In England, the government is asking for views on vegetable varieties of ‘no intrinsic value for crop production but developed for growing under particular conditions’. They mean heritage and heirloom varieties, which could be promoted through Commission Directive 2009/145/EC on conservation and amateur varieties of vegetables, but we advise caution. Can worthless be far behind?
Seriously, let them know what you think.
Free vegetables from royalty payments, so keep heirloom varieties in circulation and encourage people to breed their own while encouraging them to pay for characteristics in their vegetables that are hard to select for at the grass roots level.
Vegetables of any sort have multiple health benefits through their nutritional composition, the physical exercise of growing them, their sensorial qualities and the psychological well being that there generate continuously in subtle ways by giving pleasure to growers and consumers. Common accounting practices measuring economical value in terms of areas of production, yield and price of produce simply doesn’t do justice to the multisystemic benefits of diverse gardening culture.