b"regions available online. It also collaborates with the Culinary Breeding Network to connect chefs with local farmers and hold tasting events. Without collaboration, its hard for small farmers to make a living growing these varieties, Wallace says. And while (like the other groups) Southern Exposure provides tutoring on how to distribute and save seed, Wallace would like to see initiatives that introduce seed saving in agricultural educa-tion programs. Shed also like to see effort put into greatly boosting the pool of small American farmers. Farmers are aging, and the number of farmers is decreas-ing, she says. Families taking up and maintaining the tradition of growing these varieties is critical. It would also be great, she says, if big companies helped with on-farm breeding.More Ideas to Protect Seed DiversityWestengen thinks its important at the local level to strengthen connections between local seed system players and national/international genebanks. Westengen says most people really enjoy having access to differentWe see that many genebanks already collaborate with local varieties of produce and grains.PHOTO: SSE organizations like seed producer groups and community seed banks and such links are important for genebanks to make a dif-ference in the seed systems farmers rely on, she says. More Resources But at the same time, she points out that collaboration in this area is complex. On one side is a tragedy of the commons The Australian Grains Genebanksituation where no one takes responsibility for conserving the http://agriculture.vic.gov.au/crops-and-horticulture/the-australian-grains- crop diversity commons, and on the other side, theres a tragedy genebank/about-the-australian-grains-genebank of the anti-commons where IP rights and access-and-benefit-(online seed catalogue www.ausgenebank.agriculture.vic.gov.au) sharing regulations hinder access to genetic material by breeders and farmers. Culinary Breeding Network There's reason for cautious optimism, Bollinger says, speak-https://www.culinarybreedingnetwork.com/ ing from a ground-level perspective. The growing recognition of the critical importance of seed diversity, coupled with techno-The Crop Trust logical advancements and potential policy shifts, could pave the https://bold.croptrust.org/ way for a more resilient and diverse agricultural future. However, https://www.croptrust.org/work/projects/global-crop-conservation-strategies/ achieving this will require sustained effort, collaboration and commitment from organizations like SSE, policymakers, farmers Seed Savers Exchange and the public at large. https://seedsavers.org/ And we should also remember, Westengen says, that most Native Seed/SEARCH people really enjoy having access to different varieties of pro-https://www.nativeseeds.org/duce and grains. Most people prefer seeing a diverse fruit stall over one with Southern Exposure Seed Exchange only a few options, she stresses. While there are some meg-https://www.southernexposure.com/ atrends pushing our food systems towards concentration and uniformity, my hope is that this trend can be countered and that we will see more crop-diversified food systems in the future. SW46/ SEEDWORLD.COMJANUARY 2025"