Heirloom seeds Illegal?

[Guest guest]

Haribol:

 

There is a farm that exists in my old hometown of Decorah, Iowa (owned by

Kent and Diane Whealy) that is dedicated to maintaining a vast collection of

heirloom seeds. It is called Heritage Farm and their organization is called

Seed Savers Exchange. They have a free catalog that has 297 varieties. They

sell small packages of seeds and also wholesale larger quantities.

 

Their address is: Seed Savers Exchange, 3076 North Winn Road, Decorah, Iowa

52101. Phone number: 319-382-5990. Fax: 319-382-5872.

 

Ys,

Bhadra dd

[Guest guest]

> Also there are other things they don't want to lose the sales of;

> Synthetic fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides.

> Real organic farming eliminates the needs for these commodities.

 

> Until recently organic farming was not even taught in this country and not

> even spoken about. I asked an agricultural student recently: What about

> Organic Farming? He said: What? there's no profit in that!

 

Interestingly, while putting together a report to submit to the government

here for our project, I discovered that the British government is finaly

taking this seriously. I assembled this data from some of their (and others)

publications:

 

In the western world today demand for organically produced food products is

rapidly expanding. Data received from 'The Soil Association' of the United

Kingdom reveals that in 1996 retail sales of organic produce in the UK alone

rose by 30% on the previous year, and were estimated to be worth £225

million. This level of growth is expected to continue. The area of organic

farmland under organic management in the UK is expanding at 20% per annum,

but even with this rate of growth supply is failing to fulfil market

demands.

 

Many export countries in the west nowadays are converting wholesale to

organic products. Waitrose, a major supermarket chain in the UK recently

published this statement;

 

"As and when we are able to source sufficient quantities of organically

grown produce. Waitrose is prepared to replace conventionally grown lines

and sell the organic alternative."

John Foley, Head of Vegetable purchasing.

 

Sainsbury's, another major chain, published this;

 

"Sainsbury's have experienced substantial increases in sales of organically

grown produce, year on year since 1994. Potential new entrants to the

organic sector can be confident that consumer demand for organically grown

food is rising"

Robert Duxbury, Product Manager, Vegetables.

 

According to the 'Organic Trade Association' of North America and Canada:

'Internationally organic product sales totalled $3.5 billion in 1996.

Organic products are now available in every food category, from fresh

produce to processed products. Over five percent of all new food and

beverage introductions in 1996 have been products made with organic

ingredients. Nonfood products, such as organic cotton, are viable

alternatives, and in high demand. While production standards are being

codified into government regulations, the network of organic producers and

handlers is expanding internationally, posing challenges to the entire

industry'.

 

> Chemical farming is in itself the cause of the dramatic increase

> in the degenerative diseases....I could list them but including cancer and

> so many other complaints the list would be too long right now.

 

We can draw other parralels from the body also. We understand that a person

who eats a balanced diet, with enough roughage, nutrients, trace elements,

iron etc, will have a strong immune system. Similarly plants also need a

balanced diet. Research on soil by the UK's soil association and others has

shown the amount of favourable fungi present in good soil that assists

plants to grow, are innumerable. There is one fungus that combines with the

roots of plants, and link them to sources of moisture deep in the soil which

they would otherwise be unable to reach, this is only found in good humus.

 

In the same way that seeds taken from unhealthy plants will eventualy

degrade the strain. People who eat plants who's immune systems are depleted,

will not get the same benefit as from plants who's immune systems are

strong, which will eventualy lead to the problems you mention.

 

It seems that much of this has not been proven in the Laboratory. And the

Chemical companies make much of this in their refutation of natural farming.

But we only have to look at their motivation, which as all can see, is fat

profit, to understand how their principles are reached.

 

Fortunately the public can see through all these, thanks partialy

(tragicaly) to the mad cow disease, and its causes, and they no longer trust

'Big Industry' with its food. They are driving the trend back to natural

methods.

 

Many organic producers have united, and are becoming unstoppable.

 

We however, who have the philosophy and understanding to provide the

underpinning for natural farming (as opposed to Fukuokas impersonal

explanations), are at best irrelevant in this area, and at the worst,

contributing in embarrasing ways to polluting the earth, so that many

members of the public are puzzled as to how we can be so ignorant.

 

As you so rightly point out Varnasrama is the answer, and it may take

generations. But the journey of a thousand miles..............

 

YS Samba das