Calling all seed savers!
It's time to tell the California Senate Agriculture Committee that you want the right to exchange seeds with your neighbors, friends, and fellow gardeners without excessive red tape.
Call Senator Galgiani's office before Tuesday, June 21, and tell her (or more likely her staff) that you support AB 1810 (Assembly Member Levine's bill) the Seed Exchange Democracy Act.
Phone number for Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Galgiani: (916) 651-4005
If you live in the district of one of the other agriculture committee members, scroll below for their phone numbers!
Here are some suggested talking points:
- Hello, my name is _____
- I'm calling to express my support for AB 1810, the Seed Exchange Democracy Act, which is going to the Senate Agriculture Committee on June 21
- {If you are a seed saver, gardener, farmer, chef/cook, or an educator, say so!}
- It's very important to me to have access to seed libraries and other noncommercial seed exchanges because...
Reasons why saving and sharing seeds is important:
- More local seeds gives us more local food. Many Californians struggle with food insecurity and lack of access to fresh fruits and vegetables. Backyard and community gardens can provide access to fresh fruits and vegetables in low-income communities and seed libraries are a great local and free source of seeds.
- Seed saving is one of the oldest human traditions. The act of saving seeds and sharing them is what birthed agriculture thousands of years ago. Only in the last century has seed saving lost its ubiquity (though it remains the main form of exchange in many communities around the world). Seed saving and sharing should be protected.
- Consolidation in the seed industry is a threat to our food security. Just 3 companies control more than 55% of the global seed market. The impacts our choices of what foods are even available for us to eat and places us at the mercy of a just a handful of board rooms. More and more seed companies are moving away from diversity in favor of single-trait, commodity seeds to serve industrial scale agribusiness.
- Local, community-based seed exchanges are saving and regenerating many less common heirloom varieties of crops, many of which carry cultural significance and are locally adapted.
Other Senate Agriculture Committee Members you can call:
Senator Anthony Canella (Vice Chair) (916) 651-4012 Represents parts of Stanislaus, Merced, and San Benito Counties including the cities of Los Banos, Patterson, Ceres, Livingston, Atwater, Merced, Chowchilla, Madera, Kerman, Coalinga, King City, Soledaad, Salinas and Hollister.
Senator Tom Berryhill (916) 651-4008 Represents all of Calaveras, Amador, Inyo, Mariposa, Tuolumne, and Mono Counties and parts of Madera, Fresno, Stanislaus, and Tulare Counties.
Senator Richard Pan (916) 651-4006 Represents much of Sacramento County, including the City of Sacramento and surrounding towns as well as West Sacramento.
Senator Lois Wolk (916) 651-4003 Represents the cities of Martinez and Pleasant Hill in Contra Costa County; American Canyon, Calistoga, Napa, and St. Helena in Napa County; Benicia, Dixon, Fairfield, Rio Vista, Suisun City, Vacaville, and Vallejo, in Solano County; Cotati, Petaluma, Rohnert Park, and Sonoma in Sonoma County; Davis, Winters, and Woodland in Yolo County; as well as Isleton in Sacramento County.
