By Pauline Lloyd
Many of our traditional vegetable varieties are fast disappearing. In recent years it has become increasingly difficult to purchase seeds of many once common non-hybrid varieties from conventional seed companies' catalogues. Commercial seed companies' lists are getting shorter and are increasingly dominated by modern, uniform F1 hybrids. The loss of non-hybrid (open pollinated) vegetable varieties from these seed catalogues has been enormous. And it is not just in the UK that this has happened. It has happened throughout Europe and in the USA and Canada as well. It is a tragic loss. In this article I shall try and explain the main reasons why this has happened.
The Main Pressures Involved
The purchasing of seeds from seed catalogues is a fairly modern development. Up until about 50 years ago most people saved their own seeds, often handing them down from one generation to the next, like family heirlooms. In many areas of the developing world, this is still done.
When seed companies first came into existence, they tended to be small family-based companies, but as plant breeding techniques became more sophisticated and herbicides and pesticides were developed, large multinationals started to invest in seed companies and small firms were either bought out by larger companies, or simply dwindled because they could no longer compete. Large seed companies, motivated by profit, like to sell F1 hybrids. Why? Well firstly, F1 hybrids usually give higher yields than traditional varieties, but only when they are grown using chemical fertilisers, pesticides, fungicides and herbicides. Products which are of course frequently sold by the same large seed companies! In contrast, traditional varieties usually have a higher natural resistance to disease. Therefore, large inputs of artificial chemicals are not usually necessary in order for them to grow well. Hence the seed companies can make more profit if they sell F1 hybrids. Secondly, F1 hybrids grow well in a wide range of climates. Whereas traditional varieties usually grow best in the local conditions to which they are adapted. Consequently, sales of F1 hybrid seeds are much higher. Finally, when the seeds of F1 hybrids are saved, they don't usually give good crops in the second and subsequent years (i.e they don't breed true). Which means of course that growers must continue to purchase new seeds annually from the suppliers, thus boosting their seed sales considerably!
When farmers used more traditional methods of farming, they used to grow many different varieties of a wider range of crops and the crops were harvested over a longer period of time. Now it is easier and far more profitable for modern farmers to grow just a few varieties of crops, all of which ripen at the same time and which can be harvested by machine. Increasing mechanisation and the use of chemicals, such as pesticides, has made it possible for large monocultures of the same crop to be grown in this way. F1 Hybrids are generally grown in preference to traditional varieties because they have more predictable harvest times.
In recent years, the way many of us live has changed markedly. Time is in short supply for many people and the daily trip to the shops has become a thing of the past. Many people now shop only once a week, often taking their car to the nearest supermarket and buying in bulk to save time. In industrialised nations only a small proportion of fresh produce is now marketed locally through small shops such as greengrocers. Most of the fresh produce is sold to the large supermarket chains, where the majority of people now do their shopping. The supermarkets command the market and growers are increasingly under pressure to grow only the varieties which the supermarkets want to purchase from them. In general, supermarkets want to purchase unblemished, uniformly-sized crops (as these are more easily priced and packed by machine), crops which have a long shelf life and crops which will resist bruising and are not easily damaged when transported about.
Also a lot of the food we now buy and eat is processed. And so it is not just the supermarkets that influence which crops are grown, the food processing companies do too. Farmers are increasingly under pressure to grow a narrower and narrower range of crops to satisfy the demands of the supermarkets and food processing companies. Many commercial growers, for example, now plant only 2-3 varieties of potatoes each year. This is because only a few varieties of potatoes are suitable for making into crisps and chips and so these are the varieties that are now mainly grown.
In the past our vegetable heritage was regarded as a common resource. But in more recent times various legislative controls have been introduced. These controls are threatening biodiversity in the following ways:
Farmers and growers no longer have the automatic right to save seed of varieties covered by plant breeders' rights (PBR). Under PBR new vegetable varieties can be registered by breeders who then receive a royalty from all of those who use the variety. In the US plants can also be patented and in countries in the European Union vegetable varieties can only be sold if they have been registered on a National List. A substantial fee has to be paid in order to register and an annual maintainance fee is also necessary in order to keep the variety on the list. The price of this fee is the same regardless of how many packets of that variety of seed are actually sold. This registration fee means that it would be uneconomic for many small seed suppliers to sell seeds for which there wasn't a great deal of demand. Also in order to be registered, each variety has to pass a strict DUS test. This shows that it is uniform and distinct from other varieties. Unfortunately, many old varieties are not sufficiently uniform to satisfy this legislation and therefore cannot be registered. It is illegal to sell seeds that are not registered on the National List and anyone offering unlisted varieties can be prosecuted. Consequently many once commercial favourites can no longer be sold.
