Everyone knows that food is central to sustenance. Whether you're a human, an animal or an insect, food is elemental to a good life. With clear signs of climate change around, people are being forced to consider one of its most dangerous effects -- depleted food security. What would happen if the world ran out of food? It's a question people are scared to approach.
Several individuals and organisations are now devoting their efforts to ensuring this current anxiety won't grow into a future reality.
Among the people serving this cause are those operating seed banks, collecting and storing seeds from a variety of plants to ensure that future generations will never run out of food. These people call themselves "food guardians" and take care of the seed banks' supply. They find, pocket and deposit seeds from various locations to last for several decades.
Seed banks may sound like a contemporary trend, but they have been cropping up since the 1980s.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
In developed parts of the world, where food always appears to be plentiful, the issue of food security doesn't seem so pressing. But activists are quick to expose this thinking as problematic.
Echo Asia, a Chiang Mai-based agricultural resource centre and seed bank, knows well that food scarcity is a real issue. The operation was founded in 2009 by a group of American academics and agriculture researchers. The centre's location was chosen for the clean air and cool climate, ideal conditions for their mission to flourish.
The operation is the Asian branch of a non-profit organisation of the same name set up in Florida 35 years ago. Its goal is to help agricultural workers with global food security issues. It does this by partnering with over 11,000 organisations, including local NGO workers and missionaries, all over the world.
Thailand was chosen as Asia's hub for both Echo's research centre and seed bank.
Originally, the organisation focused on reducing food scarcity by growing and giving away seeds for free to farmers. However, they gradually expanded their work to chipping away at the monopoly system of seed traders that negatively affects local farmers' incomes.
"Many companies sell hybrid seeds to farmers, which is fine for the first round of crops," explains Abram J Bicksler, director of the Echo Asia Impact Centre. "But after the plant grows, these seeds cannot be stored or replanted. The seed can only be used for a limited number of times after which it cannot produce further crop.
"The seeds that we at Echo store and give away are called open pollinated seeds, which means the seeds will produce identical plants to their parents. Since they are true breeds, they can also be stored for a long time with the right technique."
The largest advantage companies hold over farmers is their monopoly over expensive, reusable traditional seeds. Hybrid seeds, on the other hand, can only be used once or twice, but keep farmers going back to these big companies for their cheaper price.
BUILDING NEW RELATIONS
Jon Jandai first made a name for himself by starting an eco-friendly adobe house trend. After devoting several years to teaching people how to build clay houses, Mr Jon decided it was time to pursue something else he had long wanted to do.
Drawing from his background in agriculture, he wanted to show farmers how to practise self-reliance and ease up their dependence on seed traders.
So he set up Pun Pun farm in the Mae Taeng district of Chiang Mai province to bring together and educate the public about sustainable farming.
He now grows his own fruit and vegetables to eat at home and occasionally to sell at markets.
He also works on a seed bank project to directly distribute seeds to local farmers.
"Seeds shouldn't be monopolised [by traders]," Mr Jon explained. "They grow naturally by Mother Nature, so they don't need to be transformed by the hands of greedy business owners. I know that seed companies select the best seeds for the best results, but what will happen when the day comes that farmers can no longer afford them? That's why I store and give my seeds away for free -- so the farmers can start to rely on themselves.
"At Pun Pun, we store seeds for over 200 kinds of fruits and vegetables. None of them are hybrid seeds, so the farmers can keep reproducing the seeds and new plants by themselves. They can also give them away to others if they wish. I want to do this so that we farmers can really take care of ourselves."
Mr Jon's Pun Pun farm is open to the public for workshops on how to live sustainably, offering up a variety of agricultural techniques. The public can also learn about ways to improve the longevity of their storage seeds.
"Why spend the money buying new seeds all the time when you can produce them by yourself?" Mr Jon asked.
SEEDS OF CHANGE
The Echo Asia research base is in Chiang Mai, but the seed bank itself is a 175-kilometre trip north of the city. Nearby the Myanmar border, Mae Ai district was decided as the best place for a seed bank to be located.
The clean air and cool temperature make it the ideal place for storage. Surrounded by jungle and mountain ranges, the complex can be found at the end of an unpaved dirt road.
Rattakarn Arttawuttikun is the manager for the Echo Asia seed bank. She overlooks all the complex's operations, including the maintenance of 145 types of seeds as well as the 800 additional types currently being processed for future crops.
"We store the seeds in two temperature-controlled rooms at 4 degrees and 8 degrees Celsius," Ms Rattakarn explained. "Each room contains a different kind of seed that requires different environmental conditions. After much research, we found that these seeds can survive for years with the correct controlled environment and temperature."
In addition to storing seeds, the bank serves as a learning centre for farmers.
Since local farmers often can't afford to set up temperature-controlled rooms, the centre is striving to develop alternative storage techniques more suitable to those working with financial limitations.
One such technique is building adobe houses and placing them in clay pots buried underground to keep them cool. Another technique is storing seeds inside bamboo shoots, and similarly burying them underground, although the results tend to be less effective.
"We give out 10 different kinds of seeds to each farmer per year," says Ms Rattakarn. "After we give them out, we tell the farmers how to grow chemical-free plants. We can also stop insects from getting at them by using companion planting techniques. In this case, the seeds that they pluck from the plants will be safe and good to store for a long time."
A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE
Seeds banks don't only grow plants to feed humans. Some of these seeds help improve oil crops and companion crops used to support an organic agricultural process.
Either way, seed banks offer a promising way to secure future life.
"We are trying to keep the food security situation under control," says Mr Jon. "We also want to help farmers fight this monopoly system in the agriculture industry at the moment. In any case, I hope people now understand how important it is to store away food for future generations, because if there is no food, there is no life.
"This is why we think it is important to keep the seed bank programme running. It's why we try to organise workshops and meetings for people from different backgrounds to get together and share their ideas."
Mr Bicksler adds that, from his observations, food reflects the local culture of any given geography. Storing seeds will not only keep humanity going but contribute to cultural preservation.
"Besides making sure our food supplies survive, we must make sure that the culture that shapes these local food traditions survives too." he says.
the future in store: Global food security group Echo Asia's seed bank is found in Chiang Mai's Mae Ai district. The organisation gives away seeds for free to farmers and stores them for future use. PHOTOS: CHAIYOT YONGCHAROENCHAI
Seed bank CHAIYOT YONGCHAROENCHAI
right at home: An adobe house serving as a seed bank in Mae Ai. The seeds are placed in a clay pot buried underground, where they are kept cool.
frozen in time: Seed bank manager Rattakarn Arttawuttikun manages hundreds of plant types.
coming into bloom: An experimental farm run by Echo Asia where researchers are producing new types of plants and flowers.
growing gains: Abram Bicksler, Echo Asia Impact Centre director, far right, offers farmer training.
fresh off the farm: Chilli, tomato and roselle.