KarunaNews Story

Seed savers have many motivations. Some want to test out varieties that might fare better in a hotter, drier, or wetter environment. Others worry about corporations controlling much of the food supply. Seed Savers Exchange was formed to preserve a rich variety of food plants by getting as many seeds as possible into household gardens. Today, it keeps the largest nongovernmental seed bank in the US, with some 20,000 varieties. Over the past decade, many public libraries and other groups have started seed-lending programs. Residents can “borrow” seeds for a season, plant them, and then return seeds from harvested fruits and vegetables. Rebecca Newburn founded the Seed Library Network to help consolidate these efforts and last year, more than 2,200 people from 35 countries registered for its online summit.