In the not too distant past, there was actually a greater variety of fruits and vegetables available than there are at the present. Up until around the middle of the twentieth century most people grew a good part of their food in their own gardens. Farms were generally owned by individuals and a wide variety of plants were grown. Most of the seeds used to grow these crops were what we might term heirloom seeds – open pollinated plants that could be depended upon to produce exactly the same fruit or vegetable as the parent plant. The consolidation of agricultural land and rise of hybrid seeds after the Second World War, changed the face of agriculture in the United States. Now, also we are faced with bioengineered seeds, which may contain more problems than hybrid seeds.
So what is a hybrid seed and why is it less desirable than heirloom seeds? Well, hybrids, as may be inferred through the name, are products of cross-pollination between different plant varieties. For example, scientists get pollen from one fruit and put them into another’s stigma, the product of which is a hybrid seed which when grown will have unique characteristics. This technique is employed when trying to get the best of both worlds, so to speak. Some plants produce crops that last longer than other breeds, or taste better, or is resistant to a pest. What if you could make a kind that is good on all counts?
This should make for an ideal scenario, but a problem surfaces when hybrids do not breed true. What this means is that seeds from hybrid corn don’t necessary produce the same kind of corn in the succeeding generations, as if one has to cross his fingers and wish himself luck. The child plant of hybrids are quite unreliable, at times unable to even germinate. For this reason, farmers don’t bother to collect seeds for the next planting season, instead they are forced to purchase new seeds every time. Hybrid seeds also require special care in terms of fertilizers, water, and pesticides to give a good yield. In contrast, heirloom seeds are easier to grow and there is no need to buy the seeds because you can use those from the next generation and so on.
One advantage to planting hybrid seeds is the increased yield they will often produce. This makes it more profitable to concentrate on a single crop and the variety in supply suffers. Many American farmers have been unable to keep their small farms in business because the larger monoculture farms can produce higher volumes and have taken all their business.
This is a relatively new field whereby scientists splice genes from one plant (or even an animal) onto the DNA of a crop plant. The idea is to make the resultant seeds better in some way. Some seeds are genetically modified so that they will be more resistant to insect attack, or perhaps need less water, or less fertilizer. Some seeds are altered so that only certain pesticides, fertilizers, or herbicides can be used effectively. This practice, once again, benefits agribusiness rather than the family farmer.
There are also debates raging over the safety of these hybrid seeds. Since the field is still new, studies have yet to be conducted that tell us whether pollen from hybrid plants has the ability to pollute the heirloom plants. Some fear that hybrids will choke out the heirloom crops and possibly even the wild plant population. At one time, there was one corporation that wanted to introduce a sterility gene. This was stopped because many feared that it could contaminate all plants and cease the production of any seeds.
With the increase in use of bioengineered and hybrid seeds, there is less and less diversity in the food supply these days. Corporations must make money and there is a high cost associated with producing hybrid plants. With the cost so high, the corporations are less likely to produce many different kinds of seeds. With less diversity in the crops there is a big problem if some catastrophe hits that particular crop. There will be nothing to take its place. This has happened in the past and could happen again in the future. Crop failure can be caused by climate changes, extreme weather conditions and various diseases. Famine can result if just one crop is grown and there is nothing to back it up. The Irish became familiar with this situation when the potato crop was devastated by blight during the 19th century.
With heirloom seeds, many different kinds of plants can be grown at little cost, and the tomato seed you’ll be planting will produce exactly the same kind you have grown to know and love. Hybrid tomato seeds are not so dependable, with variable results that will make one feel as if playing the lottery.
However, the most important aspect of heirloom seeds is the taste of their harvest. After all, we are talking about food here. Agribusiness corporations put a premium on aesthetics and resiliency in creating their modified seeds, often putting taste in the background. Their fruits may look beautiful but they taste like nothing. Crops from heirloom seeds are full of flavor, their natural taste trumping anything produced in a laboratory.
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