PR – June 12 2014

PR – July 16 2014

In less than a century of industrial agriculture, our once abundant seed diversity—painstakingly created by ancient farmers and gardeners over countless millennia—has been drastically winnowed down to a handful of mass-produced varieties. As the renowned naturalist and author Gary Paul Nabhan puts it, “Many of our seeds today are as endangered as a panda or polar bear.”

The speed and scope of this loss is staggering, and its implications for our future are stark. An article in National Geographic reported that up to 96% of the vegetable seeds available in 1903 have disappeared. In an era of climate uncertainty, this dearth of diversity is a recipe for catastrophic crop failure and human suffering.

Now under the mantle of their newly formed Rocky Mountain Seed Alliance nonprofit, Seed School in a Day will instill participants with the knowledge, resources, and inspiration to develop more sovereign and secure seed systems where they live. The workshops will also help RMSA identify and connect with potential “Seed Stewards” and community seed growers and educators who will collaborate with the Alliance to assess the needs, available resources, and seed management strategies in their communities.

Seed School in a Day workshops are scheduled in the following locations: Mancos, Colorado (August 9th); Colorado Springs, Colorado (August 16th); and Boulder, Colorado (August 23rd). More dates and locations will be announced in the coming weeks. For more information please contact Belle Starr: belle@rockymountainseeds.org, Tel: +928.300.7989.

As a free introduction to the groundbreaking course, s special 75-minute webinar on January 27, 2015 will be offered entitled “Seed Saving Hacked: Why Seeds Matter, Why Saving Them is Easy, and How to Save Your Own.” Full details and registration for the introductory session and full Seed School Online course series can be found on the Seedsave.org and RockyMountainSeeds.org websites.

Seed School Online is presented by longtime seed educators Bill McDorman and Belle Starr in collaboration with the Urban Farm University. As co-founders of the Rocky Mountain Seed Alliance and former co-directors of the notable seed conservation organization Native Seeds/SEARCH, McDorman and Starr have produced nearly two-dozen Seed School courses nationwide and graduated over 600 students from around the world. Seed School has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, and in two documentary films (Open Sesame: The Story of Seeds and the forthcoming SEED: The Untold Story).

For more information, please contact Belle Starr: belle@rockymountainseeds.org, Tel: +928.300.7989.