Preserved seeds restore aboriginal food systems

TUCSON, Ariz. - ''To own a bit of ground, to scratch it with a hoe, to plant seeds and watch the renewal of life - this is the commonest delight of the race, the most satisfactory thing a man can do.''

Written nearly 150 years ago, those words hold the eternal truth of sowing and reaping, the basis for humanitarian thought and affirmative action demonstrated by Native Seeds/SEARCH in southern Arizona.

In 1983, four Tucsonans involved with feeding the hungry began to worry that seed stock for future crops was disappearing. They contributed $100 each to cover the cost of locating 40 varieties of endangered seeds to ensure those specific strains would not permanently disappear. Now, nearly 25 years later, 2,000 varieties of seeds have been saved from extinction.

''If we had to duplicate our seed collection today, it would be impossible because many of the originals are no longer available,'' said Barney Burns, one of the original founders. ''Ours is a treasure trove that provides an irreplaceable genetic library to draw on as a basis for sustainable, environmentally-friendly Native American agriculture of the future.''

''These seeds represent cultures that have survived for thousands of years in the Southwest,'' said Kevin Dahl, executive director of the organization. ''Ancient farmers figured out how to be successful in pretty marginal growing conditions - little water, soil heavy in alkalinity, hot growing conditions. It wasn't an easy task.''

Native Seeds/SEARCH arose as a result of requests from the Tohono O'odham reservation, some 2-1/2 million acres of desert bordering Arizona and Mexico. The O'odham had once cultivated native seeds through traditional floodwater methods, but cultural change and environmental destruction had reduced surviving farms to only a few scattered plots. And while some community members felt a need to continue growing specialized corn, beans and squash, they could not locate the seeds of their ancestors. Fortunately, as a regional seed bank and a leader in the heirloom seed movement, Native Seeds/SEARCH could.

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