Seed Library Petition

[journey11]

Hey guys, if you have a second, would you consider signing this petition regarding the over-regulation of community seed libraries? http://legalizeseeds.org/

Non-profit, volunteer run, donation based seed libraries in some states such as Pennsylvania, Maryland, Minnesota and Nebraska are being run out of operation or forced to comply with cumbersome state seed regulations and fees by their respective Departments of Agriculture, laws that were intended to govern the commercial sale of seeds, not the exchange of a few dozen seeds from neighbor to neighbor. This is happening primarily because of unclear wording in the laws.

Here's the text of the petition:

To: Directors of all 50 U.S. State Departments of Agriculture

Over 300 nonprofit seed libraries in the U.S. might be regulated out of existence due to misapplication of seed laws by several state departments of agriculture.

I believe seed libraries are key to a more secure and resilient food system. Seed libraries provide free access to seeds, protect the diversity of our food sources, and educate community members about growing food and saving seed.

I support citizens’ freedom to share locally saved seed with their neighbors. Laws designed to regulate commercial sales of seed should not be applied to noncommercial donations of seed or to seed libraries.

Therefore, I ask that you (1) issue a public statement declaring that your state’s Department of Agriculture’s seed enforcement policy does not include seed libraries, and (2) begin implementing regulations formalizing this policy.

Sincerely,

[signature]

Thanks for your help! This is important to me because I'm wanting to get a seed library started in my hometown too.

 

[Chickie'sMomaInNH]

i read that a couple weeks ago too. it doesn't just affect seed libraries, it can also affect those of us that trade seeds between states on TEG if those states catch us.

i understand when this was put into place that it had good intentions to keep certain weed seeds from being passed to other non affected areas. but the over-regulation is becoming a problem for those of us that want local stuff that we personally keep in check like our stash of veggies that wouldn't normally become invasive on their own. i don't know of any wild growing tomato plants here in my zone 5!

 

[Lavender2]

I had a read a bit about this in Dec. It sounded as if they were prepared to make some changes...
Star Tribune

Wouldn't hurt to sign the petition though (i did)... to make sure they are listening.

Funny... a program being run in a public facility, partially funded and organized by our state U of M, and illegal. yeah, something is broken.

Sounds a bit like the law they passed when I was doing daycare. If you had a pool and did licensed childcare, you needed to be Pool Operator Certified. No programs existed that covered home swimming pools and we had 3 months to get certified or shut down our pools. We finally were allowed to take the certification course for commercial facilities... it had absolutely nothing to do with home pools. $150. - 16 hour worthless course. The instructor even said it was a joke. That was quite a few years ago, I quit doing daycare before my certification expired, wonder if they fixed that one. Sad, most home daycares just quit letting the kids swim.

 

[thistlebloom]

Got it signed.

 

[journey11]

That's right, @Chickie'sMomaInNH , if they wanted to enforce it, it could even apply to our seed swaps online, depending on which states you're dealing with and their particular law. I don't see how they could really monitor it though and I don't believe that is the intention. (Laws vary by state, of course.)

The thing that is really tripping seed libraries up is the list of expensive fees (remember, they are non-profit) and the long list of labeling and testing requirements. These were intended to govern commercial seed sales and to protect the farmer from potential losses if the seed they buy does not live up to what it was said to be (old, poor germination, percentage of weed seed in the batch, etc.) Seed libraries are promoting educational activities, many including classes on how to garden or save your own seeds. They are concerned more with preservation of regional varieties, food security and encouraging people to not only buy locally but to grow their own. It's not really anything new, but simply centralizing in each community as a free resource the kind of seed sharing that has always been done between friends and neighbors.

WV seed law lists restricted and prohibited invasives. Seed libraries can easily comply with that and not disseminate those things. My state's particular list is all wild invasives that you'd find popping up in fields, not something anyone would want to grow or trade anyway.

We're talking garden veggies here...there's no reason they can't amend the law to allow seed libraries to function, which is what the petition is asking them to do. The state seed laws, apart from regulating invasives, primarily deal with the sale of large quantities of seed for agricultural purposes. Not the exchange of free seed samples for a home garden hobby. It's not even a barter really, as there are no guarantees or penalties if the person who "checks out" seed doesn't manage to return any to replenish the stock.

 

[journey11]

I had a read a bit about this in Dec. It sounded as if they were prepared to make some changes...
Star Tribune

Wouldn't hurt to sign the petition though (i did)... to make sure they are listening.

Funny... a program being run in a public facility, partially funded and organized by our state U of M, and illegal. yeah, something is broken.

Sounds a bit like the law they passed when I was doing daycare. If you had a pool and did licensed childcare, you needed to be Pool Operator Certified. No programs existed that covered home swimming pools and we had 3 months to get certified or shut down our pools. We finally were allowed to take the certification course for commercial facilities... it had absolutely nothing to do with home pools. $150. - 16 hour worthless course. The instructor even said it was a joke. That was quite a few years ago, I quit doing daycare before my certification expired, wonder if they fixed that one. Sad, most home daycares just quit letting the kids swim.

Great article, Lavender2, it really sums it all up.

Regarding your daycare--if they could get past the technicalities, they should have been more concerned whether or not you were certified in first aid and CPR. It's crazy that someone doesn't take the time to catch these things and fix them.

Some of the states are having no problems at all yet. It just depends on the wording of the law and how determined the ag dept is to enforce them.

 

[Lavender2]

@journey11 , I was also required to keep up my certification in First aid and CPR. Funny thing with that also. CPR certification is usually good for 2 or 3 years, depending on the program. If you had a pool, you were required to take the course every year. BUT, most CPR courses do not cover water rescue, they touch on the subject, but Basic Water Rescue is a separate course that was not required. The First Aid course I was required to take, covered water safety, but not water rescue and resuscitation.
I did not rock the boat about this issue for fear they would require Life Guard training also.

I met with our State Rep. Michelle Bachmann (you might have heard of her ) at a town hall meeting and complained about the new regulation. She said she had not read the bill, but they rely on their colleagues to handle the details. I told her there is probably someone she can't trust for that.

I am ALL for keeping kids safe! But when I asked my worker about events of drowning, near drownings, or accidents in home daycare pools in the State, she said there had been none in at least the 20 years she had been a social worker. Not even a pool water transmitted disease.
( , sorry, didn't mean to rant on another topic)... but a good daycare closed, in part, because of over-regulation.

 

[baymule]

Signed!

Regulation Nation. Grrrr......

 

[Jeni Ann]

Signed it!

 

[ninnymary]

Signed it.

Mary