By Sherry Manning | Executive Director Friends of ENCA Farm
Friends of ENCA Farm, was overwhelmed with the outpouring of support we received during our June Global Giving Campaign. Thanks to your generosity, we raised over $7,000 to support the establishment of an organic seed bank in the Philippines! We are incredibly excited to begin implementing this project in the coming months and will share progress reports highlighting our progress.
While Friends of ENCA Farm is dedicated to improving access to organic seeds among Filipino farmers, we are also committed to educating our community of supporters about the critical importance of organic seeds globally. In the Philippines, in spite of its vulnerability to climate change and loss of bio-diversity, farmers are provided no other choice than to utilize synthetic and hybrid seeds, eliminating opportunities for seed saving and preventing farmers from protecting heirloom and local varieties of seeds. By establishing an organic seed bank, our Filipino farming partners will be able to preserve indigenous and local crops and introduce new varieties of higher valued crops that will improve their own livelihood as well as the health of the planet.
Last month, we had a productive first meeting with fellow Posner Center Tenant Denver Urban Gardens to discuss how we might partner on the establishment of the seed bank in the Philippines through Colorado-based seed company partnership cultivation, seed donations, and the creation and design of curricula for the seed educational and training program scheduled for early 2016. We also discussed co-hosting an event to educate the Colorado community about the importance of seed saving. We plan to apply for a Posner Center Collaboration Grant to spearhead this collaboration.
We are excited about our upcoming meeting with the Rocky Mountain Seed Alliance (RMSA). RMSA is the regions leader in seed saving education and training programs and has been instrumental in improving seed saving knowledge throughout the region. Their founder Bill McDorman will be in town to conduct a seed school at Denver Botanic Gardens and host a lecture titled Seed: The Future of Food. We are looking forward to identifying how we might be able to partner to make our seed saving education in the Philippines a collaborative venture.
Thank your for your continued support for Friends of ENCA Farm’s seed bank project. Our next update will be from the field in the Philippines!
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