The GREAT SEED ROBBERY by Vandana Shiva

The seed, the source of life, the embodiment of our biological and cultural diversity, the link between the past and the future of evolution, the common property of past, present and future generations of farming communities who have been seed breeders, is today being stolen from the farmers and being sold back to us as “propriety seed” owned by corporations like the US-headquartered Monsanto. (read the rest at this link)

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/editorial/dc-comment/great-seed-robbery-394

MINUTES of 5th GENERAL MTG 4.17.11

MINUTES OF THE FIFTH GENERAL MEETING OF SLOLA

SEED LIBRARY OF LOS ANGELES

APRIL 17, 2011

Executive/Board members in attendance: David King (Chair); Lucinda Zimmerman (Co-Vice Chair); Sarah Spitz (Secretary)

Absent: Ledette Gambini (Treasurer); Clara Yoshihara (Co-Vice Chair)

Committee Chairs present: Linda Preuss (Database); Albert Chang (Best Practices); Lucinda Zimmerman (Organization)

Absent: Elizabeth Bowman (Web/Outreach); Cheryl Noda (membership)

David King called the meeting to order and announced that seeds are now available for check-out. He also gave a brief description of the concept of a seed library and clarified that SLOLA is dedicated to open-pollinated seeds. Membership in SLOLA is $10 for a lifetime.

Reports

Secretary: Sarah Spitz provided minutes from the March 13 meeting.

Treasurer: David, on behalf of Ledette, reported. The treasurer’s report will be submitted as part of these minutes. This is the information contained in that report:

Beginning balance, 2/28/11: $773.37

Income

Memberships: $80.00

Expenses

E. Bowman/web host, 3 years: ($132.00)

Paypal fees: ($1.56)

Ending Balance, 4/15/11: $719.81

Database: Linda, Chair, reported. Database is moving along. Membership and seed inventory are now in an online database (until a permanent database is set up). Sarah has been noting names of people who paid for membership but are not included in the member roster.

Membership: David, on behalf of Cheryl, reported. Eight new memberships in the last month, for a total of 74.

Web & Outreach: Sarah, on behalf of Elizabeth, reported. We are going with Fat Cow for web hosting. We are now transferring from Go Daddy, but we’re stalled until Sarah LaVoie returns from Europe. Jesse Hill wrote up a framework for the individual pages, which now have to be fleshed out. A volunteer, Zach Mann, is designing the site pro bono.

Best Practices: Albert, Chair, reported. Summer seed inventory would be laid out in the shadehouse and orders would be filled after the meeting. Extra plants grown from SLOLA seeds should be brought to the Learning Garden for others to use.

David noted that all meeting minutes and committee reports will be posted to the SLOLA blog: slola.blogspot.org.

Mission Statement

David read the draft mission statement with several changes made by the Executive Committee before the meeting:

“Our mission is to facilitate the growth of open-pollinated seeds among all residents of the Greater Los Angeles Area. We are building a seed collection and repository, educating members about the practice of seed-saving, and creating a local community of seed-saving gardeners. We seek to preserve genetic diversity, increase food security and food justice in our region, safeguard alternatives to GMO’s, and empower all members through a deeper connection with nature and the experience of self-reliance. We strive for excellence in all that we do, knowing the preservation of seed is a sacred trust.”

Albert moved to approve the mission statement; Julie Mann seconded. The mission statement was approved.

Best Practices Presentation

David explained that each meeting will feature a 15-minute presentation by a member of the Best Practices Committee on the topic of a particular type of seed.

In this meeting, Megan Bomba presented cucurbits. She explained that most summer veggies have perfect flowers, which contain both male and female parts, but not cucurbits, which have separate male and female flowers on the same plant. They are often pollinated by bees.

The cucurbitaceae family includes:

- Cucurbita (squashes): maxima, moschata, mixta, pepo

- Cucumis (cucumbers, melons)

- Citrullus (watermelons)

If you’re growing for seed, you need to be careful not to select multiple varieties from the same species because they could cross. (This could also happen if your neighbors are growing different varieties.) To prevent cross-pollinating, many people hand-pollinate cucurbits.

