Seeds

So Saturday turned out to be a wonderfully successful seed swap that a bunch of us put together for all of Bellingham to attend. Roughly a hundred people attended and it was great to meet neighbors and friends - old and new.

Few people are aware of the severity of food with the increased control of our food supply by corporate interests. For example, 85% of the totmato seed stock in the world is controlled by one corporation, which is Monsanto. I fond it a bit frightening that a company promoting food with links to all sorts of sicknesses in our society, includeing diabetes and cancer is now heading the USDA.

I find it odd that the head of a hugely profitable corporation is taking a step back to a public role. Usually it's the opposite: The legislation that the government officials impose greatly benefits the corporations that he or she then goes to work for.

But all of that aside, it was a wonderful day to bring together many interesting people for our first annual seed swap. I was able to score some heriloom vairietes - some unique only to Whatcom County (like Jack Garlic's White Beans from Ferndale), or another bean variety brought over from Italy by a woman back in 1910. It was an interesting time and hopefully people will realize the importance of saving seeds before GMO crops (which do not bear seeds - those varieties are all controlled and retained by agri-business) make the availability of seeds for the people that grow and eat food a thing of the past.