This award supported the third biennial Northeast Organic Seed Conference (NOSC) held in conjunction with the NOFA New York 2021 winter conference. NOSC aims to link the many seed growing activities in the Northeast, create synergies among commercial and non-commercial organic seed growers, researchers, distributors, vendors, and policy makers, and thereby strengthen the region’s organic seed system.

Based on comments from earlier conferences, organizers prioritized diversifying the 2021 NOSC by inviting BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and other underrepresented constituencies to participate in the 2021 at no charge, and to give many of the presentations. When the pandemic forced the project to go virtual, this allowed larger numbers of participants (387 vs 70 in 2019), and free registrations (91 vs 35 as proposed). Discussions identified challenges in seed production including lack of time, land, and capital, legal regulations and intellectual property, and a need for practical information on seed quality, seed cleaning and processing, and disease prevention.

In a post-event survey, 115 respondents were nearly unanimous in valuing the networking opportunity at NOSC as essential for expanding the region’s organic seed system, and in expressing active interest in connecting with seed system players from different generations, ethnicities, and locales. The conference fostered new partnerships and grant proposals, and informed planning for the 2023 NOSC.