• Ask Mark
    • Search the Library
    • Mark’s Blog
    • eNewsletter / Subscribe
    • Books
    • Links
  • Home Hardware Mark’s Choice
    • New Products
    • Hand Tools
    • Cutting Tools
    • Boots and Gloves
    • Hose and Watering Accessories
    • Bird Feeders and Bird Seed
    • Container Gardening
    • Seeds and Bulbs
    • Plant Supports
    • Gardening Accessories
  • CIL Iron Plus
    • C-I-L Iron Plus Lawn Fertilizers
  • Events
    • Calendar
    • Gardening Communities
  • About Mark
    • Mark and Ben’s Bio
    • Book Mark as a Speaker
    • Mark in the Media
    • Contact Us
April 2, 2014

Doomsday Vault

Many of us are starting to think about our vegetable gardens, starting seeds, and transplanting seedlings. We will go to the stores, browse the online or paper catalogues, and rummage through our well-stocked seed boxes to plan our gardens for a new season.

But what if we didn’t have seeds to rummage through or peruse at the stores? What if the world literally ran out of seeds? A natural disaster, serious human error, or other mishap has wiped out our seed stocks. What do we do now?

Europe’s ahead of the curve (aren’t they always!). Meet the Doomsday Vault. Officially named the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, its purpose is to harbour samples of the world’s crops. It is currently responsible for the protection of over 800,000 samples from over 20,000 different crops.

No small thing.

The facility is located in a frozen mountain on an island in the Svalbard archipelago. And if you’ve never heard of this island, you’re not alone. I had to look it up too. Why the mountains? To keep it cool if ever there should be a power outage. If you’re a seed keeper, you know what happens if seeds start to warm up after being kept cold. If you’re not…one word: mould. And mould destroys a seed’s viability.

I’m going to quote the Global Crop Diversity Trust here: “The Vault can therefore be considered the ultimate insurance policy for the world’s food supply.”

To me this is a strange statement because while this is a very cool (no pun intended) idea, believing that these seed collections are an insurance policy, a fallback when we hit rock bottom, is a difficult concept to swallow.

Food production is so much more than seeds. Sure, seeds are a pretty important part of the system but think about all of the other components. The soil, the nutrients, the pollinators, the clean water…all of these are equally as important and it seems to me that we need to start making an insurance policy for each of these factors.

What do you think? Respond to this post on my Facebook page.

← Previous post
De-Mosquito-fy Your Patio

Next post →
My Recipe for Early Spring Lawn Care

Search

Recent Posts

  • Around the Acres This Week February 2, 2021
  • Around the Acres This Week January 11, 2021
  • Around the Acres This Week December 9, 2020
  • Around the Acres this Week November 2, 2020

Mark’s Blog by Month

Ask Mark

  • eNewsletter
  • Radio/Podcast
  • Magazine article
  • Newspaper column
  • TV

Recent Tweets

Mark CullenFollow

Mark Cullen
1 Mar

The March issue of Gardening with Mark and Ben is available now. https://conta.cc/3b1Bcn2

Reply on Twitter 1366391953886240768Retweet on Twitter 13663919538862407682Like on Twitter 136639195388624076812
25 Feb

Make sure you check out Toronto's Virtual Seedy Saturday coming up this weekend, complete with a very impressive roster of events http://seedysaturday.ca/toronto/ #seedysaturday

Reply on Twitter 1365024629199433728Retweet on Twitter 13650246291994337283Like on Twitter 13650246291994337288
24 Feb

This week we're talking front yard gardening, and a review of @thatTaraNolan 's new book on the topic https://www.thestar.com/life/homes/2021/02/23/heres-how-to-grow-your-front-yard-garden.html

Reply on Twitter 1364412643856031747Retweet on Twitter 136441264385603174711Like on Twitter 136441264385603174721
20 Feb

Thanks so much, Niki. We are enjoying podcasts more and more all the time - honoured that Green File made the list. Great stuff here.

Reply on Twitter 1362954664359133185Retweet on Twitter 1362954664359133185Like on Twitter 13629546643591331857

Comments are closed.

About Mark and Ben


Mark Cullen is an expert gardener, author & broadcaster and holds the Order of Canada. His son Ben is a fourth-generation urban gardener and graduate of Guelph and Dalhousie University.
More

Find Mark On

Sponsored Links

Highway of Heroes cullensfoods Share Agriculture Foundation Harrowsmith
© Mark Cullen. Go to top ↑