We’re going on an Oat Quest…
Restoring seed diversity and farmers’ sovereignty over the seeds they grow is key to realising a just, equitable, nutritious and climate-change-resilient food system now and in the future. This is true in the UK and it is true around the world. The loss of seed diversity is a global phenomenon.
Katie Hastings (centre left) and members of the Llafur Ni Network show off some hand-harvested traditional grains in 2019. Photo: Llafur Ni
As the government debates the future of the UK’s post-brexit food and farming system, our Wales seed sovereignty coordinator, Katie Hastings, and the Llafur Ni (Our Grains) Network are on a quest to revive and increase the availability of rare oat varieties that are well-adapted to the Welsh climate.
Oat Quest
Over the growing season, and despite the upheavals caused by COVID-19, Katie will be sharing regular, short videos of their seed revival experience via Gaia’s Youtube channel.
Watch the Oat Quest series so far.
Join Katie and other Llafur Ni growers as they undertake the yearly cycle of sowing, growing, processing, saving and sharing oat seeds.
Learn with them about the qualities of these seeds, how they were almost lost and how they survived.
Support their ongoing search for affordable, small-scale and traditional ways to process these rare oats and complete the cycle from field to table.
Join the Oat Quest by watching, sharing and interacting with the videos on our Youtube Channel.
Seed Sovereignty
Katie and the Llafur Ni Network’s inspiring efforts are part of Gaia’s Seed Sovereignty Programme, which seeks to increase the diversity of open-pollinated seeds throughout the UK & Ireland.
When 9 out of every 10 bites we eat begins with seed, it’s clear that the food revolution we desperately need must start with seed too. Find out more about the vital importance of reviving the diversity of our seed system in the UK, Ireland and globally here.
Find out more
- Listen to this Farmerama podcast about Wales’ rare black oats, with Katie and farmer Gerald Miles
- Visit our Seed Sovereignty website to connect with seed revival efforts in the UK and Ireland.
- Watch our Seeds of Freedom film series to discover the story of seed from the origins of farming to the present day
- Sign up for our quarterly newsletters to stay up to date with our global work for seed and food sovereignty.
Header photo: Oats, by the A Team Foundation.