The story of seeds : from Mendel's garden to your plate, and how there's more of less to eat around the world
(Book)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

The world's seeds are in crisis. Of 12,000 plant species used for human food, only about 150 are being grown for sale, only eight grains are traded throughout the world, and half of our calories come from just three: rice, wheat, and maize. This means that our food diversity is diminishing at a shocking rate. More than one in five plants on earth are threatened with extinction. Our lives depend on all kinds of seeds, but they are facing many threats: war-torn countries, damaged habitats, and climate change, to name a few. Seeds can disappear. And once they're gone, they're gone for good. This isn't a new problem. We've been losing diversity for years. We started to lose it when it became feasible to ship crops across the country in refrigerated trains, and modern farming got bigger and bigger. Small farms struggle against larger farms that mass-produce food through the use of chemical pesticides and herbicides. And not genetic modification is taking farming into the high-science arena and the headlines. In addition, our agricultural practices have changed, with farms often producing only one crop instead of many. Our loss of plant biodiversity has been a problem, but with the addition of climate change, it's in crisis. A silent, rapidly growing crisis that threatens our own existence on the planet. Fortunately, there are people throughout the world who are striving to protect our seeds. Will you be one of them?