Interested in donating? Visit our giving page.
As part of our local and global approach to food sovereignty, we are raising funds for a site-specific agricultural project in the Tomoyo region of Bolivia (named for its major river) through the Unitarian Service Committee’s Seeds of Survival Program. This goal of this project is to provide secure sources of food and improve the livelihoods of small farmers in the region while strengthening the resources (good soil, adequate water supply) on which those farmer are so dependent.
Bolivia is currently the poorest of South American countries, and the Tomoyo region has a poverty rate of 89%. The health and longevity of its citizens and natural resources have been negatively impacted by foreign development schemes for water privatization, mining, large-scale conventional agriculture, and natural gas extraction.
Our goal is to raise $20,200 to donate to the Seeds of Survival program that will go toward the design and implementation of sustainable land management systems at the local level, ensuring health for current and future generations. Our donation will account for a quarter of the program’s yearly budget.
A few specific examples of the work that will be funded by our donation include:
• Development of farmer’s markets.
• Training in sustainable agriculture.
• Strengthening networks between farmers to encourage shared knowledge.
• Facilitate seed saving through training and the establishment of seed banks, seed swaps, etc.
• Encourage home vegetable production by families.
• Increase knowledge, protection, and use of medicinal plants.
The Seeds of Survival Program works through local NGOs in order to create long-term change. The program tries to foster a wealth of knowledge and experience within already-existing entities so that its benefits will eventually be self-sufficient and hyper-local. In the Tomoyo region, Seeds of Survival is partnering with PRODII (Programa de Desarrollo Integral Interdisciplinario). An independent Bolivian NGO, PRODII was founded in 1998 with the vision of contributing to the development of the poorest and most marginalized regions in the Tomoyo region.
For a more complete overview, download a detailed description of the Seeds of Survival Program.
Farm Tour of America: The Blog 
Let me know when you plan to be in London I will do my best to create some Buzz. Food security is a high priority issue for the Green Party of Ontario. Our leader is a huge advocate of local food and food security. If you are heading through Tornoto we cannput something together. Let me know you router through Ontario and we will do what we can at your stops to get the word out.
I am also an avid cyclist
Gary Brown
Natural Resource Issue Advocate
Green Party of Ontario
By: Gary Brown on June 15, 2010
at 12:26 am
We were fortunate enough to host this group of diverse, polite bicyclists on our sustainable Century Farm. They are delightfully well informed, interesting and fun to be around. We use many different methods of growing here, always seeking better ways and options for optimum growth and health.
These students were pleasantly knowledgable and had some great insight. I highly reccommend supporting their cause in anyway possible. We need more motivated, idealistic people to help bring transparency to our food system!
By: Wilson Banner Ranch on July 5, 2010
at 12:36 am
I just met your group in Willmar, Minnesota, and posted your web address on my Facebook page. I was in high school and college during the 60s when we had teach-ins for civil rights and peace. It is so nice to see young people bringing awareness of poverty to the world.
By: Peggy Karsten on July 27, 2010
at 6:27 pm