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Imagine bumping into your neighbor at a local farmer’s market when the conversation turns to seeds. You have a great heirloom tomato variety he wants, and he has a green bean variety that you want. So you trade seeds, and everyone wins.
Believe it or not, what you just did may have been illegal. Sound crazy? It’s crazy, yes, but for many Americans it’s a new legal reality, and it’s the topic of this week’s edition of Off The Grid Radio as we examine laws banning the trading of heirloom seeds.
Joining us is Neil Thaper, a staff attorney with the Sustainable Economies Law Center, a legal organization working to defend seed-saving and heirloom seeds. The controversy began when state bureaucrats banned heirloom seed libraries, but it can impact you even if you don’t visit one.
Thaper tells us:
- Why government officials are going after heirloom seeds.
- How modern-day laws are threatening the very future of heirloom seeds.
- What legal “hoops” you’ll have to jump through if you want to trade seeds.
- Why every American, even those who don’t garden, should care.
The war on heirloom seeds is one that would have made the Founding Fathers irate, but it’s also one we can win, Thaper says. Listen as he tells us why we should be upset – and what we can do.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 21:23 — 24.5MB)
