BC Eco Seed Co-op’s supplies are 100% BC-grown, organic, and ecological. All the seeds are open-pollinated, GE-free, regionally selected, and grown by their members, on their farms across the province.
In this week’s supplier feature, we have BC Eco Seed Co-op here to tell us more about the agricultural industry and their contribution to the sustainable agriculture movement by growing and distributing local organic seed.
Can you tell us more about the benefits of having ecologically grown, open-pollinated, regionally selected, and GE-free seeds rather than commercialized seeds? How exactly is an organic seed better than an industrialized seed for the environment/biodiversity?
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Local, organic and ecological seeds are good for the planet, the local economy, and regional food diversity and security. Organic seed offers broad public benefit, including minimizing environmental impacts, supporting the success of the organic food industry, and bolstering regional food diversity and security. Seed provides the genetic tools to confront day-to-day challenges in the field, and furthermore, adaptation which is key to achieving resilience in our food system. Adapting seeds to changing climates, resource availability, and environmental conditions is one way to mitigate risks for farmers and the food system we serve.
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Globally, we have lost 75% of agricultural biodiversity in the last 100 years, and 75% of the world’s food is derived from only 12 plant and 5 animal species. Climate change and the weather extremes, pest pressures and the uncertainty that comes with it, put our food system at risk. Genetic diversity in crops is one solution to climate uncertainty.
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Seed is a natural resource that should be available to all, but open access to plant genetic resources is being limited by utility patents, trademarks and plant variety protections. Due to corporate consolidation in the seed industry, 3 companies now control 53% of the global commercial seed market. The top ten seed companies account for 75%!
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Growing quality, organic/ecological seeds takes hard work, dedication and skill - your support helps create a resilient local food system! The success of the organic seed industry requires market support. By showing the benefits of organic seed, what goes into its development, and why it may have a higher price tag, public education can build broader support for organic seed.
How do you reduce waste in your supply chain (either with us, other retailers, or both)?
From our experience in seed growing, waste is minimal from field to hand. As we’re ecological and organic growers, soil building and regenerative agriculture practices are used in growing. Seed growing requires less water than market production crops and packaging requirements for seed are minimal consisting of paper and labels. As we provide bulk variants primarily of interest to farmers and larger growers, less packaging is used for fulfilling bulk orders.How do you ensure quality in your seeds?
How does the cooperative work / who can apply to be part of your coop?
The goal was to have a community of growers who work together to produce seeds. The farmer then grows the seed and passes it on to the cooperative, which takes care of the marketing, sales, packaging, shipping and everything in between. Members of the co-op commit to producing crops in volume, which collectively allows everyone to have access to a greater diversity of regionally grown seed in the quantities needed by growers of all sizes.A co-operative was chosen as a powerful model to achieve greater farmer co-operation to serve the following functions:
- Pool resources and infrastructure for cleaning and marketing seed.
- Make bulk amounts of seed, grown in organic and ecological farm systems, available to organic and ecological growers.
- Support on-going educational opportunities to better produce seed in the quantities farmers need, and to a level of quality that they can trust.
- Promote member farm businesses and create networking opportunities for regional seed producers.
- Honour and practice the seven cooperative principles.
What's next for BC Eco Seed Co-op?
This spring the Co-op has seen the number of orders placed grow by 300% (April - August 2020 saw over 800% increase in sales with orders up over 500%) and we’ve been able to continue order fulfillment and shipping desire pressures of the pandemic but to be able to keep up the pace the co-op needs to expand their operations space (have operated out of a shared office since 2014).
You can also support BC Eco Seed Co-op by browsing through their local organic seed that we have in stock.
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