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>> FARMERS HAVE HISTORICALLY
BEEN THE KEEPERS OF THE SEED AND
HAVE BEEN THE PLANT BREEDERS.
MANY OF THE VARIETIES, FOR INSTANCE, IN THE OSCAR WILL
CATALOG WERE VARIETIES THAT WERE
ACCESSED FROM PEOPLE, YOU KNOW, NATIVE PEOPLES.
THEY WERE INDIGENOUS TO THIS
LANDSCAPE AND NATIVE PEOPLE HAD
BEEN CULTIVATING THEM FOR
HUNDREDS OF YEARS.
THE SEEDS WERE HARVESTED IN THE
FALL ALONG WITH ALL THE OTHER,
WITH THE CORN AND THE SQUASH AND
WITH THE OTHER VEGETABLES.
I USED TO WATCH MY MOTHER DO IT.
SHE WOULD SELECT THE STRONGEST,
FIRMEST, STRAIGHTEST EARS AND
SET THEM ASIDE, AND LIKE WITH
THE CORN THEY WERE SPECIFIC FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES.
THERE WAS A SOFTER CORN THAT
THEY USED AND THEY'D GROUND.
AND WHEN THEY GROUND THAT UP,
WHEN IT WAS RIPE THEY WOULD ROAST IT AND THEN GRIND IT.
AND PUT IT WITH TALO AND
BERRIES, CHOKE CHERRIES OR JUNE BERRIES.
THE CHOKE CHERRIES THEY'D BE
GROUND UP, TOO, THEY'D MAKE CORNBALLS.
AND THOSE WERE A FOOD FOR WHEN
THEY WENT OUT AND LASTED THEM
THROUGHOUT THE WINTER.
TRADITIONAL GARDENING OF THE
NATIVE AMERICANS IS ALMOST GONE NOW.
THERE ARE ELEMENTS OF IT LEFT. AND IT WILL JUST BECOME AN HISTORICAL ARTIFACT.
>> THE IDEAL SITUATION WOULD BE
TO HAVE ALL OF OUR FAMILIES AGAIN HAVE GARDENS.
I THINK MANY, MANY, MANY PEOPLE DO.
BUT A LOT OF US ARE RAISING
CONTEMPORARY SEEDS, AND I REALLY BELIEVE THAT IT WOULD BE GREAT
TO HAVE ANOTHER GARDEN OF TRADITIONAL SEEDS.
AND I AM ENCOURAGING ALL OF OUR
INDIAN PEOPLE IF YOU HAVE SEEDS
TO DIG THEM OUT, YOU KNOW.
SEE IF THEY'RE GOOD.
YOU KNOW.
DON'T PUT THEM ALL IN THE GROUND, BUT PUT HALF THEM IN
THERE MAYBE.
SOME OF MY EARLIEST SEEDS, THE
EARLIEST SEEDS I HAVE ARE LISTED
AS 1798 AS MY EARLIEST BATCH I GOT, AND I GOT 14 SEEDS.
I HAVEN'T GROWN THEM ANY PLACE.
I'M SCARED.
>> THE SELECTION PROCESS THAT WE
HAVE DONE HAS BEEN NOTHING MORE
THAN WHAT FARMERS AND GARDENERS
HAVE DONE FOR MILLENNIA AND
REALLY IS THE BASE FOR ALL OF
THE GOOD FOOD CROPS THAT WE HAVE
TODAY IS ALL THE WORK THAT WAS
DONE BEFORE US.
>> BASICALLY WHAT I DO ON THIS
FARM IS I GROW AND EVALUATE
FRESH VEGETABLES AND I ALSO RUN
A SMALL SEED BUSINESS PRIMARILY
HEIRLOOM SEEDS AND THEN MORE
RECENTLY FOCUSING ON GARDEN
SEEDS ON ON CONTRACT TO SEED
COMPANIES AND SEED CATALOGS.
