Celebrating champions of crop diversity

Abstract

First paragraph:

Adam Alexander’s second book, The Accidental Seed Heroes (2025), follows his first, The Seed Detective (2022), which focused on the origins of popular vegetables from wild ancestors to common cultivars. This time, Alexander places the people who maintain and foster crop diversity at the cen­ter of his story. As a passionate gardener and ama­teur plant breeder, Alexander’s message is clear: crop diversity (or agrobiodiversity) is essential, property rights regimes are a detriment to diversity, and seeds should be a public good. He deftly illus­trates challenges and successes in plant breeding with cases from countries like Albania, Denmark, Ethiopia, India, and his home in Wales. Here, his journalist background shines through with rich descriptions that would feel at home in a travel magazine. . . .