BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine Podcast Seeds: our future food, with Adam Alexander
Sep 25, 2025
Adam Alexander, known as the 'Seed Detective', is a passionate writer and filmmaker dedicated to preserving rare vegetables. He shares fascinating stories, including a life-changing encounter with a unique pepper in Ukraine. Adam emphasizes the importance of seed saving for biodiversity and food security, urging home gardeners to embrace diverse crops. He discusses climate resilience, the risks of uniform crops in agriculture, and the lessons we can learn from traditional farming practices. Additionally, he offers practical tips for seed-saving and highlights the benefits of community seed swaps.
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Less Seed Variety Raises Systemic Risk
- Agriculture has trended toward fewer seed varieties, reducing genetic diversity and raising risk in a changing climate.
- Adam warns that shrinking seed pools threaten food security and resilience.
Market Pepper That Sparked A Mission
- Adam discovered a multi-lobed, tennis-ball-sized pepper in a Donetsk market that blew him away with its complex sweet-heat flavour.
- That market encounter launched his lifelong mission to find and preserve rare, delicious vegetable varieties.
Save Seeds To Build Supply And Memory
- Save seeds from plants you love to create a limitless, free supply and to share with others.
- Use saving as a way to connect with gardening history and the memory of your own growing journey.
