Varieties Pledged to the
​Open Source Seed Initiative

In memory of Jonathan Spero--farmer, breeder, activist, musician, family man and friend--who did so much to make this vision a reality.


Most people have heard of GMOs and the threat they pose to our food supply. A different sort of threat has received much less publicity--the privatization of our food crop seeds. In 1980, the courts allowed the patenting of lifeforms for the first time. Since then, corporations have rushed to patent seeds. And recently, corporations have tried to patent single traits as well. (Traits like "good flavor in melons" or resistance to a certain disease for example.)

The Open Source Seed Initiative website explains the problem: "Today, only a handful of companies account for most of the world’s commercial breeding and seed sales. Increasingly, patenting is used to enhance the power and control of these companies over the seeds and the farmers that feed the world."

"Patented seeds cannot be saved, replanted, or shared by farmers and gardeners. And because there is no research exemption for patented material, plant breeders at universities and small seed companies cannot use patented seed to create the new crop varieties that should be the foundation of a just and sustainable agriculture."

"Inspired by the free and open source software movement that has provided alternatives to proprietary software, OSSI was created to free the seed – to make sure that the genes in at least some seed can never be locked away from use by intellectual property rights."

The OSSI pledge reads: "You have the freedom to use these OSSI-pledged seeds in any way you choose. In return, you pledge not to restrict others' use of these seeds or their derivatives, by patents or other means, and to include this pledge in any transfer of these seeds or their derivatives."

The OSSI Pledge ensures the Four Open Source Seed Freedoms for this and future generations:
  1. The freedom to save or grow seed for replanting or for any other purpose.
  2. The freedom to share, trade, or sell seed to others.
  3. The freedom to trial and study seed and to share or publish information about it.
  4. The freedom to select or adapt the seed, make crosses with it, or use it to breed new lines and varieties.
To find out more, go to the OSSI website