Plants play a critical role in every culture. The shared histories of people and plants have been woven together over thousands of years- indeed, we evolved together. We can do our part to honor, preserve, and protect this ancient partnership for the health of the planet, as well as our own, and that of our communities.
Seeds from our food and medicine plants are all seeds with stories. These stories tell of carefully preserved seeds handed down through generations. They have origins with Indigenous relatives and immigrants, crisscrossing oceans and continents in a back and forth migration.
The beans that originated in the americas, were brought back to Europe by the colonists. There they were adopted, and developed into their own beloved varieties by the Europeans (some examples: the borlotti of Italy, the flageolet of France, the gigante of Greece). Eventually they found their way back to the americas in their changed form.