SO IF I'M THINKING IF MY FARM IS
TO BE SUSTAINABLE, WHERE THE
SEEDS COME FROM IS THE NUMBER
ONE THING I'M THINKING IS A KEY TO LEAD TO SUSTAINABILITY.
I'M NOT SAYING EVERY FARMER NEEDS TO RAISE HIS OWN SEEDS,
ALTHOUGH AT ONE POINT IN TIME THAT WAS A VERY COMMON PRACTICE
RIGHT WHERE WE'RE AT OUT HERE IN THE PRAIRIES.
EVERYBODY SAVED THEIR OWN SEEDS.
IF YOU LOOK AT ALL THE OLD
FARMSTEADS, THERE'S GRAINIES AND SEED CLEANERS IN THOSE.
BUT TYPICALLY WITH THE CONSOLIDATION OF THE SEED
INDUSTRY NOT ONLY IN CEREAL
GRAINS, BUT IN VEGETABLES AND
EVERYTHING ELSE, THERE'S BEEN LESS SEED SAVING.
SOME OF THAT IS DUE TO PATENTING
AND LAWS THAT WE HAVE TO ABIDE BY, TOO.
I THINK ONE GOOD WAY TO LOOK TO
BE SUSTAINABLE THEN IS TO HAVE
SEEDS ADAPTIVE AND BE ABLE TO CONTINUE.
BECAUSE THAT FARM CAN CONTINUE IF YOU CAN CONTINUALLY
HARVESTING SEEDS.
>> WE DEVELOP SEED PRODUCTION, ORGANIC VEGETABLE SEED PRODUCTION.
THAT'S BEEN A PASSION OF MINE
FOR MANY YEARS, GARDENING AND SAVING SEEDS.
AND I DEVELOPED SOME VARIETIES
IN OUR GARDEN, AND SO WE JUST WENT WITH THAT.
>> AS WE DEVELOP MORE LOCAL AND
REGIONAL FOOD SYSTEMS AND ADDRESS THE ISSUES OF FOOD
SECURITY, WE ALSO NEED TO ADDRESS THE ISSUES OF SEED SECURITY.
THAT IS, IN FACT, WHERE OUR FOOD COMES FROM.
>> THERE WAS A TIME WHEN SEEDS WEREN'T PATENTED.
IT'S REALLY ONLY FAIRLY RECENT
THEY HAVE BEEN ABLE TO PATENT
SEEDS OR ANY LIFE FORM, AND MY
FEARS HAVE BEEN REALIZED THAT --
THAT IT HAS RESULTED IN CONSOLIDATION IN THE SEED
INDUSTRY AND LESS CHOICE FOR CONSUMERS.
>> SEED IS RELEGATED TO BEING BOUGHT AND SOLD, PERIOD.
IT CANNOT BE SHARED.
IT CANNOT BE SAVED.
IT CANNOT BE FREELY DISTRIBUTED
AND IT DENIES PEOPLE SOCIAL,
POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC ACCESS TO SEEDS.
>> I THINK IT'S VERY IMPORTANT
TO PRESERVE THE GENETICS FOUND IN OLDER VARIETIES.
I THINK A LOT OF THE OLD
VARIETIES OF VEGETABLES SET THE
STANDARD FOR QUALITY, TASTE, AND
NITRITIVE VALUE, STORE ABILITY, ALL THE THINGS THAT WERE VALUED
IN TIMES PAST.
IF AS SEED GROWERS, SEED SELECTORS, SEED SAVERS, IF WE
FOCUS ON THOSE THINGS, THAT
PRODUCES GOOD FOOD FOR HEALTHY
BODIES, FOR HEALTHY SPIRITS, AND
WHAT MORE AS A HUMAN COMMUNITY
COULD WE ASK OF OUR FOOD?
I THINK THAT'S JUST A GREAT THING TO STRIVE FOR.
FUNDED IN PART BY THE NORTH
DAKOTA HUMANITIES COUNCIL, A
NON-PROFIT INDEPENDENT STATE PARTNER OF THE NATIONAL
ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES.
AND BY THE MEMBERS OF PRAIRIE PUBLIC