State of Seed

This week we’re sharing a special episode from our friends at the Real Organic Podcast, the award-winning “Best Sustainability, Environment & Climate Podcast” produced by the Real Organic Project.

Recently named one of the "best climate podcasts" by Earth.org, the Real Organic Podcast uncovers the forces reshaping organic food – like how corporate lobbying is redefining what “organic” means and how industry use of new terms like “regenerative” and “hydroponics” are not really organic. Hosted by Linley Dixon and Dave Chapman, each episode features deep conversations with farmers, scientists, chefs, and journalists fighting to keep organic food honest.

Like today’s special episode with chef and author Dan Barber, who explores America’s relationship with food and agriculture, including how farming for flavor - instead of farming for the amount of food or the shelf life of that food - can transform our food system from the ground up. It’s a fascinating conversation, particularly as Dan argues that seed breeding should begin in the kitchen, with taste driving innovation in the field. From soil-grown crops to flavor-forward farming, this episode digs deep into what we’ve lost - and what we can grow back by connecting chefs, farmers, and crop breeders.

For more episodes like this, make sure to follow Real Organic Podcast, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. And tell them we sent you.

This is a big year for the U.N. International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA), which ensures that seeds in most countries’ public seed or gene banks are widely available to farmers, scientists, and plant breeders everywhere. Negotiators will meet in November in Lima, Peru to try to update the treaty, which first passed in 2001. But this task is proving to be challenging. 

In our season finale, we learn about the main issues in the international plant treaty talks, why they are so contentious, and how all this impacts seeds and global food security. Host Laura Rosbrow-Telem speaks with key players in the negotiations, including Kent Nnadozie, the treaty's secretary. She also talks to Jasmina Muminovic, the head of genetic resources at Bayer Crop Science as well as the International Seed Federation's Coordination Group on Genetic Resources, which leads the seed industry’s participation in the treaty negotiations. We also get a better understanding of the technological advancements complicating the talks from Dave Bubeck,  a research director at Corteva Agriscience. Finally, we hear a lively debate about the negotiations from a World Seed Congress panel moderated by Jean-Paul Judson, the founder of NOWMORE. 

State of Seed is a show from the International Seed Federation, with production services by FP Studios.

The constantly changing tariffs from the Trump administration are directly
impacting the global seed community. How are seed officials grappling with this unpredictable regulatory environment as well as other key challenges in 2025?

In this episode, we will learn about two of the seed sector’s biggest current obstacles: trade and illegal seed practices. First, host Laura Rosbrow-Telem gets a fuller picture about seed trade this year from Doaa Abdel Motaal, the senior counselor for the Agriculture and Commodities Division at the World Trade Organization (WTO), and Samuel Crowell, the senior director of international programs and policy at the American Seed Trade Association.

We then hear about illegal seed practices, including counterfeit seeds. According to a recent WTO report, more than 50 percent of seeds on the market in certain regions are counterfeit or illegal. We learn why counterfeit seeds are so prevalent and the best ways to curb illegal seed practices, including lessons from China. Yang Yasheng of the China Seed Association shares how China significantly reduced the amount of counterfeit seeds in recent years.

State of Seed is a show from the International Seed Federation, with production services by FP Studios.

Lately, it can feel as if the world is falling apart, with war, climate change, and global instability rising—to name just a few existential threats. But the world is not ending. And seeds are a big part of ensuring our future. 

 In this season of State of Seed, recorded from the World Seed Congress in Istanbul in May, we will learn how seeds play a critical role in continuing life on this fragile globe of ours. And we will grapple with some of the seed sector’s biggest current obstacles, such as trade and illegal seed practices. We will also hear about U.N. negotiations on sharing the genetic information of seeds and why they are so contentious. 

 But for this first episode, host Laura Rosbrow-Telem interviews Cary Fowler, who gave the World Seed Congress’s keynote address this year. Fowler is a co-winner of the 2024 World Food Prize for co-founding the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. Launched in 2008, the global seed vault holds more than 1.3 million samples of seeds—the largest number of seeds in one place on Earth. Fowler shares in rich detail how he and others created this novel sanctuary for global food security, as well as the importance of seed banks in preserving our biodiversity. 

 State of Seed is a show from the International Seed Federation, with production services by FP Studios.

Season 2 of State of Seed launches Friday, June 27th. This time around, we examine how seeds are playing a critical role in protecting the planet during this moment of global uncertainty. Recorded at the World Seed Congress in Istanbul, host Laura Rosbrow-Telem talks to a range of experts, including the 2024 World Food Prize Co-Winner Cary Fowler, who co-founded the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. She also speaks with trade officials about how they are navigating 2025, as well as negotiators of the UN’s International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture – which will face a crucial juncture this year. State of Seed is a podcast from the International Seed Federation, with production services by FP Studios.