By Ana C. Galvis Martinez
September 14th, 2023
After 4 years implementing and delivering very successfully our Organic Seed Production Course, today the Organic Seed Alliance wants to share with all of you that the grant that funded this program finished by August 31st, 2023, so this cycle is over.
I have been thinking for some weeks how to honor this closure and the louder answer is with gratitude, so I wrote some words to express it:
Thank you to Mother Earth that always shows up to sustain us
Thank you to the people of the United States that through their taxes gave us the opportunity to tailor a course in Organic Seed Production that encompasses practice, theory, head and heart
Thank you to the USDA that through their Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program funded the implementation and delivery of this course
Thank you to all the people that contribute to the class with their presence and wisdom: Mentors, guest speakers, business representatives, farmers, students, researchers, OSA staff (present and past), I think this collective construction is powerful
Thank you to the organic seed that for more than ten thousand years has united us around her to plant, nurture, defend, harvest and share the fruits of our work, and of course save some for the next cycle
May the seed that feed us continue to be accessible, abundant, organic and treated as the sacred good it is
May the students that came to our classes have abundant and dignified livelihoods with organic seed as protagonist of their well-being
May this class get the resources and support that needs to continue touching lives
Congratulations to all the beginning farmers that graduated from our program (around 70 people located in every corner of this country) your presence and perseverance gave a sense to all this work
I also want to express gratitude for the opportunity to have been part of this course at different capacities, especially as general coordinator, it has been such a fulfilling experience
I prepared this collage to communicate what I cannot communicate with words, also to connect with those ones that prefer other ways than written words,
Much gratitude,
Best regards,
Ana Galvis
