Obsessives: Seeds

Published on Wednesday, April 28, 2010, by The CHOW Editorial Team / Edit Post

Obsessives: Seeds

By Leslie Jonath, Eric Slatkin, Blake Smith, and Roxanne Webber

Jeremiah “Jere” Gettle is saving food from extinction. Hyperbole? Yes. But every time a rare heirloom vegetable cedes its patch of dirt to a generic variety, bred for efficiency rather than flavor, that piece of food becomes extinct. When Gettle was 17, he started Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds in his bedroom, which then became a successful store in his hometown in Missouri, and he has recently converted an old bank into a seed bank in Petaluma, California. In this video he defines what heirlooms seeds are, explains why genetically modified crops are bad, and gives some good tips on how to save seeds yourself.

This is a regular series called Obsessives, in which CHOW explores the worlds of singularly focused food-industry figures. These are the people with the dirty hands, answering detailed questions about the work they do. Images courtesy of Library of Congress (public domain), Flickr member juliejordanscott, Flickr member kaibara87, Flickr member OliBac, Flickr member rick, Flickr member rvacapinta, Flickr member TushyD, Flickr member IRRI Images, Flickr member goingslo, Flickr member James Jordan, and Flickr member wallenpaupackagent.

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  • i want part two, three, four, five, six, seven and eight!!!! GO CHOW! GRT8 work

  • aramek--you do realize that GMO seed crops show up only in commodity food products like soybean: TVP, protein powder, power bars; sugar beets: high fructose sweeteners; corn: tortilla chips, dog food, etc.

    They are not providing fresh food for the family dining table.

  • I'm really happy we have both the "Heirloom" seeds, for boutique farming along side the workhorse GMO's. I appreciate both types a lot. My tummy thanks them too!

  • I have used many of Baker Creek's seeds for a few years. The good side of this is a beautiful catalog. The seed quality is among the best but I have found it takes alot of time to have a multi-crop backyard garden. I just hope they don't grow themselves out of business.

  • I cannot say enough good things about Baker Creek Seeds! Not only do they have an amazing selection of heirloom veggies....but the seeds actually germinate. Imagine that! Very good quality seed. The spring catalog is worthy of cocktail table status....the photography is stunning. In addition to online ordering, Baker Creek has a gardening forum at idigmygarden.com (Catch me as kyaggie) They are a...+READ

    I cannot say enough good things about Baker Creek Seeds! Not only do they have an amazing selection of heirloom veggies....but the seeds actually germinate. Imagine that! Very good quality seed. The spring catalog is worthy of cocktail table status....the photography is stunning. In addition to online ordering, Baker Creek has a gardening forum at idigmygarden.com (Catch me as kyaggie) They are a garden source gem!-COLLAPSE

  • Can't farmer's counter sue for contaminated crops? I mean if someone contaminates my tap water with arsenic it seems like they can sue me for stealing arsenic. Can an argument not be done with GMO crops?

  • Man, I like the idea of collecting seeds. I never thought there was this many varieties. I want to grow every seed on the planet earth and see what type of plant sprouts.

  • We need so many more like him. Awesome!!!

  • We are lucky to have guys like this in our world. Thanks Jere!!!

  • This is in my town! Awesome!