During its 25 years in Tucson, Native Seeds/Search has discovered how to preserve ancient cultures, one seed at a time.

For years, local nonprofit Native Seeds may have been helping to solve a worldwide problem, right here in the Southwest. The organization was founded upon realizing the dearth of indigenous agricultural seeds still available. Since 1983, the group has been spearheading the production and conservation of seeds, reintroducing expanded food production and ancient cultural ties back into our lives.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization reports that since the 1900’s, 75 percent of genetic crop diversity has been lost. While the genetically uniform farming that the United States has adopted may have simplified the process of crop growing, the Global Crop Diversity Trust says that increasing crop diversity will help ease poverty, increase the nutrition in our food and protect the environment.

Native Seeds hopes to contribute to these causes by storing 1,850 types of seeds in its seed bank. Just a few of these varieties include Spanish herbs, dent corn, O’odham lentils, Tepary beans, caribe chilies, Acoma Melons, cumpas green peas and Hopi black-dye sunflowers.

Expanding food production isn’t Native Seeds’ only goal. “There’s a cultural component to a lot of the genetic diversity that we’re talking about as well. It’s not just about finding traits that both breeders and farmers can select from,” says Suzanne Nelson, director of conservation.

Native Seeds partners with farmers around the Southwest and in Mexico, providing support and outreach. In particular, the organization works with Native American groups, offering them free seeds that in turn enrich the overall Native American lifestyle.