tropical Race 4), destroyed plantations in Indonesia, Malaysia and Australia. How long will it be before these disease variants are rampant in the Americas?

Moreover, what do we do when we are faced with the extinction of one of our food crops? To whom do we turn? During the American soybean crisis twenty three years ago, it was the Vavilov Institute whose remarkable stores of seeds and plant genetic material provided the answer for a nematode-resistant crop. The Vavilov Institute has been a valuable resource since 1894, making it the oldest seed bank in the world. Sadly, despite its legendary status (during the German siege of St. Petersburg in 1941, nine researches literally starved to death while protecting the Institute’s precious seed and germoplasm stores) chronic under-funding in post-Soviet Russia has left the institute in financial trouble, and dependant on external assistance from such organizations as foreign governments, private foundations, and philanthropic individuals to keep the facility running. In 1992, an international convention was signed by world germoplasm banks, to provide seeds to anyone needing them, promoting the free exchange, collection, and ongoing preservation of thousands of genotypes. These are the places which may have answers, when we need them most.

Another solution to the problem at hand is to increase biodiversity – increased open pollination leads to increased available genetic material – by supporting local farmers who focus on, or retain a part of their farming area for, the cultivation and preservation of heirloom varietals. The question is, aside from Farmers’ Markets, which are increasing in number but not available to every community, where do you go to make a difference?

A number of stores are springing up in response to increased consumer demand for organic produce and products, from local markets to international companies. Consumers in Vancouver are increasingly finding organic sections in small produce markets, where the goods are often supplied by local industry.

There are other conservationists at work, though – some closer than you might think. Seeds of Change began marketing organic seeds of heirloom varietal vegetables, herbs, and seeds in 1989, promoting organic gardening and biodiversity for the home garden. By encouraging cultivation of some of the lesser-known varieties and educating gardeners on the methods and importance of sustainable agriculture. This New Mexico company has grown to support a full line of grocery products made from their farm (they must plant in order to harvest new seeds, to keep their stock fresh), as well as newsletters, tools, recipes and resources for the organic gardener.

Locally, Saltspring Island has recently (2003) become home to Salt Spring Seeds and the accompanying Seed and Plant Sanctuary for Canada, a charitable organization “dedicated to the health and vitality of the earth through the preservation and promotion of heritage and heirloom seeds.” The sanctuary offers a chance to become involved as part of the network of organic growers that assist in perpetuating the heirloom varietals. In their enlightening article on seed politics, the sanctuary gives a synopsis of how and why it is so important to deal with the current state of agriculture from a preventive standpoint, and introduces such scary terminology as “terminator seeds” – a type of seed designed to produce product that cannot pass along viable seeds of its own, thereby crippling the livelihoods of farmers who depend on saving their own seed.

Whether or not you are inclined to do any actual gardening, you can still become a member of the Seed Sanctuary for an annual fee of $20. Membership funds are used to ensure the sanctuary’s ability to preserve Canada’s diverse seeds for the future, and you can participate as much or as little as you would like in the actual growing and harvesting of seeds and plants.

Seeds with company-owned patents, seeds which are self-limiting, and technologically scary frankenvegetables are reason enough to want to investigate the alternatives, but there is more to it than that: many of the heirloom varietals of such perennial favourites, such as tomatoes, strawberries, apples, have flavours that you cannot get elsewhere. Monoculturist companies select for varieties that are not only disease-resistant, but also are sturdier to meet today’s agribusiness transportation needs. There is a delicate balancing act between the hardiness of the produce and its flavour, and more and more companies are willing to produce jumbo-sized, weak flavoured, uniformly shaped vegetables, until we sort of forget what they were supposed to taste like at all. 

We can fight back.  We can demand better products by choosing to buy local, organically grown items where possible, and we can become guerrilla gardeners, planting our own yards, community gardens and windowboxes with vibrant strains of our own local history.


May 2006

Further Clickage:

Bananas unpeeled
Vavilov Research Institute and Plant Industry