School of Sustainability

A pea called Corgi and the work of keeping seeds true

Before a seed ever reaches a packet, someone has to keep it honest. Open-pollinated varieties hold their character only if stray pollen from a neighbouring strain is kept away, and Seed Savers Exchange opens the third episode of its podcast, Sowing Connections, in the field, explaining the careful isolation practices it uses to keep varieties true-to-type. The point is plain: the seed harvested this autumn should grow the same plant next spring, and the one after that.

The episode then sits down with Marion Nestle, the New York University nutritionist and food policy scholar, in conversation with Mike Bollinger. Her subject, pursued through books and research on the politics of food and dietary choice, is the long chain of decisions - about seeds, agriculture, policy and markets - that is made before any eater decides anything. Industrial agriculture, food policy, ultra-processed foods and grocery store marketing all get their turn, along with the question of what gardeners, farmers, communities and policymakers might do about it.

The episode closes where it began, with a seed. The variety spotlight falls on the 'Corgi' pea, a sweet and versatile heirloom from the Seed Savers Exchange collection, which can be requested through The Exchange, the organisation's listing offering thousands of varieties. The through-line is deliberate: policy and markets shape the food system from above, but the collection persists because growers keep requesting, planting and re-saving particular seeds, one variety at a time.

Seed Savers Exchange · Read the source