I first saw the announcement this morning on The Small Farmers Journal site that I'm not even sure how I got to. I'm so glad I did.
Yesterday one of my favorite organizations, PASA (Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture), along with Grow Pittsburgh, The Pittsburgh Food Policy Council, and The Public Interest Law Center, released a statement with this heading:
Seed Libraries in Pennsylvania Allowed to Engage in Free Seed Exchange
PA Department of Agriculture Clarifies that Seed Act of 2004
Does Not Apply to Non-commercial Seed Libraries
PA Department of Agriculture Clarifies that Seed Act of 2004
Does Not Apply to Non-commercial Seed Libraries
"In providing this clarification, Pennsylvania sets a precedent to protect and encourage seed libraries throughout the commonwealth."...
"The Act was originally applied to a seed library at the Joseph T. Simpson Library in Mechanicsburg, PA, which severely limited its operations as a result."...
"PASA Executive Director Brian Snyder issued the following statement: “We need regulation in the seed industry to protect farmers and other, more casual consumers. But we also need communities working together to make our food systems more accessible to all people. Seeds are a basic element of human life and wellbeing. Without this kind of informal cooperation among neighbors, that wellbeing is very much at risk.”"
This Simpson Library story was a frustrating one, so it is wonderful to see a fairly quick and sensible resolution from the PA Department of Agriculture. Lets call it a win for the "little people", the home gardener and the heritage seed savers of the past 10,000 years of seed saving. Woah! That's huge!
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| Last year's lupine seedlings from a neighbor's seeds. |
Many states have seed libraries within libraries and other community places. If you want to learn more, you can start at the Seed Library site and see all the ways you can get involved.
I'm also attaching the links below so that you can read the related articles to their fullest and be thankful of the work the mentioned organizations accomplished.
P.S. Plant your peas tomorrow for St. Patrick's Day. No "two feet of snow" excuse this year for us.
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