One of the worst CAFOs as far as cruelty to both animals and farmers, Tyson has now warned America that our food supply line is broken. This kind of business plan basically set us up for a broken system by swallowing small farmers and industrializing food itself, making growing vegetables, fruit, and meat a chemical process vulnerable to the marketplace and outdated transportation systems.
We are now entering the new age of adapt or die which has been forced upon us by not only a voracious pandemic but climate alterations. Our species is an adaptable one. Look at the creativity and thought on all levels which has gone into creating masks to see that there are as many solutions as there are imaginations.
Necessity is a mother, to be sure. Self-Isolating appears to trigger certain shortages. Flour, for instance, is scarce as individuals bake their own bread which is a foodstuff which drives frequent shopping. Dry milk is also scarce for the same reason.
However, I believe some shortages can be triggered by larger cultural changes such as the possible collapse of our American food supply line. One item I found scarce was seeds which seemed to be flying off local shelves. Out of Stock.
I was able to get some varieties online and made it up with older seeds which I had saved. (Depending upon how seeds are stored, they can remain viable though with lower germination rates.)
My agricultural passion is the Local Food Movement that rejects the experiment of industrial agriculture (begun in the 1950s) which is resource intensive with a heavy dependence on chemical fertilizers and biocides, transportation, and fossil fuels. The 2013 United Nations report Trade and Environment Review Wake Up Before It’s Too Late calling for truly sustainable, small farm agrocology warns against the current industrial system destroying the world food supply.
Seeds are a human heritage. Farmers have saved them and hybridized them for centuries. Repositories exist to preserve seeds. Right out of town here, the World Pear and Quince Collection is conserved. The demand for organic seeds has soared.
Oregon State University Agricultural Sciences
The specialty seed industry in Oregon produces a variety of seed crops, over 170 crop species ranging from vegetable seed to cover crop and ornamental flowers. An estimated 14,000+ acres are planted to vegetable seed production statewide, for a farm gate value of $27,429,748 in 2012 (NASS 2014). Farm gate estimates including a wider selection of specialty seed crops such as flowers and cover crops exceed $50 million annually.
Organic heritage seed growers who believe in real family farms and growing heritage, organic seed are ready for demand! In many regions, year-round gardens are possible with and without cover. Many of the heritage varieties were bred for hardiness, so you should be able to find seeds which you can plant in July or later to bear edibles through the fall, winter, and spring. Here are a couple of my favorites:
Open-sourced, Non-GMO, certified organic, locally adapted, and raised in Southern Oregon which has hot summers and cold winters. Their 2020 catalog is online with a huge variety of vegetables, flowers, and grains. The founder, Chris Hardy, has been a stalwart champion of seed sovereignty and served as president of Our Family Farm Coalition for over eight years.
Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds offers a free 164-page catalog bursting with unusual varieties and plants completely unknown to you. Sign up for the free catalog now, and you will be cheered by its arrival in the depths of winter. Many a winter night have I perused my seed catalogs to put me in a good mind to sleep and dream sweet dreams.
I felt well rewarded for my large garden pictured above when my vegan daughter, arms full of vegetables, told me that now she does not need to go grocery shopping as much. And that is what it is all about!
(H/T to MonaMongoose!) They have the most unique carrot seed (Merida) that you plant in the fall which gives you the sweetest carrots in March! They also were the recipients of OSU’s Tex Frazier’s seed stock such as Frazier’s Gem, a seedless tomato and the most luscious I’ve ever tasted. They no longer sell that seed. I planted some of his seeds this year and hope to get more of the seeds. (After all, it really was seedless!)
Happy gardening!