Gaia's New Green is a writing collection showcasing female seed guardians, ensuring the preservation and availability of diverse plant species for future generations. Seeds are the crux of life on this planet. They provide us with nutrients and sustainability, wealth and abundance, and endless amounts of knowledge. Due to colonization and the longstanding history of gatekeeping knowledge, seeds have become a taboo topic. The common practice of keeping seeds and understanding the ways that they work is no longer foundational knowledge we rely on. Instead, we favor the grocery store and the economics of industrial agriculture that does not have the same abundance mindset when it comes to seeds. 

Seeds are a gift to this Earth. Yet, when we disregard the gift in their nature, we become complicit to the separating system at play. If we are to create a new reality that cares for the environment and works to address the historic and systematic issues associated with environmental work, we need to:

• Work with elder’s knowledge

• Analyze and reframe our relationship to the Earth 

• Create specific ways to change systematic oppression associated with the environment 

• And start with seeds. 

Seeds historically have been nurtured and valued by BIPOC communities. Settler colonialism reframes environmental justice and seed sovereignty as frivolous and unimportant aspects of human advancement. Science, in the ways that we have been groomed to view it, is skewed and takes historic BIPOC methods of observation out of it. Environmental Justice must reframe science with the concepts of BIPOC methodology as a central focus. By doing so, we create a conscious intellect that understands the importance of preserving the Earth and the wonders it beholds. 

Whilst acknowledging the efforts of seed saving initiatives and guardianship, the interconnectedness of gender, agriculture, and sustainability cannot be ignored. Seed ownership is a critical component of economic empowerment. Ensuring that women have the right to own, save, and exchange seeds not only fosters gender equality but also contributes to the overall economic development of communities. Women often hold a wealth of traditional knowledge related to seed saving, storage, and cultivation. Recognizing and integrating this knowledge into broader agricultural strategies is essential for sustainable and resilient farming practices. Women, as primary caregivers and food producers, play a pivotal role in the conservation of agricultural biodiversity. Supporting women in their role as seed custodians contributes to the preservation of diverse and resilient crop varieties, essential for adapting to environmental changes.

Kinship patterns formed through matriarchal relationships were able to pass this knowledge in nontraditional ways, whereas the colonial patriarchy that we know today overlooks black, indigenous, and people of color’s voice in this historical practice of growing. Although the hegemonic and patriarchal form we are accustomed to is the primary way most of the world gets its produce, this knowledge still exists and is overlooked by the larger agricultural community. Through Gaia’s New Green, I would like to curate photos, videos, interviews, reviews and other forms of media capturing these knowledge systems around the world. My focus will be centralized on the Northeast Region of the US but I would like to incorporate ideas and actions from women everywhere.