Saving our seeds
Australian home vegetable growers once had a choice of 65 varieties of peas to plant in their backyard plots. Now it's less than 10. But while most of us are happy to casually mourn the loss of fresh-tasting home-grown veges as we dash to the supermarket freezer section, a University of Adelaide graduate is leading the fight against the loss of our traditional varieties of food plants. Jude Fanton (then Smith) graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1974, returning for a Diploma of Education in 1991. In 1986 Jude and her husband Michel established the Seed Savers' Network in response to fears that new plant patenting legislation in 1985 would rapidly escalate the demise of traditional garden varieties. "It was already happening," says Jude. "With the introduction of large seed-producing companies and the rural exodus, people were losing their seed-saving skills and relying on those seed companies for all their seed." Jude and Michel were good friends with Bill Mollison, founder of the permaculture movement, who convinced them to start a national network of seed savers. From humble beginnings where their seed bank was a cardboard box in a cupboard, the Seed Savers' Network has now involved more than 10,000 Australians, redistributed more than 500,000 samples of 8000 varieties of seeds and sold more than 25,000 copies of their Seed Savers' Handbook. There are now 66 local Seed Savers' Networks around Australia and other networks have been established overseas in more than a dozen countries. Seed Savers' Network takes an educational approach to conserving biodiversity of food plants, realising the limitations and difficulties in establishing and relying on seed banks. A lot of their work, educational programs and publications focus on teaching seed-saving skills and encouraging local groups to share and save seeds within their own environment. Today they are also taking their message overseas, raising awareness of the value of the traditional varieties in countries such as Afghanistan, East Timor and Cambodia. They are making an educational film `Guardians of the seed' from their experiences overseas and throughout Australia. ■ STORY ROBYN MILLS Further information about the Seed Savers' Network can be found at www.seedsavers.net
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