"The Food Programme" on seed diversity and agriculture

[Paul Mobbs]

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Hi all,

The most recent edition of "The Food Programme" on Radio 4 has a really good 
review of the links between the diversity of seeds, the decline of 
traditional agriculture, and the dominance of agribusiness.

Repeated on Radio 4, 4pm, Monday 3rd April or listen online at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/factual/foodprogramme_20060402.shtml



Review:

Are we allowing seeds to die out which we might need in the future? The UN's 
Food and Agricultural Organisation estimates that in the last 100 years we've 
lost 75 per cent of plant diversity. Mexico has lost 80 per cent of its maize 
varieties and farmers in the Phillipines who used to grow thousands of kinds 
of rice, now grow just two.

The preservation of seeds depends, to some extent, on consumer demand but much 
of what is grown around the globe is dictated by large seed companies. If we 
let seed varieties die out then will we be able to cope if there is 
significant climate change or if a crop becomes prey to disease?

In Norway a huge seed bank is being built to preserve seeds and plant genes 
from all over the world - but what about the seeds that need to be kept 
alive? Sheila Dillon finds out about seed banks, seed swaps and how to 
protect our seeds from dying out.

Reporter Alison Cutts visits Brighton's annual seed swap, Seedy Sunday, to 
meet some seed-sharers with endangered tastes. She talks to seed sharers Ben 
Gabel and his wife who run the Real Seed Catalogue and Fran Saunders, one of 
the organisers of Seedy Sunday.

Sheila Dillon talks to Dominique Guillet, founder of the Kokopelli Seed 
Foundation, from his home in the Ardeche.

Reporter Richard Crompton visits AVRDC, the African arm of the World Vegetable 
Centre at Arusha in Tanzania, one of the developing world projects 
researching improvements to native plants. He talks to Dr. Mel Oluouch and 
Dr. Detlev Virchow.

Sheila Dillon talks to Professor Cary Fowler from The Global Crop Diversity 
Trust in Rome.

They are joined by Melinda Smale, co-leader of a research programme about 
economics and genetic resources at the International Food Policy Research 
Institute in Washington, DC and Patrick Mulvany, Chair of the UK Food Group 
and Senior Policy advisor to Practical Action. 

- -- 

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nor are we for this party nor against the other but we are
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(Edward Burroughs, 1659 - from 'Quaker Faith and Practice')

Paul's new book, "Energy Beyond Oil", is out now!
For details see http://www.fraw.org.uk/ebo/book.html

Paul Mobbs, Mobbs' Environmental Investigations
3 Grosvenor Road, Banbury OX16 5HN, England
tel./fax (+44/0)1295 261864
email - mobbsey at gn.apc.org
website - http://www.fraw.org.uk/mobbsey/index.html
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