As you sit down with the seed catalogs, you might be wondering what the fuss is about with heirloom seeds vs. hybrids. Or old-time tomatoes like "Brandywine" compared with newer ones like "Flavr Savr." Seeds passed down from your grandfather vs. genetically modified seeds supplied by Monsanto.
Part of the concern among gardeners, small farmers and foodies is that seeds are losing their diversity. And when that happens, a single problem like potato blight can wipe out an entire food supply.
And then there are GMOs, genetically modified organisms that have had their DNA tweaked to introduce a gene that wasn't previously there. These engineered seeds may resist certain pathogens. And most famously, GMOs resist herbicides like glyphosate (the active ingredient in Roundup), which allows farmers to spray their crops with chemicals that kill weeds without harming the crops — a big money and time-saving bonus.
But Monsanto holds patents on their seeds — meaning farmers are not allowed to save seed from the previous year's crop, to plant again in the new season. Any farmer caught saving Monsanto's seeds will be sued. Monsanto says why on its website: It spends $2.6 million per day developing seed and wants to get paid for its efforts. Approximately 275,000 farmers in the United States use Monsanto's genetically modified and/or patented seeds, according to the company.
But the company also has its hands in back-yard gardening. Want to know if your favorite tomato and great-tasting cabbage is a Monsanto product? Check out the seed branch where the company supplies seed to big-name catalogs on the website Seminis.com.
"Patented is just a nice way of saying they own our food," said Gary Ibsen, an heirloom advocate and owner of TomatoFest Seeds in Carmel, Calif.
To assure that our food supply is genetically diverse and patent-free, folks like Ibsen and the Seed Savers Exchange of Decorah, Iowa, make it their mission to preserve culturally diverse food crops for future generations. If you have an heirloom melon, for example, passed down in your family, Seed Savers Exchange would like to know about it and help save that plant for the future.
Seed banks are springing up all over the world. Petaluma Seed Bank in Sonoma County, Calif., stores and supplies more than 1,500 heirloom vegetable garden seeds. Kew Royal Botanical Gardens in London, networking with 80 countries around the world, has banked 11 percent of the world's wild plants. The Chicago Botanic Garden maintains a tall-grass prairie seed bank.
