Demeter Seed Library
The Demeter Seed Library of UC Santa Cruz is a student-run, non-profit organization of local farmers and gardeners who believe in the importance of preserving the genetic heritage of our food. The library was founded in 2011 by Andrew Whitman with a $10,000 grant from the Strauss Foundation and support from Measure 43. It is currently run by students involved in UCSC's Food Systems Working Group (read more about the librarians, below). The library is located in room 307 of the Oakes Administration building in Oakes College at UCSC.
Our mission is to preserve and breed locally adapted cultivars and seed varieties in California Central Coast. Our objective is to help gardeners and farmers access seeds and educate youth and community members about the importance of biodiversity and seed sovereignty in our agricultural systems. Ultimately, our living seed library promotes the resiliency and autonomy of our local food system. We aim to demonstrate a society that is not reliant on large seed companies and multinational corporations that control the global food system.
We at the Demeter Seed Library conduct “grow-outs” to grow crop varieties to seed as well as work with local organic farms to grow seeds. We catalog seeds and distribute them to farmers and gardeners. We maintain a large inventory of seed by continually growing out the varieties that are older or have been greatly lent out. We encourage people who use our seeds to grow a portion of their crops through their lifecycle to bear seeds.
As we are a seed library rooted in community, we gladly welcome donations of both seed and/or money because we are always in need of both resources to sustain ourselves. If you would like to donate seeds, please send to:
If you donate seeds please include information about the year it was grown out, the variety of crop, and where it was grown out! The more info the merrier! Thank you! If you would like to make a financial donation and mail us a check please make it out to "UC Regents" and "Demeter Seed Library" in the memo line.....thanks!
If you have any questions about getting involved, about upcoming seed exchanges and other events, or about plant reproduction/seeds please email us at demeterseedlibrary@gmail.com
Goals of the Demeter Seed Library
The Demeter Seed Library at UCSC thrives to service the Santa Cruz community by:
- Aiding backyard gardening projects with labor and seeds.
- Supplying information about urban gardening and seed saving to community members.
- Hosting events to teach about sustainable food systems especially involving the resilience and biological diversity of agriculture.
- Maintaining an inventory of heirloom and native seed varieties that prosper in Santa Cruz’s climate and are available to the public
- Distributing seeds freely to all!
- Connecting with other organizations for a more succinct transformation into a sustainable agricultural system
If you are not in Santa Cruz and are looking for a seed library near you visit the United States Seed Libraries directory
Meet the Librarians
Adria Vidales is a third year student double majoring in Critical Race & Ethnic Studies and Environmental Studies with a concentration in Agroecology. This is their fourth quarter as a Seed Librarian and they are looking forward to many more! Adria was raised in the Central Valley, spending most of their time in Stockton, CA. Growing up around agriculture and having family who worked as agricultural labor is a large part of their identity and foundation of their knowledge around growing, keeping seeds, and food/seed sovereignty. They dream of a world where food and medicine are grown freely all over, native plants and seeds are rematriated to their homelands, and colonized peoples are liberated from the chains of colonization, cisheteronormativity, capitalism, and all of their unsightly offspring.
