Understanding Seed (and food) Labels
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There are many options, or so it seems, when deciding on which seeds to buy. I’m not talking about the 50 varieties of carrots, but the varying labels from Certified Organic to Non-GMO and so on. There’s argument that picking seeds isn’t as important as picking produce because it’s all in the growing practices, but I’m a firm believer that it does matter. I pick my seeds the same way I choose my produce (or any food) because sometime ago I began learning about agriculture practices and the impacts on our health and the environment. I truly believe that the quality of the soil and the seeds sown make a difference. So, as an attempt to demystify some of the labels, here is some key information to understanding seed labels:
Conventional: You generally won’t see this term on any packaging but it includes seeds and food that are not organic, often genetically modified, and produced with agricultural practices that use chemicals and pesticides. When it comes to seeds the traces of these pesticides might be small, but if present will spread to the whole plant. Although buying conventional may be cheaper, it also supports agricultural processes that are harmful to the land, animals, environment, and our own health.
Organic or Certified Organic: In order to use this label businesses have to follow regulated guidelines that limit the use of chemicals, practice sustainable methods, and prohibit genetic modification. Seeds labeled “organic” mean that they have been produced in an environment under these guidelines. Purchasing seeds with this label supports agricultural processes that are required to follow these organic guidelines in order to keep their certification.
Heirloom: This label describes the genetic make up of a seed. These are seeds that come from older varieties that tend to maintain their characteristics, usually experienced in flavor and stable growing. Traditionally heirloom seeds come from open-pollinated plants, which means the wind, bugs, and birds have naturally caused the pollination.
GMO vs Non-GMO: These labels also describe the genetic make up of a seed and whether it has been created in a laboratory, greenhouse, or natural environment.
Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) seeds are bred in laboratories in order to alter the DNA to produce specific characteristics, like being drought tolerant or disease resistant. The altered genes have also been said to produce insecticides and the cause of superweeds and superbugs that require larger doses of toxic poisons sprayed on the crops to keep these at bay. GMO seeds are not easily accessible to the home gardener, but traces can and will show up in conventional seeds.
Non-GMO means that the seed has been bred as open-pollinated or hybrid. This process is a way of reflecting what happens in nature. As noted above, open-pollination happens through wind, bugs, and birds. Hybrid is cross-pollination of two different varieties of the parent plants being bred, such as two different tomato plants. When choosing seeds you may seed the label of F1 (first-filial), which means it was a hybrid pollinated plant that produced characteristics that were not “true to type” of its parent plants. Open-pollinated are more likely to produce “true to type” characteristics of the parent plants.
Here are some of my favorite companies with seed labels I trust: