It is not always so obvious for people to understand what is hidden in such small things as seeds. Seed swaps are a great opportunity for participants to share thoughts about the role of seeds in local and global ecosystems and brainstorm ideas about how we could preserve such tiny and vulnerable elements.
It’s always surprising and insightful to hear people’s reflections on their relationship and understanding of seeds. In our last seed swap, we asked people to remember and share their first encounter with seeds and to reflect on what seeds represent for them. Here are some of the nice thoughts that came out of this exchange.
Seeds are…
- life
- a form of ecological and political resistance
- a common good
- precious and necessary
- a part of a circle
- an information library, full of genetic information
- stony, fragile and adventourous
- a sustainable and renewable resource for the future
- small, cute and delicious
We then had time to swap seeds, play with origami and arrange cute envelopes to carry our seeds home safe.
“I hadn’t really thought or read about the topic of seed sovereignty before and I didn’t even know that was a cause at all.” says one of the participants. Raising awareness in the community is one of the things we can do to have an impact. Sharing thoughts and learning together is a great tool to improve our ecological footprint and empower individuals to make big changes in the world.