Five renowned keynoters and more than 20 sessions on a variety of timely gardening and seed-saving topics are planned for the 2023 Seed Savers Exchange Virtual Conference “Seed the Future: Grow Something Good.” Scheduled July 21-22 and available virtually from any location, the conference offers opportunities to connect with other gardeners and seed savers of all levels of experience.
Two days of sessions
In addition to the five expert keynoters – Dr. Vandana Shiva, Diane Wilson, Rafael Mier, Sean Brock and Sam Jett – the 2023 Seed Savers Exchange Virtual Conference features more than 20 presentations to learn and discover. Explore one urban community’s innovative plan to help fight food insecurity. Discover how to make gardening and cooking fun for kids of all ages. Learn how to make beautiful cut-flower arrangements. Take a deep dive into how seeds can bolster recovery and overall wellness. Find out how one community seed bank is embarking on a project to find heat-tolerant seeds. Learn how the extra produce from your backyard garden can help relieve hunger in your community.
Keynotes
Dr. Vandana Shiva of Delhi, India, is a world-renowned environmental thinker, activist, science philosopher and writer. In 1982, she founded the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology, an independent research institute that addresses the most significant problems of ecology of our times. Two years later, she founded Navdanya (nine seeds), the movement in defense of biodiversity and the contributions made to the climate, environment and society by small farmers.
Diane Wilson has authored four award-winning books, including the novel “The Seed Keeper,” (2022 Minnesota Book Award for Fiction), and the memoir “Spirit Car: Journey to a Dakota Past” (2006 Minnesota Book Award). She is the former executive director of Dream of Wild Health and the Native American Food Sovereignty Alliance.
Rafael Mier is founder and director of Fundación Tortilla (“Tortilla Foundation”), a nonprofit organization in Mexico City dedicated to promoting corn and tortillas as fundamental elements of Mexico’s culture, nutrition, and economic development. His work has long centered on preserving Mexican heirloom corn varieties and improving the tortilla, one of Mexico’s staple foods.
Sean Brock, known for his contributions to the repatriation of the Southern pantry and cuisine, has opened four unique restaurants in Nashville, Tenn.: Joyland, The Continental, Audrey and June. Brock won the James Beard Award for Best Chef, Southeast in 2010, and hosted the second season of the Emmy Award-winning television show “Mind of a Chef.” His first cookbook “Heritage” is a New York Times bestseller and winner of the 2015 American Cooking James Beard Award.
Sam Jett serves as director of operations at all four of the Nashville restaurants opened by his longtime colleague, Sean Brock. He has had an affinity for food and cooking for as long as he can remember, and still recalls cooking with his mother and grandmother as a child. As director of operations, Jett regularly trains staff to flourish in the restaurants he oversees, a skill he learned during his previous chef roles.
For more information on sessions and to register, visit seedsavers.org/events.
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