According to the 2022 OSA State of Organic Seed Report, most organic farmers still use conventional seed for some of their production, and most organic seeds available are varieties bred for conventional production being grown in organic systems. This has several implications:

1. There are not nearly enough varieties being bred for organic and/or low-input systems, so farmers have no real choice but to choose either conventional seed or a conventionally-bred seed that is certified organic.
2. There is not enough certified organic seed on the market BOTH because there are not enough certified organic seed growers and because it is not economically feasible for many organic seed growers to grow a conventionally-bred variety under organic conditions because the variety may not do well.
3. Organic vegetable yields and organic vegetable supply overall are being maintained artificially lower (especially in regions like the Southeast) because there is not an adequate supply of organically-bred, regionally-adapted varieties.)
4. It is possible that production costs could be lowered in our region by increasing the supply of organically-bred, regionally-adapted varieties.

In the same report, the Southeast is identified as being particularly vulnerable to climate change, while also having the lowest percentage of farmers saving their own seed. The Southeast’s regional seed supply is considered small and developing. That means that Organic and low-input farmers in the SE are the most at risk and therefore have the highest need for regionally-adapted seeds that are resilient to a changing climate (highest external pressure), and that, at the same time, farmers in the SE have a small and developing seed system with the lowest percentage of farmers saving their own seed, putting them in possibly the worst position to address the need for regionally-adapted seeds that are resilient to climate change (highest internal pressure).

Also, although not mentioned in the report, most vegetable varieties (Organic and conventional) are bred to be grown on the West Coast and most vegetable seeds are grown on (and therefore adapted to) the West Coast. The climate(s), soil(s), disease, and insect pressure that exist in the SE, and particularly in East TN and Southern Appalachia, are about as different as you can find from the West Coast. Here, we have marginal soils, high humidity, increasingly high temperatures, high variable rainfall with increasing intensity of storms and increasing length and intensity of dry spells, and high insect and disease pressure.

At the 2019 Sustainable Agriculture Conference in Durham, NC, the Southeast Seed Network, which we are a part of, determined that regional stakeholders needed to focus on strengthening the following:

1. regional adaptation work (adapting a variety of seed over time to a particular region and particular conditions)
2. regional breeding work (breeding a new variety of seed in a particular region and for particular conditions)
3. collaboration and cooperation within stakeholder groups and between stakeholder groups
4. education about the importance of regionally-adapted seeds and regionally-bred varieties
5. marketing/demand for regionally-adapted seeds and regionally-bred varieties
6. funding

That is why we decided in 2022 to move away from our CSA program and begin solely focusing on vegetable breeding and seed production. Here at Care of the Earth Community Farm, (1) we conduct both funded and unfunded trials to identify varieties that do well in our climatic conditions; (2) we adapt existing varieties to our region by growing and selecting these varieties at our farm season after season, without irrigation, adapting them to our conditions and our changing climate; and (3) we breed new varieties on our farm using traditional breeding methods that are insect and disease resistant, and that thrive here using Certified Organic, low-input, regenerative methods. We offer these varieties through our seed store. The varieties we offer will thrive in East TN and other areas of Southern Appalachia!