Seeds of Diversity Behind the Scenes at Seedy Saturdays and Sundays
Judy Newman
All of those volunteers deserve an ENORMOUS thank you for the work they do to promote smaller Canadian seed companies and the seed movement in Canada. At Seeds of Diversity, we believe that the movement has grown, in no small part, because of these events. The model has been so successful that it has been exported to the U.S. and England, as well as other countries. This year, so far, I’ve found out about and posted over 125 events across Canada. I’m sure there are many more!
Seeds of Diversity has been actively promoting Seedy Saturdays and Sundays for many years. Some of our members held the first event in 1990 in Vancouver. When I was hired in early 2000, it was to coordinate all these events across Canada and to support organizers. At that time, there were about 30 events, many of which were held in BC. Since then, that number has grown to over 125 from coast to coast. Our free publicity of these events has helped in their growth, and that in turn has helped the "smaller" Canadian seed companies that depend on these events for sales. From questions people ask me, I can tell that our website is the go-to spot for timely, accurate information on these events. Google Seedy Saturday and there we are at the top!
We also spend considerable staff time helping new organizers, connecting them to seed companies, coaching them on how to run one of these events, and giving them resources to do it. Since the end of January this year, I have supported and helped 16 new organizers set up events.
Our organization has reach both far and wide, but works silently behind the scenes, and we sometimes go unacknowledged, at these events and otherwise. That is as it should be, for we believe our work is about growing the seed movement and preserving our seed diversity, and not about promoting ourselves. But every now and then, as we reflect on how far we’ve come in the past three decades, we allow ourselves to feel just a little bit proud – and we want you, our members and supporters, to share that moment with us. Thank you for being part of this movement we are building together, one seed at a time.
Judy Newman is Seeds of Diversity’s office manager and events co-ordinator.
Photo: Volunteers Linda Perkins and Diane Carley behind the Seeds of Diversity table at the Nanaimo Seedy Saturday.
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