Saving Seeds: The Svalbard Global Seed Vault, Native American Seed-Savers, and Problems of Property
This case study contrasts centralized ex situ conservation of food and crop plant genetic resources with many Native Americans' preference for informal, localized in situ conservation. First, I examine ex situ genebanks operated by governments and research institutions, with particular attentio...
Published in: | Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development |
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Thomas A. Lyson Center for Civic Agriculture and Food Systems
2016
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2015.052.016 https://doaj.org/article/1cdb763042834f9dbf825674335fd1d5 |
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fttriple:oai:gotriple.eu:oai:doaj.org/article:1cdb763042834f9dbf825674335fd1d5 2023-05-15T15:10:56+02:00 Saving Seeds: The Svalbard Global Seed Vault, Native American Seed-Savers, and Problems of Property Sheryl D. Breen 2016-10-01 https://doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2015.052.016 https://doaj.org/article/1cdb763042834f9dbf825674335fd1d5 en eng Thomas A. Lyson Center for Civic Agriculture and Food Systems doi:10.5304/jafscd.2015.052.016 2152-0801 https://doaj.org/article/1cdb763042834f9dbf825674335fd1d5 undefined Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, Vol 5, Iss 2 (2016) Agriculture Genebanks Native Americans Property Seeds envir socio Journal Article https://vocabularies.coar-repositories.org/resource_types/c_6501/ 2016 fttriple https://doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2015.052.016 2023-01-22T19:34:06Z This case study contrasts centralized ex situ conservation of food and crop plant genetic resources with many Native Americans' preference for informal, localized in situ conservation. First, I examine ex situ genebanks operated by governments and research institutions, with particular attention to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault built into the mountainous permafrost on a Norwegian island in the High Arctic. Second, I describe Native American seed-saving efforts in the United States, drawing primarily on projects to preserve culturally significant seeds and promote food sovereignty at the local or tribal level. In general, Native American projects focus on the integration of cultural heritage and food independence through understandings of seeds as a tribal commons. Through these contrasting cases—the Svalbard vault and localized Native American seed-saving projects—I analyze the ways in which divergent understandings of "seedness" and seed ownership are crucial elements in discussions of seeds as property. In conclusion, I point out that the Svalbard Global Seed Vault is unique in its potential ability to cross the political and cultural divide over the ownership and conservation of seeds and thereby promote the vital ecological need for both ex situ and in situ seed preservation. Furthermore, I argue that recognition of the divergent understandings of "seedness" provides a useful way of examining the complementarity and limitations of specific models of in situ and ex situ seed conservation and, more broadly, the future of farmers' rights to the genetic heritage developed over generations in the fields. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic permafrost Svalbard Unknown Arctic Svalbard Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development 27 38 |
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language |
English |
topic |
Agriculture Genebanks Native Americans Property Seeds envir socio |
spellingShingle |
Agriculture Genebanks Native Americans Property Seeds envir socio Sheryl D. Breen Saving Seeds: The Svalbard Global Seed Vault, Native American Seed-Savers, and Problems of Property |
topic_facet |
Agriculture Genebanks Native Americans Property Seeds envir socio |
description |
This case study contrasts centralized ex situ conservation of food and crop plant genetic resources with many Native Americans' preference for informal, localized in situ conservation. First, I examine ex situ genebanks operated by governments and research institutions, with particular attention to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault built into the mountainous permafrost on a Norwegian island in the High Arctic. Second, I describe Native American seed-saving efforts in the United States, drawing primarily on projects to preserve culturally significant seeds and promote food sovereignty at the local or tribal level. In general, Native American projects focus on the integration of cultural heritage and food independence through understandings of seeds as a tribal commons. Through these contrasting cases—the Svalbard vault and localized Native American seed-saving projects—I analyze the ways in which divergent understandings of "seedness" and seed ownership are crucial elements in discussions of seeds as property. In conclusion, I point out that the Svalbard Global Seed Vault is unique in its potential ability to cross the political and cultural divide over the ownership and conservation of seeds and thereby promote the vital ecological need for both ex situ and in situ seed preservation. Furthermore, I argue that recognition of the divergent understandings of "seedness" provides a useful way of examining the complementarity and limitations of specific models of in situ and ex situ seed conservation and, more broadly, the future of farmers' rights to the genetic heritage developed over generations in the fields. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Sheryl D. Breen |
author_facet |
Sheryl D. Breen |
author_sort |
Sheryl D. Breen |
title |
Saving Seeds: The Svalbard Global Seed Vault, Native American Seed-Savers, and Problems of Property |
title_short |
Saving Seeds: The Svalbard Global Seed Vault, Native American Seed-Savers, and Problems of Property |
title_full |
Saving Seeds: The Svalbard Global Seed Vault, Native American Seed-Savers, and Problems of Property |
title_fullStr |
Saving Seeds: The Svalbard Global Seed Vault, Native American Seed-Savers, and Problems of Property |
title_full_unstemmed |
Saving Seeds: The Svalbard Global Seed Vault, Native American Seed-Savers, and Problems of Property |
title_sort |
saving seeds: the svalbard global seed vault, native american seed-savers, and problems of property |
publisher |
Thomas A. Lyson Center for Civic Agriculture and Food Systems |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2015.052.016 https://doaj.org/article/1cdb763042834f9dbf825674335fd1d5 |
geographic |
Arctic Svalbard |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Svalbard |
genre |
Arctic permafrost Svalbard |
genre_facet |
Arctic permafrost Svalbard |
op_source |
Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, Vol 5, Iss 2 (2016) |
op_relation |
doi:10.5304/jafscd.2015.052.016 2152-0801 https://doaj.org/article/1cdb763042834f9dbf825674335fd1d5 |
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undefined |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2015.052.016 |
container_title |
Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development |
container_start_page |
27 |
op_container_end_page |
38 |
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1766341856941047808 |