There’s been much made of the arrival in the mailboxes of Canadians and Americans of mystery plant material and seeds from China and other countries in that region.
There are numerous reasons that this is an intriguing story and made a splash across all the major media shortly after the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) recommended that no one do anything with the seeds and contact their nearest regional office.
The seeds have arrived across the United States and Canada. They aren’t targeted to one region. Reports from the United States say that the seeds are of many different types. Some American agencies and the CFIA have suggested that the seeds are a scam to create phantom online reviews – products are “sold” and shipped to an actual person, then fake reviews are created. It’s a process called ‘brushing’. To me, that seems like a lot of work just to get some reviews.
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There are millions of seeds floating around every farm, and I’m not talking about the ones planted on purpose. Almost all plants propagate by creating seeds, so they are ubiquitous around us and in our environment. Anyone who’s tried to grow anything knows how persistent weed seeds are in finding a place to grow.
Yet there are significant regulations around seeds, as there should be. Invasive plants thrive in new areas without predators. They can be costly to native species as they are crowded out, but also to farmers and municipalities who are stuck trying to control them.
That’s the real concern for the CFIA and for anyone who understands seeds and their power.
Seeds give us life. They’re the basis of all of our food, so there’s an intrinsic importance to them, a bit of a mystical value that even many in the city understand. That’s behind the long-time opposition to genetic modification of seeds for food crops.
But there’s also a salaciousness to the arrival of something mysterious in the mail, from another country. The fact they’re seeds that were sent to 750 Canadians makes it even more interesting. At least one person in all provinces has received a package.
The seeds are declared as toys or jewelry as they enter the country, so it’s obvious that someone is trying to get them into the country illegally.
In a recent update the CFIA says that the seeds are mostly familiar plants, vegetables and common flowers like tomatoes, strawberries, rose and citrus. There are also some weed seeds already common in Canada like shepherd’s purse and flixweed.
The CFIA says there seems to be few links between people who have received the seeds. Some have ordered seeds online before.
This is another case where the online world, the world of databases and the ease of global trade have created some new challenges for agencies that have long histories.
The CFIA admits that this is a chance for education about the importance of plant health and import requirements for plant materials.
The decision to try to send seeds around the world shows a significant lack of forethought. There aren’t many things that get people at borders more excited than plant matter.
Those of us who work in agriculture know the seriousness of moving plant and animal matter around the world. You’d think someone in a foreign country involved in seeds also would have the same understanding.
That makes me wonder about the “brushing” theory, also espoused by the United States. Someone involved in seeds should have known that moving that many seed packets anonymously into North America would raise this kind of interest. Or maybe they just relied on a perception of passiveness by the population and thought no one would notice.
I’ll continue to watch the development of this story with interest. It’s an interesting global mystery with an agriculture twist – which doesn’t happen all that often.