The Importance of Our Traditional Vegetables
Why is it important that we continue to grow the traditional varieties of vegetables? Heritage, or heirloom, vegetables are important because they contain a wealth of genetic material which could be of vital importance in the future. They should not be discarded and replaced with modern varieties, simply because the latter appear to have more useful characteristics at the moment. Indeed it would be extremely risky and unwise to do this, because nobody knows exactly what the future has in store for us! No one can predict with any great certainty exactly which genetic characteristics will be of importance in 50 or more years time. Nor can anyone know which pests and diseases will be around then, or what the climate will be like. It is, therefore, vitally important that we maintain genetic diversity by preserving as many different species of plants as possible. For it is only by doing this, that we can ensure that we have the best possible chance of successfully adapting to future conditions - whatever they may be.
Heritage vegetable varieties have many indispensable qualities:
They are more likely to grow well without the use of artificial chemicals such as pesticides, fertilisers.
Many heritage varieities have naturally good storage properties. So they don't need to be genetically modified in order to keep better!
They are often more useful to gardeners because they crop over a longer period of time, avoiding gluts and famines, whereas modern F1 hybrids are bred to mature all at once.
They often have a superior taste.
Because they have more variable characteristics, traditional varieties are not so easily overcome by pests and diseases. Modern varieties are more uniform and tend to have a similar susceptibility to disease.
So what can be done? Various schemes have been set up to try to protect our endangered heritage vegetables from extinction. The most important schemes include:
Many countries have set up gene banks. Here seeds are stored under cold, dry conditions where they remain viable for about 25 years. Seeds are removed from the gene bank at intervals, sown and new seeds collected from the plants. More recent seeds are returned to the gene bank for further storage. The Nordic gene bank, in Sweden, concentrates on varieties from Scandinavia. There is also a gene bank in the UK and in the USA the National Seed Storage Laboratory (NSSL) houses about 400,000 varieties. Gene banks are vital in conserving biodiversity, but they tend to be vastly underfunded.
Seed savers networks also help to save endangered vegetable varieties. One such organisation is the Seed Savers Exchange (SSE) in the USA which is the largest network in the world, offering around 12,000 rare and unusual vegetable varieties. In the UK we have the Heritage Seed Library, based at HDRA (details below). Seed savers networks collect seeds and make them available for immediate use. Seeds are distributed to members and grown annually. New seeds are saved. There are seed saving networks worldwide. You will find a more complete list of such organisations in Heritage Vegetables by Sue Stickland (Gaia Books Ltd, 1998).
The more people who are involved in protecting our vegetable heritage the better. Here's how you can help! By deciding to grow heritage varieties instead of growing modern F1 hybrid varieties you can help to ensure that these old varieties do not disappear. The seeds of heritage vegetable varieties are not always easy to find and are not usually available from ordinary commercial seed suppliers, for the reasons given earlier. However, because of the recent increase in interest in heritage varieties, quite a few small seed companies are now starting to offer open-pollinated and endangered species in their catalogues. To help you acquire suitable seeds I have included a list of mail order seed stockists below. You can also obtain heritage seeds by becoming a member of HDRA's Heritage Seed Library.
Just think, if all Vegan News readers made a New Year resolution to plant 2-3 heritage vegetables in their veganic gardens next year, what a difference we could make! We could even swop seeds via the Bulletin Board. Anyone interested?
Note: Heritage (or heirloom) varieties are not always clearly labelled as such in some catalogues. It is, therefore, important that you have some idea of which varieties to look out for. The following list contains some of the vegetables that are classified as heritage varieties:
The Heritage Seed Library is a collection of over 800 varieties of seeds. Annual membership is £16.00. Members receive quarterly newsletters and a Seed Library Catalogue from which they can obtain up to 7 packets of free seeds. The catalogue also has a seed swop register, enabling members to exchange seeds. More information can be obtained from their website or by writing to: The Heritage Seed Library, HDRA, Ryton Organic Gardens, Ryton-On-Dunsmore, Coventry CV83LG. (E-mail: enquiry@hdra.org.uk.)
An extensive seed saving network in the USA. The Seed Savers Exchange produces the Seed Savers Yearbook. For more information write to: Seed Savers Exchange, 3076 North Winn Road, Decorah, IA 52101. (Tel: (319) 382 5990.
Both Heritage Vegetables and The Seed Savers Handbook can be purchased by mail order from: The Organic Gardening Catalogue, Molesey Road, Hersham, Surrey, KT12 4RG. Telephone: 01932 253666, or e-mail: chaseorg@aol.com.
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