Saving Seeds, Saving Culture
Native Seeds/SEARCH (NS/S) preserves, distributes, and documents not only seeds, but the cultures that have used and developed them. Located in Tucson, Arizona, their focus is on preserving plants grown by Native American farmers in the American Southwest and northern Mexico. The organization began in 1983 as a small group of people helping Native Americans on the Tohono O'odlam reservation in Arizona find seeds for traditional crops. They have since grown to a sizable program that includes a seed bank, a farm, and a store. Part of their mission is to connect native people of the region to their traditional cultures through farming and foods. (Photo: Native Seeds/SEARCH)
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