Seed swaps are events where gardeners meet to exchange seeds. Swapping can be arranged online or by mail, especially when participants are spread out geographically. Swap meet events, where growers meet and exchange their excess seeds in person, are also growing in popularity. In part this is due to increased interest in

organic gardening Organic horticulture is the science and art of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, or ornamental plants by following the essential principles of organic agriculture in soil building and conservation, pest management, and heirloom variety preserva ...

and heritage or heirloom plant varietals. This reflects gardeners' interest in "unusual or particular varieties of flowers and vegetables", according to Kathy Jentz of ''Washington Gardener Magazine'' (Maryland). Seed swaps also help consumers who, due to increases in the cost of living or cut down on expenditures, wish to grow their own food. Some events are organized as part of an educational effort, where visitors are taught gardening and growing skills and how to preserve an area's cultural heritage and biodiversity. In the United States, the last Saturday of January is "National Seed Swap Day".

Cultural and culinary significance

Swapping seeds is of great cultural significance for many of the people involved, because it allows a culture which has become widely distributed, such as

Hispanic and Latino Americans Hispanic and Latino Americans ( es, Estadounidenses hispanos y latinos; pt, Estadunidenses hispânicos e latinos) are Americans of Spanish and/or Latin American ancestry. More broadly, these demographics include all Americans who identify as ...

in the United States, to continue to grow the food they are accustomed to, foods which often have great significance, and for which seeds are often transported over great distances. Mike Szuberla, organizer of a seed swap in Toledo, Ohio, noted, "Seeds are, in a sense, suitcases in which people can transport their cultures with them... Many families have brought their favorite seeds on tremendous journeys." In some cases seed swaps are annual events and function as community celebrations (comparable to potlucks), such as the annual seed swap (in its eleventh year in 2008) on the Oglethorpe farm near Athens, Georgia, organized by two anthropology professors from the University of Georgia (the university has a seedbank, the "Southern Seed Legacy"). Participants share seeds of heirloom fruits and vegetables grown in their families or communities for generations; for some, the goal of such swaps is to preserve a "dying" heritage. A similar goal is stated for a seed swap in Devon, England, where the North Devon Seed Swap has been held since 1 February 2004. The Dixon Community Seed Exchange, in Dixon, New Mexico, has been taking place annually since 2003. It distributes free seed of homegrown and commercial varieties as available and also provides a forum for the exchange of varieties peculiar to the high mountain areas of northern New Mexico. It attracts several hundred participants and photos may be viewed at its website. A distinct and less public kind of seed swap involves the seeds of

marijuana Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various tra ...

Biological significance

Some seed swaps explicitly have a biological goal—usually either educating the public in

or the attempt to maintain crop diversity. The larger global relevance and beneficial long-range effects of

ecological farming Sustainable agriculture is farming in sustainable ways meeting society's present food and textile needs, without compromising the ability for current or future generations to meet their needs. It can be based on an understanding of ecosystem se ...

sustained by seed swaps, and the effects of such practices in countering the effects of

agrichemical An agrochemical or agrichemical, a contraction of ''agricultural chemical'', is a chemical product used in industrial agriculture. Agrichemical refers to biocides (pesticides including insecticides, herbicides, fungicides and nematicides) and syn ...

monoculture, are beginning to be studied.

Restrictions in the European Union

The

European Court of Justice The European Court of Justice (ECJ, french: Cour de Justice européenne), formally just the Court of Justice, is the supreme court of the European Union in matters of European Union law. As a part of the Court of Justice of the European Un ...

ruled in 2012 that farmers in the European Union are allowed under restricted circumstances to both produce and market seeds from plant varieties that are not officially registered and approved. Sale of such seeds could not be categorically prohibited on the basis of an existing EU guideline on seed registering. The corporation

Graines Baumax The Castle of Graines is a castle in Val d'Ayas, located near the village with the same name in the municipality of Brusson, Aosta Valley, northern Italy. It occupies the summit of a rocky spur which commands Brusson and most of the Val d'Ayas. ...

had taken the domestic farmers' network

Kokopelli Kokopelli () is a fertility deity, usually depicted as a humpbacked flute player (often with feathers or antenna-like protrusions on his head), who is venerated by some Native American cultures in the Southwestern United States. Like most fer ...

to court and demanded €50,000 (US$61,000). Kokopelli won this case. France has the most strict implementation of the seed laws. Indications in 2011 is that even more restrictions are on their way. The European Parliament rejected the European Commission's proposal for plant reproductive material law, also known as the "seed regulation" in 2014.

References

{{reflist, 2 Food sovereignty Gardening Seeds

Cultural and culinary significance

Biological significance

Restrictions in the European Union

See also

References