Two scientists who helped establish an international seed vault received the World Food Prize Thursday night in Des Moines, Iowa, which is often dubbed the Nobel Prize of food and agriculture.
Geoffrey Hawtin and Cary Fowler, who won the World Food Prize, helped start the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway in 2008.
It’s a backup for more than 100 seed banks around the world, including Seed Savers Exchange based in northeast Iowa.
Seed Savers manages a collection with more than 20,000 heirloom varieties of fruits, vegetables, flowers and grains.
The non-profit’s development director Cindy Goodner says it’s one of the largest nongovernmental seed banks in the U.S.
“Our collection of home grown seeds is really deemed as being globally significant,” Goodner said.
Goodner says Seed Savers’ mission is to build a community of people who safeguard heirloom seeds for the future.
She says the 2024 World Food Prize elevates the importance of protecting crop diversity.
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