One of the most important battles in agriculture today is the one to preserve our plant diversity and seed heritage. Since 1900, we’ve lost more than 75% of our plant genetic diversity. Some put the loss as high as 96% if you can believe that! The rise of commercial ag and their mono-cropping approach has stripped the market of storied varieties with histories that date back to the earliest years of this country and even earlier.

Legions of home gardeners and farmers are working to preserve that heritage, to revive forgotten varieties on the verge of disappearing forever.

Those seeds have a story, a history, and we cannot allow them to simply fade away.

Students will research their favorite fruit or vegetable to uncover its history. Have them present on the variety or varieties that have interesting historical relevance or appeal to them for some other reason.

To fully embrace the historical feel of this project, have the students write their heirloom variety report on paper rather than the computer.