Open-source Bread
The Free the Seeds campaign of OpenSourceSeeds was recently launched in Berlin featuring bread made of an open-source wheat variety called Convento C..
Convento C. is an organically bred population of wheat which means that there is a high level of genetic diversity within the plants making the wheat particularly robust against diseases and extreme weather conditions. Convento C. was bred by Dr Hartmut Spieß of the Dottenfelderhof, Bad Vilbel, Germany.
At the moment of its public release, Convento C. was equiped with an open-source seed licence as a way to prevent patents and protect the variety so it be used by everyone (with privatisation forbidden as part of the licence agreement).
The official launch of the campaign in November featured a panel discussion with each actor involved (breeder, farmer, miller, bakers and consumers) and a bread-tasting of breads from the four bakeries using Convento C. to demonstrate the high quality of foods based on this wheat.
Adrien Labaeye from OpenSourceSeeds and member of the Community Economies Research Network (CERN) says that the open-source bread “is made with at least 80 per cent flour from a wheat that has been protected from any form of private appropriation thanks to the open source seeds license. In other words, a bread that is Monsanto free!”
Following the launch there have been other events including a bread-tasting of 1,000 open-source bread rolls in Dortmund. More actions are to follow in Berlin and will be announced on OpenSourceSeeds website and social media.
Other plants that have an open-source licence through OpenSourceSeeds include Chili Pepper “Black Heart”, Sweetcorn Lisanco, Tomato “Sunviva” and two varieties of winter wheat.
For more information contact Adrien Labaeye, adrien@opensourceseeds.org.
Jenny Cameron