Seeds of Time Film Screening and Panel Discussion

On April 22, 2019, over 200 people attended a film screening of Seeds of Time on Douglass Campus, followed by a panel discussion. Seeds of Time examines the effects of climate change through a resource we cannot live without: our seeds. Seed banks around the world are crumbling, crop failures are producing starvation and rioting, and the accelerating effects of climate change are affecting farmers globally. A perfect storm is brewing as agriculture pioneer Cary Fowler races against time to protect the future of our food.

Participants were treated to inspiring welcoming remarks by Chancellor Christopher Molloy (Rutgers University–New Brunswick), Executive Dean Robert Goodman (Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences), and Ambassador Gustavo Meza Cuadra (Permanent Representative of Peru to the United Nations). Ambassador Meza Cuadra shared the story of communities of indigenous Peruvian farmers already suffering the effects of climate change. The discussion panel included Cary Fowler, Sandy McLeod (director and producer of Seeds of Time), Thomas Orton (Professor and Agricultural Extension Specialist at Rutgers University), and Lena Struwe (Professor and Director of the Chrysler Herbarium, Rutgers University).

The event was sponsored by the Permanent Mission of Peru to the United Nations; Rutgers Climate Institute; Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences; Rutgers Department of Plant Biology; Rutgers Global; Students for Environmental Awareness; Students for Environmental and Energy Development; and the Rutgers Undergraduate Food Science Club. The event highlighted the need to take action to protect our seeds, the future of our food, across the globe.