Saving Seeds, Preserving Taste: Heirloom Seed Savers in Appalachia

Preface

xvii Preface A few years ago, savers of heirloom seeds were thought to be a little bit eccentric or worse. After all, everyone knew that the many seed companies peddling their wares were looking out for America’s gardeners and maintaining an abundance of varieties for each and every purpose and growing condition. Gardening fell out of favor with many Americans as “Super” markets made available more selections than most people had ever known. The United States pursued a cheap food policy, with land grant universities leading the charge to make food available as cheaply as possible, and with the government also making surplus foods available to public schools and other agencies. But somewhere along the food superhighway, there came to be a few bumps in the road. Small seed companies were swallowed up by larger seed companies, and larger seed companies were swallowed up by international food, feed, seed, and chemical conglomerates that tended not to take very seriously their responsibilities in maintaining genetic diversity and producing quality foods. Food plants were genetically modiWed to make mechanical harvesting and long-distance shipping over great distances easier. Vegetables were toughened up and made more uniform so that they could be harvested by machine with one pass at one time. American food production left the “Garden State” and other states close to population centers and moved to California and Florida, if not as far aWeld as Mexico, South America, and even Europe and Asia. Preface xviii Genetic engineering replaced the preservation of genetic diversity , and companies ridded themselves of thousands of varieties that had been maintained by the smaller companies that were cannibalized during the consolidation process. This even included many of the early hybrids that were bred for Xavor, texture, and nutrition. Suddenly toughness was the byword for all things fruit and vegetable. But a funny thing happened on the way to modernity. Many people started having doubts about the brave new world of genetic engineering, food-borne diseases, childhood obesity, adult-onset diabetes in young children, and food companies using the courts to squeeze out the small farmers by patenting the pollen in the air. Suddenly a collective “Enough!” was heard from sea to shining sea. This book is about a small part of that “Enough!” We eccentrics are now being heard. Saving Seeds, Preserving Taste ...