A multimillion-dollar organic seed company is ceasing sales and giving away hundreds of varieties, saying, “We can no longer commodify our beloved relatives, these seeds, or ourselves.” The Cocozelle zucchini, now priced at $14.25 per 100 seeds? Free. Catnip, kale, mint? All free, the AP reports. Petra Page-Mann and Matthew Goldfarb, who run Fruition Seeds in Western New York, said they are laying off employees, ceasing sales on Aug. 27, and relying on the public’s goodwill — donations of money, talent, and effort — to grow and distribute seeds on a $76,000 budget. That’s a dramatic shift for a company with more than $22 million in sales (according to 2022 records) and a name recognition high enough to be featured in the New York Botanical Garden’s shop.
“The appeal is simple: Seed is a gift. Gifts are shared,” the couple said in an announcement. They have thought about barriers to entry and what they call the humiliation of the dollar. Burnout also played a role. “We are weaving a new fabric together, friends.” As ripe apples fell to the grass on their farm in the hilly Finger Lakes region and workers put together a bunkhouse for the volunteers who will now be indispensable, Page-Mann and Goldfarb spoke openly about not having all the answers. Their parents are “terrified,” said Goldfarb, 48. “‘I’m afraid you’re freeloaders, I’m afraid you’re going to become a burden on this community,'” he recalled friends and family saying. “And I think potentially the hardest thing for people is to hear that it’s actually going to work that way.”
Next year, they plan to stop sending seed packets and start giving away seeds by organizing events and visiting cities in the Northeast, a radical expansion of their work with seed libraries, seed swaps and community harvests. They have begun listing their own needs, from monetary donations and legal expertise to things like printer paper and mason jars. “I trust that what is there — although not yet visible — will carry us all like air,” wrote Page-Mann, 40. She and Goldfarb said the most agonizing part of their decision was making it without the collective consent of their 12 collaborators. “At the same time, they were very kind and said, ‘This makes sense for you and your life,’ but also, ‘This sucks,'” Page-Mann said.
(More stories about seeds.)