On cucurbits, male flowers are usually the first to appear. When they are about to open, tape them shut. Do the same with the females when they are about to open. The following morning, remove the tape (and remove the petals from the males to expose the anthers, but keep the petals on the females because you will have to tape them shut again). Dab the pollen on the stigmas, close the petals, tape the flowers shut, and leave them taped until they fall off. Carefully mark the plants with wist-ties under the flowers you hand-pollinated so you know which seeds to save. You will know if your hand-pollination was successful because it will produce fruit.

Melons and summer squashes need to be aged (beyond edibility) until their skins harden before their seeds can be removed for saving. Test by trying to indent the skin with your fingernail -- when it is ready, it won’t give.

Seeds from winter squashes are ready to be removed when the fruit is edible. Break open the fruit, scoop out the seeds and rinse them lightly; then dry.

Cucumber seeds should be prepared for saving the way tomato seeds are -- by leaving them in their goop until it forms a scum layer, usually a few days. (leave them outdoors because they will stink) Then wash, dry, and save.

Next Meeting

Sunday, May 15, 2011, at 2:30 pm, at the Learning Garden.

Minutes Submitted by Tim Smith, sitting in for Secretary Sarah Spitz

GMO Regulation Has Never Been Strong, But Now...

We at SLOLA appreciate the work of the Organic Seed Alliance. They just posted this on their blog and it deserves a repost:

Regulatory Oversight of GE Crops Just Got Weaker
Posted on April 20, 2011 by Kristina Hubbard

USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is responsible for overseeing experimental field trials of genetically engineered (GE) crops and reviewing petitions for the “deregulation” (approval) of new GE crops entering the commercial marketplace. APHIS has approved more than 80 of these petitions since the early 1990s (mostly GE traits in corn, canola, soybeans, and cotton). Twenty-one petitions are currently pending approval.

The Coordinated Framework for Regulation of Biotechnology has long been criticized as an inadequate regulatory system for ensuring the proper review and safe introduction of GE crops. No new law has ever been introduced to address the unique challenges GE organisms pose. Instead, the government relies on a patchwork of laws — some of which predate the technology — and the subjective interpretation of three agencies’ roles under these laws. One criticism is that no independent studies are required to analyze potential agronomic, environmental, human health, and economic implications. The government largely relies on the manufacturer’s own data when putting together an environmental assessment before approving (because they’ve never denied) a petition.

Read the rest of this article at their blog site.

david

What Can You Do?

Thanks to Stephen Dickter for forwarding this You Tube video. It's almost 20 minutes long, and I had to persevere to about minute eight to begin to see the point. But it's a powerful point and you need those eight minutes to get the full impact.

With the complacency of our government in these issues, it will be up to us, the consumers, the citizens, the afflicted, to change what we do and how we do it to make changes in the way our country does business. We will bear the cost of higher prices for food, but that will be offset by the drop of medical bills we will need to spend in the future.

This is a powerful video that brings it down to 'sippy cups' and 'bowls of cereal.' Her facts are eye opening and it's worth the few minutes to watch.

david

The Official Mission Statement of the Seed Library of Los Angeles

Mission Statement for SLOLA

“Our mission is to facilitate the growth of open-pollinated seeds among all residents of the Greater Los Angeles Area. We are building a seed collection and repository, educating members about the practice of seed-saving, and creating a local community of seed-saving gardeners. We seek to preserve genetic diversity, increase food security and food justice in our region, safeguard alternatives to GMO’s, and empower all members through a deeper connection with nature and the experience of self-reliance. We strive for excellence in all that we do, knowing the preservation of seed is a sacred trust.”

david

Chair

Suggested SLOLA MEETING AGENDA, 17 April, 2011

I. Welcome to members/guests

II. Secretary has minutes of last meeting

III. Treasurer's report

IV. Committee Chair's reports

A. Database

B. Membership

C. Organizational/Bylaws

D. Web/Outreach

E. Best Practices

V. Old Business

No outstanding old business (?)

VI. New Business

A. Approval of Mission Statement

B.

C. Next meeting

VII. Adjourn to distribute seeds to SLOLA members

david, 

Chair