It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Dr. John Navazio, a pioneering plant breeder, gifted educator, and co-founder of Organic Seed Alliance. John left an indelible mark on the organic seed movement through his work breeding beloved vegetable varieties, fostering participatory breeding projects with farmers, generously sharing his knowledge, and inspiring countless seed growers.
As we mourn this loss, the Organic Seed Alliance staff reflects on the profound influence John had on our lives and work. We share these memories to honor John’s spirit, his curiosity, his teachings, his music, his humor, and his devotion to the organic seed movement he helped build.
Shared Stories
I first met John over the phone when I was working at an organic seed farm and was interested in plant breeding. He generously spoke to me for over an hour on that first call, giving me advice about plant breeding, working with organic farmers, graduate school, and many other things.
I continued to stay in touch with him in graduate school when we collaborated on ‘Who Gets Kissed’, an organic sweet corn variety that we bred in collaboration with the University of Wisconsin and organic farmer Martin Diffley.
One of the first times we met in person was at the Organic Seed Growers Conference, where I had a chance to see the many sides of John, from connecting with farmers, to giving technical talks on seed production and plant breeding, to playing lead guitar for the band The Pheromones at the conference.
John had an enormous impact on so many people. He took a lot of information that he had gleaned over the years from his plant breeding research and his work in commercial seed companies and shared it with seed producers. A lot of that information was either held pretty closely by the companies or was in esoteric scientific journals. John was a great teacher and widely shared both that knowledge and the enthusiasm around organic plant breeding and seed production.
He helped spur many seed growers to develop their own varieties, which helped create an ecosystem of regional organic seed companies with new varieties developed by organic farmers for organic farmers.
John was one of the founders of Organic Seed Alliance.
John was endlessly curious. He was curious about plants, about people, about music, about all kinds of topics.
John was full of lovable idiosyncrasies. He wore a felt flower for Canadian remembrance day (we’re in the U.S.). He loved his bitter greens. He had beautiful penmanship and would take endless notes on his clipboards. He always had a field knife with him.
John had many sayings that have caught on over the years, like the phrase “workhorse vs. racehorse plant varieties”
I have a fond memory of wrapping up a day of sweet corn taste testing where we sampled hundreds of ears of corn that we were working on for a plant breeding project. At the end of the day, we had dinner with Martin and Atina Diffley, the organic farmers we were partnering with. John and Martin took out their guitars and started jamming and it was so great to hear and made me realize how life is more than just work, and that being a human allows us to embrace all these different aspects of ourselves.
While there are many important plant varieties he bred that are now those “workhorses” for organic farmers, including spinach, cucumbers, beets, carrots (John loved breeding carrots), purple sprouting broccoli, onions, and many others, I think that his legacy is most of all in all the lives he’s touched and all the organic seed growers that have taken the knowledge and collaborations they had with John and been empowered to create a network of grassroots seed growing and plant breeding
-Jared Zystro
I first met John in the fall of 2011 when I started working for WSU in Jefferson County. I was aware of John’s work prior to relocating and was so excited to be in the same geographic region with him and OSA. Much of my early interaction with John was jumping through the many administrative tasks that were required through his partnership between OSA and WSU. Not always fun work, but he made it lively and humorous. Later, he was always generous with his time when he saw me at conferences or meetings, always willing to nerd out with me about germplasm and participatory breeding. His laughter was contagious and he was always so generous with the knowledge that he had amassed through a life well lived. I am so grateful for his work, especially now that I am supporting the mission of Organic Seed Alliance. A mission that is directly linked to John and his passion for working with seed growers.
-Laura R. Lewis
John always said, “work with the plants you love”. This simple piece of advice reflected his own intimate connection with the plant world and the crops he chose to work with as a plant breeder. While he loved many crops, carrot, onion, chicory and chard rose to the top of his list and were his vocation till the end. He inspired this same passion for plants in anyone who took the time to listen. The choices John made in life were a series of tiny acts of liberation for people and plants. He truly believed and convinced us all that ANYONE can be a plant breeder, not just the men in suits. He was not a proselytizer, except when it came to how to run a variety trial or prepare the best squash pie. He listened to others’ experiences with a fully open heart and mind. That was perhaps his greatest brilliance, the ability to learn from others.
When I first met John, I was working for an organic seed company with the privilege to learn the art and science of seed saving from a wide network of seed growers. We all believed in open pollinated seeds that were accessible to all, not contained by hybrid breeding or corporate patents. We embraced our role as seed stewards and understood the importance of maintaining quality in a variety. But when I met John my mind expanded and with it my relationship with seeds and seed people. He reminded us that we are all standing on the shoulders of our ancestors, the plant breeders before us, who co-evolved with their crops, never intending for them to become fixed in time. He opened my eyes to the possibilities of working with our immense crop genetic diversity, crossing and creating new varieties, reinvigorating old ones. Just as importantly he embraced the concept that together we can breed our crops as a community, not as a possessive owner, just as our ancestors had. He inspired me to study basic genetic principles and taught me and many others the fundamental techniques of plant breeding. He made working with crop genetics accessible and desirable.
Beyond the field I admire John for his incredible authenticity. He was truly himself, a unique human, and embraced originality in others. He never hesitated to speak his truth and compassionately engage in dialog when he witnessed injustices or hold a conversation if he differed with an opinion. He appreciated quality in the finest details of life and bonded with others who resonated in his aesthetic. He loved singing rock and roll with his booming voice that moved your soul. He embraced his Italian heritage and relished in sharing traditional, authentic recipes be it how to cook Italian chicories, the optimum spice of an arugula or best way to prepare a winter squash. He wore clothes, like his wool page boy hat and lined Carhart vest with wool button down shirt, that reflected his on-farm professor persona. Let’s be honest, he could drive you crazy, if you let him, with his insistence on details like how to properly fold a seed pack, cut an onion, or score a variety trial. But he always brought a healthy dose of dry humor and at the end of the day he was more of a workhorse than a prima donna.John was like family to me. He was my mentor in the field and inspired me to become a plant breeder. When I first met him, I would stay up all night listening to him wax poetic about the qualities of a vegetable and go way out of my way just for the chance to spend more time with him in the field. As we grew together professionally, we worked as a team, boosting each other’s strengths and filling in each other’s gaps in skills or capacity. Without him I don’t believe Organic Seed Alliance would have become the organization it is today. On a personal level we shared intimately in our journeys with cancer as well as our joys and struggles raising children. I am grateful he had the opportunity to join the team of plant breeders at Johnny’s Selected Seed. He was happiest as part of a team of plant breeders and took pride in bringing new, quality varieties to organic farmers. My last memories of John were selecting carrots in a field in El Centro, California at the USDA winter breeding nursery – our winter vacation where we geek out on flavor, texture, and vigor of one of our favorite crops together. I’ll miss my friend dearly and always remember him kneeling in a field, sun on his back, deliberating on a breeding decision with a smile on his face. Not to worry John, your multitude of breeding projects will live on in the minds, seed collections, and fields of the expansive community of farmer-breeders touched by your life’s work. Lay down your clipboard, rest in peace, and we’ll see you in the field my friend.
-Micaela Colley
We invite you to read the beautiful obituary written by Matthew Dillon, John’s dear friend and co-founder of Organic Seed Alliance, to learn more about John’s life and impact.