Saving Ancient Seeds to Feed Us Tomorrow
Saturday, September 26th
10:00AM-12:00PM

RSVP REQUIRED

A public conversation on conserving heritage corns for food resilience

Join an urgent and hopeful conversation about saving traditional maize varieties to feed us in a changing world. Leaders in crop conservation from the desert Southwest and Italy will share strategies for saving seeds to preserve cultures, protect traditional knowledge, and build more resilient food systems for future generations.

SPEAKERS:

Alexandra Zamecnic, Executive Director of Native SEEDS/SEARCH, will share how maize seeds from the desert Southwest and Mexico are being conserved and shared so these arid-adapted traditional crops are not replaced by GMO corns.

Antonio Rottigini, cofounder of the Slow Mays initiative in Italy, will describe how the movement has revived centuries-old maize farming and stone-milling, reconnecting communities with their heritage and building local food security.

Duran Andrews, Farm Manager of San Xavier Cooperative Farm, is dedicated to strengthening Tohono O’odham agricultural traditions, community connections, and the cultivation of traditional food crops.

Xóchitl Valdés is the chef-owner of Pancho Maíz in Mérida, Yucatán, a culinary project dedicated to protecting and celebrating the Yucatán Peninsula’s native corn varieties. Founded in 2019, Pancho Maíz works directly with regional farmers to encourage cultivation, organize annual harvests, mill local grain, and transform nixtamal into tortillas and antojitos that foreground place and season.