Please join Binghamton University Libraries and VINES in the first of our three- part educational series on seed saving!  Guest Speakers Junior Beauvais (Haitian Heirloom Seed Bank), Lisa Bloodnick (Bloodnick Family Farm), Anandi Premlall (Susty-Q, Queens) and  Dr Valerie Imbruce (Binghamton University Faculty- City As Living Laboratory) will discuss the importance of seed saving with regards to nutrition, climate change, farmer livelihoods, and biological and cultural diversity.  This event will be held for free over Zoom and Facebook Live.

• Junior Beauvais: Junior Beauvais is originally from Fondwa, a small village community in the western department of Haiti. He grew up on a small farm with his grandmother where she would cultivate traditional crops such as black beans, corn, and pigeon peas from seeds passed on over generations. Changes in agricultural policy and international aid during the 1990s made procuring local seeds adapted to Haiti’s climate increasingly challenging for smallholder farmers. To help solve this problem, Junior worked with a team to  build a seed bank that collects and distributes heirloom seeds to local farmers.  Junior holds a Masters of Science Degree in Agricultural Leadership and Education from Virginia Tech.
• Lisa Bloodnick: Lisa Bloodnick of Bloodnick Family Farms, is a well-known seed steward, who has been growing rare seeds for the Experimental Farm Network and maintains a collection featuring approximately 1000 bean varieties and other rare crops.  Bloodnick Family Farm is a diverse, horse powered family farm serving our community sustainably raised produce since 1992. They have operated a popular CSA for over 25 years. In addition to raising produce, herbs and flowers the operation also raises a small flock of heritage breed sheep and makes maple syrup.
• Anandi Premlall: With a global mindset and vision resting at the intersection of social justice, sustainability, wellness and permaculture, Anandi A. Premlall is an International Agro-Ecological Educator, Writer, Grower and “Farmacist” who has mycelial roots thriving in the Caribbean, ancestral India, and USA.  Ms. Premlall’s genuine passion for sharing her work has forged connections to like-minded communities and producers, helping to foster lasting improvements in the fields of Sustainability and Agroecology, including biogas education, biodigester installation and troubleshooting.  As Anandi’s Shero Dr. Vanda Shiva said, “We need to not only know how to grow food, we need to know how to cook the food and nourish ourselves.” Ms. Premlall loves sharing about the wondrous sensory world of plants and insects and soil and letting her students discover the magic of seeds for themselves. With seed banks in various locations around the world, Anandi shares and grows seeds to preserve culture and biodiversity by growing food for the ecosystem.
• Valerie Imbruce: Valerie Imbruce is an economic botanist who is interested in how community food systems are influenced by processes like immigration, gentrification and global trade. She has worked for Bioversity International which supports the conservation and continued cultivation of agricultural biological diversity. She has visited community seed banks in Ecuador and Peru, and saves and replants seeds with her children. See https://www.cityaslivinglab.org/chinatown to learn more about a current project in NYC that is supported by the Binghamton University Sustainable Communities TAE, including a short video of Valerie and her collaborator, and a story map of a virtual tour of Chinatowns food system.

This event is Free and Open to the public.  Suggested donation of $5-$10.