How We Began
The Demeter Seed Library was founded in September of 2011 by Andrew Whitman. After conducting field research in New Mexico in 2011 Andrew began collecting heirloom seeds from the Central Coast in an effort to protect and catalog the biodiversity of the region. The Demeter Seed Library is housed at UCSC and serves both members of the public and students alike. The project would not have been possible without a $10,000 grant from the Strauss foundation and a $1,000 micro-grant from the Awesome Food foundation.
The Donald A. Strauss Public Service Scholarship Foundation, was established as a memorial to the late Don Strauss of Newport Beach and is now designed to award $10,000 scholarships to as many as 15 California college juniors annually. The Strauss scholarships fund public-service projects that the students have proposed and will carry out during their senior year.
Andrew Whitman, who hails from Vista California, has partnered with students at UCSC and community members to create the new library. The seed library has been developed in conjunction with partners at the Center for Agroecology & Sustainable Food Systems located at UC Santa Cruz. The students at the Demeter Seed Library are working with community advisors to collect, catalog, and preserve a rapidly diminishing gene pool of plant genetics. With more and more seeds being patented every day, the need for a publicly operated seed library in every region of the U.S is imperative.
We hope for other universities to adopt our model and begin their own regional seed libraries! Every state and city should have a bank of its treasured heirloom genes, and not only this, people should have free access to them.
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CONTACT: Andrew Whitman (760) 214-3301 awhitman@demeterseedsproject.org, Elan Goldbart- egoldbar@ucsc.edu, Devon Grisham- devonchloe@gmail.com
www.straussfoundation.org
The Donald A. Strauss Public Service Scholarship Foundation, was established as a memorial to the late Don Strauss of Newport Beach and is now designed to award $10,000 scholarships to as many as 15 California college juniors annually. The Strauss scholarships fund public-service projects that the students have proposed and will carry out during their senior year.
Andrew Whitman, who hails from Vista California, has partnered with students at UCSC and community members to create the new library. The seed library has been developed in conjunction with partners at the Center for Agroecology & Sustainable Food Systems located at UC Santa Cruz. The students at the Demeter Seed Library are working with community advisors to collect, catalog, and preserve a rapidly diminishing gene pool of plant genetics. With more and more seeds being patented every day, the need for a publicly operated seed library in every region of the U.S is imperative.
We hope for other universities to adopt our model and begin their own regional seed libraries! Every state and city should have a bank of its treasured heirloom genes, and not only this, people should have free access to them.
* * *
CONTACT: Andrew Whitman (760) 214-3301 awhitman@demeterseedsproject.org, Elan Goldbart- egoldbar@ucsc.edu, Devon Grisham- devonchloe@gmail.com
www.straussfoundation.org
