Celebrate the coming of summer with Seed Matters and enter for a CHANCE TO WIN AN ORGANIC GARDENING KIT!
We usually don’t think about seed when we sit down to eat our cereal in the morning or tuck the kids into their cotton sheets at night, but it all starts with seed. And the seed we sow affects the quality, nutrition, cost and environmental impact of all the food we eat and every fiber we wear.
During the last several decades of industrial agriculture, seed has been developed to be suited for intensive chemical agriculture. While this has sometimes resulted in higher yields, it has come with very real costs to our environment. Unintended consequences include air and water pollution, increased pesticide use, greater dependence on fossil fuels, degraded soil health, increased exposure to toxins for farm workers and the loss of biological and genetic diversity
The success of diverse, regional and resilient food systems requires a different approach to seed—an organic approach!
Seed Matters
As a member of National Cooperative Grocers (NCG), the Co-op has partnered with the Clif Bar Family Foundation Seed Matters initiative to work to improve the viability and availability of organic seed and ensure healthy, nutritious and productive crops.
Seed Matters, partnered with NCG co-ops, Organic Valley, Annie’s and Earthbound Farm Organic is making a noticeable difference. Across the country, organic farmers have received training from their programs and are returning to the fields with new skills in seed production and crop improvement. They launched the first ever fellowships in organic plant breeding and funded 13 graduate students, returning public seed research to the public good. And dozens of communities have received support to launch local seed swaps, launch free seed libraries and plant seed saving gardens.
Learn more—and win a free organic gardening kit!
As Co-op Owners, retailers and eaters we all want to protect our ability to choose food raised sustainably…but what can any of us as individuals do? You can begin to help determine the future of food by visiting the Seed Matters website to learn about and engage in seed solutions today.
As an added incentive, visit the Seed Matters website between March 15 and May 15 and you can enter a sweepstakes to win an organic garden kit that includes regionally appropriate organic seed, seed-starting materials, garden tools and seed saving educational materials. The prize also includes 4 hours of consultation with a local garden expert that specializes in edibles, and recipes designed by well-known Farm-to-Table chefs that are based on what you will harvest from the organic seeds provided in the kit. A total of four prizes will be awarded, nation-wide.
