I learned about Punnet squares in high school. The simple 4-square explanation of which dominant or recessive traits would be expressed in flowers, vegetables, animals, and babies. I was fascinated by biology and genetics and how we were able to not only predict the genotype and phenotype of breeding pairs, but experiment with new, stronger, or more favorable breeds of vegetables, flowers, and fruits, as well as understand and then fight disease in all living things on a genetic level.
I didn’t understand the real value of this experimentation and study then, but in the several decades since (and through a looooong Bio-Chem, Genetics, and Forensics tenure as an undergrad) I’ve learned that these discoveries from the early 1900s are actually part of the underpinnings of the immensely important sustainability-conversation that is being had all over the globe.
In the world of fruits, vegetables, and flowers these discoveries are also part of what inspires some tremendously dedicated individuals – people like Petra Page-Mann and her partner Matthew Goldfarb at Fruition Seeds – to explore further, bringing the global conversation to a very practical, attainable, and local place with the development of resilient, organic, regionally-specific seeds.
Here, Petra discusses the importance of their work with regional seed genetics, their process, and the benefits of sustainable food production in the communities we live in and the larger world we all share.
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