More on the Roots for Life campaign. Below is the letter that potential Heroes have been getting of late.
In celebration of the United Nations International Year of Biodiversity, the Roots for Life Foundation, is launching its first fund-raising campaign. The primary objective of Roots for Life is to safeguard our potato plant heritage for future generations. We write to you to request your assistance and support for this campaign to achieve success.
The domestication of food crops was one of the great innovations that gave rise to human civilization. Once food security could be provided by harnessing the nutritional wealth of certain crops then communities, towns, cities and empires developed. Imagine the absolute wonder of the ancient people of the Andes, when they discovered that the tubers of certain species of wild potatoes could be carefully selected in order to provide an abundant and nutritious source of energy, even in the harsh conditions of their chosen environment. It was a discovery that would change the history of the world.
Our debt of gratitude to those ancient potato growers, breeders and conservationists is large indeed. Today the potato is the third most important food crop in the world. It is perhaps most amazing that we have just begun to explore this treasure of the Andes. The potatoes that changed the history of the world represent only a tiny fraction of the genetic wealth that exists in the nearly 5000 native varieties of potato selected and developed by the ancient people of the Andes. Since potatoes were first introduced into Europe nearly 500 years ago, the humble tuber has fed large parts of the world, saved populations from famine, and changed our history. Yet 95% of the commercially grown potatoes today, a market worth $650 billion annually, are derived from just five varieties. Native potatoes exhibit great biodiversity and many undiscovered traits could provide answers to our future on this planet.
Although more than enough food is produced to feed everyone in the world, more than a billion people do not get enough nutrients each day to lead active and healthy lives. Unequal distribution, environmental challenges, water scarcity, nutritional deficiencies, poor storage, contamination, poor farming practices, conflicts and natural disasters are some of the issues that erode food supplies and, therefore, food security. The recent global food crisis warned us of the fragile state of our global food security system. It is time to remember the ancient potato growers and keepers and to use one of the most efficient crops in the world to provide solutions for global food security – for our future.
The Roots for Life Foundation was established with a primary objective to endow the in-trust biodiversity of potatoes and sweet potatoes – the two most important root and tuber crops for global food security. Over the past 150 years, a handful of naturalists and scientists have ventured into remote territories, tracking the diversity of the potato. They have travelled the highland plains and valleys, braving the freezing cold by night and the burning sun by day collecting these different treasures of genetic wonder created by nature and often improved and safeguarded by humankind. Today the largest and most unique collection of potato varieties – the world’s in-trust collection – is held by the International Potato Center (known by the acronym CIP, from its Spanish name Centro Internacional de la Papa). Founded in 1971 and headquartered in Lima, Peru, CIP is a non-profit, scientific research institution devoted to unleashing the potential of potatoes, sweetpotatoes and other roots and tubers to increase food security, reduce poverty and enhance sustainable development for small farmers and the most impoverished populations of the developing world.
The goal of this first fund-raising campaign is to safeguard the 4,235 varieties of native potato that are presently held in CIP’s gene bank. These varieties in the world in-trust collection need to be endowed for long-term protection. In the genetic biodiversity of these native potatoes lie the answers to food security in a world where climate change, water and land shortages, and an energy crisis threaten global food security. The CIP potato collection is a trust fund for our survival.
The Roots for Life Foundation is asking individuals and groups to become a Hero for Life. By donating US $5,000 you can protect one of the 4,235 native potato varieties in perpetuity and become a Hero for Life. It will take US $21,175,000 to guarantee all 4,235 potato varieties for future generations. That is less than the cost of French fries sold every 24 hours in the United States alone!
The campaign is aimed at individuals, community groups, schools, companies and Foundations who want to step up and recognize our generation’s debt to the master agronomists of the Andes, the ancient farmers and the scientists who have carried this work forward, and the enormous legacy they left us for the future of humankind. We all have a responsibility to ensure food security and well-being for future generations and for the planet – we can all be heroes in this global challenge.
At the center of the campaign is a website where potential donors can experience the importance of the potato – past, present and future – along with information about how you can become a Hero for Life.
The campaign begins today, 1 October 2010, and aims to celebrate the Heroes at a special ceremony held on 15 February 2011 in Svalbard, Norway – home to the famous Global Seed Vault. The Heroes’ names will also be engraved in a Wall of Heroes that will be built at the International Potato Center Genebank in Lima, Peru. They will receive a certificate indicating which native potato(es) they have protected for future generations, and we will send periodic reports on the Roots for Life activities.
Visit the website and become a Hero
www.rootsforlife.orgWe do hope that you will be able to help us promote and contribute to this Heroes for Life campaign.
Sincerely,
Jim Godfrey, Chair
Pamela K. Anderson, President & CEO
Peter VanderZaag, Vice-President
Simon Best, Director
Nigel Kerby, Director
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