Gene Banks, Seed Libraries, and Vegetable Sanctuaries: The Cultivation and Conservation of Heritage Vegetables in Britain, 1970–1985

Curry, Helen Anne

doi:10.1111/cuag.12239

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…When the inevitable call arrives for a backup of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, as a result of (say) the hazards of a melting permafrost, perhaps we can, and should, respond by demanding a new guiding metaphor for seed conservation and the practices to accompany it. There are already several options, from seed library ( Soleri, 2018 ) to vegetable sanctuary ( Curry, 2019 ). Alternatively, we might want to re-invest in the metaphor and practice of banking.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The history of seed banking and the hazards of backup

Curry

2022

Soc Stud Sci

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Seeds and other plant materials in seed and gene bank collections are rarely considered adequately conserved today unless genetically identical duplicate samples have been created and safely stored elsewhere. This paper explores the history of seed banking to understand how, why and with what consequences copying collections came to occupy this central place. It highlights a shift in the guiding metaphor for long-term preservation of seed collections, from banking to backup. To understand the causes and consequences of this shift in metaphor, the paper traces the intertwined histories of the central long-term seed storage facility of the United States (opened in 1958) and the international seed conservation system into which that facility was integrated in the 1970s. This account reveals how changing conceptions of security, linked to changing economic, political and technological circumstances, transformed both the guiding metaphors and the practices of seed conservation in these institutions. Early instantiations of long-term cold storage facilities vested security in robust infrastructures and the capacities of professional staff; between the 1960s and 1990s, this configuration gave way to one in which security was situated in copies rather than capacities. This observation ultimately raises questions about the security promised and achieved through present-day infrastructures for crop genetic resources conservation.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The history of seed banking and the hazards of backup

Curry

2022

Soc Stud Sci

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“…Many people save seeds as a way to produce crops that are difficult to find or expensive to buy, but which they like to eat. There is an established movement to preserve heritage or heirloom varieties in the United Kingdom ( Curry 2019 ; see also Hoover 2017 ; Nazarea 2005 ), but this is not a particular interest of the people I have met in London. Instead, saving seeds allows these growers to select those varieties that they know grow well in their local conditions and that they enjoy eating, as well as to disengage from industrialized agriculture and supermarket consumption.…”

Section: Valuing Flavor Savoring Valuesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bloody Marvels: In Situ Seed Saving and Intergenerational Malleability

Dow

2021

Med Anthropol Q

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This article presents ethnographic research with in situ seed savers and seed activists in London. Unpicking the knotty relations between kinship, place, and generation among seed savers and their seeds, this article focuses on how the intrinsic and extrinsic get woven through generations and how the situ or environment of an entity is (and is not) recognized in its identity and multispecies kin relations. I argue that thinking about seeds and the worlds in which they grow suggests that they are not only embedded in their environments, but also embody their environments. If seeds bring with them their worlds, then they are inherently malleable, so seed savers are concerned about how commercial seed breeding and ex situ conservation denatures seeds' embodied relationships with their environments and, with that, their inherent intergenerational malleability. [seed saving, multispecies kinship, generation, environment] Seeds are a gift of nature, of past generations and diverse cultures. Thus, it is our inherent duty and responsibility to protect them and to pass them on to future generations. Seeds are the first link in the food chain, and the embodiment of biological and cultural diversity, and the repository of life's future evolution.--The International Commission on the Future of Food and Agriculture, Manifesto on the Future of Seeds

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“…The banks have three notable functions: preserving crop genetic resources, promoting access to and use of a region's diverse crops and protecting rights to seeds and food (Vernooy et al, 2014). In Britain and the United States, many surveys of CSBs that function at the domestic level have been published (Curry, 2019;Helicke, 2015). Numerous studies have also examined their role in protecting farmers' rights (Vernooy et al, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Organizations and Functions for Seed Management in East Asia: Korea, Japan and Taiwan

Tomiyoshi

2022

Seeds for Diversity and Inclusion

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How important are informal seed-saving systems in conserving agrobiodiversity? Mitsuyuki Tomiyoshi probes that question in the East Asian context in this survey and analysis examining the prevalence of community seed banks and other non-profits in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. In Japan, traditional varieties are generally cultivated on the basis of heritage and culture, and an array of non-profits are involved in seed provision, domestic production, collection and networking. In South Korea, where interest in heirloom seeds has been growing since the early 2000s, comparable organizations include a research firm, cooperative and civil society network. Relevant non-profits in Taiwan, meanwhile, are at the formative stage. Informal systems are key to maintaining agrobiodiversity, Tomiyoshi concludes, but to operate sustainably they must better integrate their functions and set strategies for collaboration with public institutions.

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Gene Banks, Seed Libraries, and Vegetable Sanctuaries: The Cultivation and Conservation of Heritage Vegetables in Britain, 1970–1985

Cited by 5 publications

References 24 publications

The history of seed banking and the hazards of backup

The history of seed banking and the hazards of backup

Bloody Marvels: In Situ Seed Saving and Intergenerational Malleability

Organizations and Functions for Seed Management in East Asia: Korea, Japan and Taiwan

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