February 22 - Seeds of Justice

Organic cilantro seeds ready for planting.

By Magdalena I. García

This year the Organic Faith garden—a project of my church, Ravenswood, and a sister Presbyterian church, Lakeview—got started much earlier. It is still snowing in Chicago, and spring won’t arrive for almost another month, but the gardeners already had their first planning meeting of the season. So what exactly do gardeners do when the temperature is 20 degrees Fahrenheit and the vegetable beds are frozen? They share a potluck, dream of juicy tomatoes, and they count their blessings…and their seeds.

Last year, when the garden was started in May, the group bought seedlings from the organic greenhouse at Kilbourn Park, a marvelous facility on the north side of Chicago, which is affiliated with the Chicago Park District. But this year there won’t be much shopping to get the garden going. That’s because they saved seeds from last year’s crops which will now be used to start seedling beds. G., who is a master gardener and a key leader for this project, came to the meeting with a plastic bag stuffed with old offering envelopes. Those recycled envelopes contained the gold for the next season: seeds carefully sorted and labeled.

As we shared the food and distributed the seeds for various gardeners to start the seedlings indoor with special lamps, the conversation centered on the value of saving seeds. Did you know that saving seeds can be a subversive act? My gardening friends tell me that big agricultural companies like Monsanto (http://www.monsanto.com/) make lots of money by selling GMOs (genetically modified organisms, such as seeds). These are highly desirable because they can yield a more abundant harvest. But Monsanto claims ownership of its seeds, so you are not supposed to save them. The point is to keep the farmers buying seeds every season.

In addition, specific fertilizers and pesticides are produced to compliment each type of seed, so you have to buy those products too. And there are allegations that Monsanto is monopolizing the seed industry through massive purchases and legislation. Check out this blog entry: http://survivingthemiddleclasscrash.wordpress.com/2009/02/05/the-multiple-ways-monsanto-is-putting-normal-seeds-out-of-reach/.

Amazing! To think that by sponsoring a simple project like a church backyard organic garden we are sowing seeds of justice...in so many ways.