Saving more than seeds: Practices and politics of seed saving

Abstract

This book advances understandings of seed-people relations, with particular focus on seed saving. The practice of reusing the exchanging seeds provides foundation for food production and allows humans and seed to adapt together in dynamic socio-natural conditions. But the practices and its practitioners are easily taken for granted, even as they are threatened by neoliberalisation. Combining original ethnographic research with investigation of an evolving corporate seed order, this book reveals seed saving not only as it occurs in fields and gardens but also as it associates with genebanking, genetic engineering, intellectual property rights and agrifood regulations. Drawing on diverse socia..