b'GIANT VIEWSPLANT BREEDERS AND GENETICISTS ARE NOT SEED BARONS. HOW DID DAN BARBER GET IT SO WRONG?BY NOW, Im sure most of you have seen the New Yorknutritional profile; fruits and veg-Times opinion piece by celebrity chef Dan Barber titledetables that are more convenient Save our Food from the Seed Barons. Barber makesand appealing for consumers, like some sweeping generalizations that mischaracterize thepersonal-sized seedless watermelons, changes in plant breeding and the seed industry over themini-peppers and grape tomatoes; past 100-plus years. better tasting produce that is more Barber has taken an active role in the seed indus- likely to become part of a healthy diet, try, even co-founding his own seed companybutlike butternut squash with an unusu-he grossly misses the mark in his article. The evolutionally rich, sweet, starchy flavour; and of this great industry is due to the incredible invest- new varieties of fruits and vegetables, mentof both the public and private sectorsofsuch as broccolini, kale and improved time and money in critical research and development.varieties of cauliflower. I would guess Wayne Gale,This forward-thinking investment by seed companies,that Barber has served many of these Chair of theplant breeders, geneticists, agronomists and many others,things at his restaurant. And none of American Seedhas dramatically increased the understanding of what,them would exist without modern Trade Associationgenetically and biologically, makes a plant do what itplant breeding!and Stokes Seedsdoesensuring we are well-prepared to meet whateverIt is true that the seed industry president and CEO challenges come our way in global food and agricultureand the grower community spend production. tens of millions of dollars on plant I agree with Barber that crop production across thebreeding and plant science issues on U.S. has changed dramatically. Its had to, as farmers,an annual basis. These efforts work ranchers and other agriculture producers are facing ato address many of the issues high-number of challenges impacting their livelihoods. To staylighted in the Barber article, such as: competitive, they are being forced to do more with less,how to breed heirloom flavours in THISto produce higher yielding crops on fewer acres, with theconventional market tomatoes; how use of fewer resources. At the same time, the agricultureto create greening disease resistant INDUSTRYcommunity is dealing with rapidly-evolving plant pestscitrus trees; how to enhance healthy IS A LOTand diseases, as well as a changing climate. In addition, aoils in crops like soybeans and sor-myriad of other issues like labour and harvesting, pack- ghum; how to enhance flavours in MORE THANaging and shipping, government regulation and so muchleafy green lettuce varieties; and a moremany of which, at some level, can be addressedmultitude of other innovative research ROW CROPS,through plant breeding. and discovery projects.This industry is a lot more than row crops, and itsPlant breeding will continue to AND ITS Aa lot more than 100 companies, as Barber implies. Asevolve because thats what breed-LOT MOREsomeone involved in the leadership of the American Seeders, geneticists and others dothey Trade Association, and who has worked in the vegetablediscover and create new varieties THAN 100seed sector for more than 30 years, I know full well theon a regular basis. Science changes, tremendous diversity and reach of this business we calland I imagine that Gregoire Mendel COMPANIESseed. From seed companies and farmers, to distributorswould be very proud of where the and technology providers, our industry is dynamic andplant breeding and plant science wide-ranging. From organic, to traditional, to biotech,community has evolved to from his the seed industry offers farmers and consumers unprece- very early genetic discoveries with his dented choices when it comes to performance and variety. peas. For farmers, this means the ability to produce new andThe seed industry has and will improved varieties of better-performing and more sustain- continue to evolve to meet the able crops. changing needs of farmers and the For consumers, this means access to a variety of newchanging demands of consumers and and improved food options like: carrots with increased yeseven chefs. beta-carotene, which improves both the appearance and 64GERMINATION.CA NOVEMBER 2019'