PAUL HEALD: “We decided there is, there is, something wrong here, something wrong with the conventional story.”

MARIO RITTER: Paul Heald says he thinks damage to the environment over the past century makes people believe that crop diversity also suffered.

PAUL HEALD: ”There is no doubt that the twentieth century was an environmental disaster. Our normal assumptions I think about almost all environmental issues is that the news is bad.”

Instead, he says, the development of new plant varieties is something to feel good about. The professor adds that new kinds of plants develop as a result of unofficial activities. He says immigrants, seed collectors, small farmers and local gardeners all keep and start new varieties.

(MUSIC)

CHRISTOPHER CRUISE: Today, many individuals and groups worldwide are working to guarantee plant life for the future. One method for doing so is called “in situ”, meaning “in place.” In situ preservation means a plant is grown in its normal environment. Another method is called “ex situ.” In ex situ, the plant is removed from its normal growing area and its seeds collected.

Shannon Carmody is with the Heritage Farm in Decorah, Iowa. There, workers grow and keep plants both ex situ, in seed collections, and in situ, on the farm’s three hundred sixty hectares.

MARIO RITTER: The grounds around Heritage Farms are hilly. Ms. Carmody says the hills help protect the plant life.