Organic Seed Alliance celebrated a landmark anniversary this year. For ten years, we have worked to build an abundant, diverse, and secure seed supply for organic agriculture.
Please support the next generation of our work.
Your support has been critical to our success, and has allowed us to teach hundreds of seed courses, publish more than a dozen professional seed guides, host the nation’s only organic seed conference, and influence critical seed policy.
Moving forward, we remain true to our mission, and farmers are still at the heart of our work. Farmers need access to — and the skills to produce — seed that performs best on their farm. In the words of Jim McGreevy, a farmer in Royal City, Washington:
Organic Seed Alliance has been an indispensable resource for our farm, from conducting field trials to producing seed. Organic seed is the cornerstone of our vegetable production. Without varieties that have been bred and selected for organic growing conditions, we would be left with low-vigor crops adapted to high-input farms.
Jim is just one of many who joined our Farmer Seed Stewardship Initiative this year. The initiative engages farmers who recognize their role as stewards of seed and seed knowledge. These farmers want to expand their skills and involvement in our cutting edge research, education, and advocacy — the demand for which grows each year.
That’s why we recently completed a strategic plan to guide the next ten years of our work. The plan outlines a strategy for expanding our services at the regional level to collectively create a national, thriving, and secure seed system. We’re excited about where we’re headed, and confident in our strategy to get there — but we need your support.
We hope Organic Seed Alliance, and the farmers who rely on our work, can count on your gift today, at whatever amount you can afford. Your gift will be matched dollar-for-dollar up to $25,000 through January 1, 2014.
Your gift allows us to build on our ten-year track record of delivering:
• More seed adapted to organic agriculture and changing climates
• More farmers with skills to produce seed and expand seed diversity
• More organic plant breeding collaborations
• More advocacy initiatives that influence policy
Our approach to seed system development balances the need to confront ongoing challenges — be it contamination by genetically engineered crops or threats to a farmer’s right to save seed — with forward-looking solutions. We are working hand-in-hand with farmers on organic plant breeding projects while simultaneously working with others to deliver an important message in Washington, DC, as we did with Clint Lindsey, a grain grower in Corvallis, Oregon, earlier this year. He had this to say about our advocacy:
As a farm deeply invested in the organic movement, we believe it is crucial to have an organization like Organic Seed Alliance doing the boots-on-the-ground work in policy and advocacy that protects our way of life. Organic farming and seed stewardship is about more than cultivating crops — it requires constant vigilance and informed, hard-working folks who know what we farmers need to survive, and who aren’t afraid to plead our case at the highest levels.
You can be part of forward-looking solutions with your gift today.
For gifts in the amount of $50 or more, we’ll send this commemorative ten-year anniversary poster featuring a botanical painting of our ‘Abundant Bloomsdale’ spinach. And, remember, your contribution will be matched to provide twice the support, allowing us to have a bigger reach in delivering our critical services.
You can give online through our secure donation page. We are grateful for your support.
With gratitude,
Micaela Colley
Executive Director
