Meet Our September Change for Good Recipient

Our Family Farms is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that envisions a thriving, sustainable food and agricultural system with seed diversity and farmable land for generations to come. Our Family Farms defends the Jackson County GMO-Free Seed Sanctuary created in 2014, supports farmers, and educates policy makers and the community at large about regenerative agriculture, organic practices, and soil health. 

What is a seed sanctuary? Why does it matter?

With the "Green Revolution" in the 1980s, agriculture became industrialized, and genetically engineered commodity crops (corn, sugar beets, canola, cotton, and soy) became the norm. These crops are subsidized by the U.S. government, and are planted in hundreds of millions of acres across the U.S.

Not only are these crops grown with multiple applications of pesticides, they have the ability to spread their pollen and contaminate traditional crops growing nearby. In fact, corn pollen can travel up to 16 miles in a windy area! So establishing GE-free zones, or seed sanctuaries, is very important so we can maintain regions where traditional crops can be grown without the risk of contamination.

This is why farmers need our help. If a farmer's traditional crop becomes contaminated by genetically engineered crops, that farmer's crop becomes illegal to sell or save the seed because it would contain the intellectual property of the patent holder (for example, Monsanto, Syngenta, or other chemical companies that created the genetically engineered seed.)

Our Family Farms protects our families, farms, and our future. 

For more information, please visit www.ourfamilyfarms.org