What Are the Benefits of Heirloom Seeds?

The practice of growing heirloom plants may be the latest rage in green circles, but environmental and health advocates hope it's one fad that's here to stay. The seeds of heirloom plants stay the same from generation to generation, rather than changing and mutating through interbreeding. Cultivating heirlooms in the home garden, or supporting local farmers who use nonhybrid seed, is a great way to add taste, nutrition and variety to your diet---and, potentially, to save entire plant species.

Better Taste and Nutrition

Over the years, mass-market growers increasingly developed fruits and vegetables for traits geared to high sales, not high flavor or vitamin content. Certain varieties were based on their ability to travel long distances without bruising or spoiling. As consumers became limited in what they could buy at the supermarket, they became less familiar with the "strange" plants in seed catalogs. Anti-hybrid advocates note that by insisting on growing and buying heirloom crops, consumers can help reverse that trend.

Greater Variety

Because not many cultivars meet mass-marketing standards, thousands of plants have fallen off the "most wanted" list, leading to fewer choices at the supermarket and nursery. But by growing heirloom plants, gardeners can introduce "Bloody Butcher" red corn, zebra tomatoes and yellow watermelon to the table, just to name a few. At the same time, flower gardens get some extra zing when old-fashioned, cottage-garden perennials rub elbows with the "bestseller" annuals found at every garden center.

Food Security

Variety in produce isn't just fun or a novelty; in the most extreme cases, it can help offset famine. Heirloom advocates point to the Irish potato blight of the 1800s as a prime example of a single crop failure causing the deaths of millions of people. Had more than one kind of potato been planted, the blight specific to that single variety would not have been so devastating, and the starvation deaths would have been far less pervasive.

Heritages Preserved

"Heritage" can be an all-encompassing term that includes the country you were born in, the land of your ancestors, the foods and dishes associated with your faith tradition or simply your aunt Luanne's "Carolina Butterbean" casserole. Heirloom seeds represent a kind of botanical scrapbook. Imagine your own children and grandchildren being able to connect with your memory simply by growing plants that are themselves the "grandchildren" of seeds you once sowed and saved.

Peace of Mind

Perhaps the most controversial agricultural practice to emerge in the 20th century, the advent of the genetically modified organisms (GMOs), raised the ire of environmentalists and health advocates alike. Whereas previously hybridized plants were limited to, for example, one kind of tomato bred with another to produce a new tomato variety, bioengineering technology allowed breeders to splice the DNA of practically anything into the kind of food they were "improving." Heirloom seed advocates insist that not enough research exists to ensure the safety of both the environment and the people and animals consuming GMO-based crops.