Cover image by Truro Farmers’ Market
Let’s chat about why buying local seeds is important for our green thumb followers!
Why buy local seeds
- Seeds are the foundation to all crops grown for food, feed, and fibre. When we support local seed producers, we are investing in our community’s food sovereignty.
- Local seeds are saved from plants that have adapted to our local climate, soil and growing conditions.
- You can find unique varieties that many larger seed companies don’t offer.
- You can get specialized advice and growing tips directly from the people who grow these plants.
- Support biodiversity. During the last hundred years, 75% of our food crop varieties became extinct. (source) Plant diversity supports our ecosystem and makes it more resilient to climate changes, pests, and diseases. “Climate change is bringing new stresses to farmers’ fields. Preserving, improving, and creating seed diversity is one of the best ways we can help farmers adapt to, and mitigate, these changes.” -The Bauta Family Initiative on Canadian Seed Security (source)
- You’ll be purchasing fresh seed. When you purchase seed from a big box store, you don’t know how old those seeds are which can affect germination and your success rates.
- In general, smaller scale = quality control because these small scale producers are often using by hand and traditional techniques to save seed such as winnowing and threshing rather than mechanical processes. It’s also really fun to follow your seed producers online to see more on these processes.
- Corporations are attempting to change Canada’s seed regulatory system for their own benefit, at the expense of seed sovereignty for farmers and citizens. (source) When farmers lose control over their seeds, we run the risk of large corporations taking over our food system. Let’s try to avoid that.
Photo by Truro Farmers’ Market
Where to get local seeds
You can see the Seeds of Diversity Canadian Seed Map or Acorn’s Local Seed Directory for a list of businesses. Please note this list includes producers and suppliers, so make sure to read the business description to inform yourself about their sources.
A lot of our farmers’ markets host Seedy Saturday/Sunday events where you can engage in our local seed culture and get germinating. Find a market near you here.
More resources
The National Farmers Union’s Save Our Seed campaign discusses the corporate and lobbyist pressure our government is facing for seed regulations and restrictions.
You can find great information at Seeds of Diversity and The Bauta Family Initiative on Canadian Seed Security.
