Extensive consolidation of the seed industry in the past 70 years has resulted in the closure of most independent seed merchants. It has also led to the loss of regionally adapted plant varieties that suit local soils and conditions in favour of standardised hybridised varieties typically bred for high yields. The UN Food and Agricultural Organisation estimates that the loss of genetic diversity in plants globally stands at 75% along with the disappearance of 93% of our unique seed varieties in the past 100 years.

A parallel issue is that as these patented, hybridised seeds dominate the market, it removes the option for growers to save seed from crops to sow the next year as has been the tradition for thousands of years, since humans started farming. This is because seeds produced by a hybrid plant won't 'grow true' - that is, they will not have the same genetic make up as the parent plant so will not produce the same quality of crop. Vital Seeds in Devon is part of a Seed Sovereignty movement to change this direction of travel, growing rare varieties of vegetables and flowers that are open-pollinated meaning they will grow true, and teaching people how to save seed. Rachel Lovell joined them on a windy winter's day to find out more about what they are doing, and why they are so devoted to saving traditional seeds.