At the World Cup in Brazil, the pitches took a beating. But Brazil had a secret to beat that foot traffic and slide tackling — hardy, perennial ryegrass seed from Manitoba, Canada. Why wouldn’t Canada have provided it to its own Women’s World Cup?At the World Cup in Brazil, the pitches took a beating. But Brazil had a secret to beat that foot traffic and slide tackling — hardy, perennial ryegrass seed from Manitoba, Canada. Why wouldn’t Canada have provided it to its own Women’s World Cup?
The U.S. government maintains a large stockpile of seeds, to be used if disease threatens the nation’s food supply. But informal networks of farmers are also saving seeds to preserve exotic crop varieties that the government does not. NPR’s Andrea DeLeon (day-lee-OWN) visits one of the country’s biggest seed savers, in central Maine.