Sourcing Seeds While Boycotting Israel, Part 3
My original post now has 6,490 views which is a lot for this blog
These are the two seed suppliers my husband I decided to buy from this year: Eden Brothers and Bhoomi Devi Seeds.
My original post on which seed companies do and don’t source seeds from Israel was more popular than I anticipated. Then, a second post with additional info can be viewed here. This is my third go round where I’m sharing the response my friend Bruce Gagnon received from Johnny’s Select Seeds after several activists in Maine posed the same question but received no answer.
Bruce’s question: I won't be buying anymore of your seeds until I hear you have stopped getting them from genocidal Israel.
From: Customer Service <customerservice@johnnyseeds.com>
Sent: Mar 28, 2025 9:45 AM
Subject: Thank you for contacting Johnny’s Selected SeedsHello Bruce,
Thank you for contacting Johnny's Selected Seeds.
We are sorry you feel that way. We partner with seed producers and breeders from all over the world. One of those seed suppliers happens to be a small family-owned organic seed company based in Israel. This company is well regarded throughout the agricultural world for offering some of the best organic varieties available on the market and has a long-standing professional relationship with us.
The conflict in Gaza and Israel is a terrible crisis. We recognize that most companies do not create or influence the policies created by their governments. We see the seed industry as a global community where people can set aside political and cultural differences and unite around food in one of the most fundamental ways possible
Please let us know if we can be of further assistance.
Sincerely,
___________
Customer Service
955 Benton Ave., Winslow, ME 04901
(877) 564-6697 | Fax (800) 738-6314
service@johnnyseeds.com
We could speculate on who Johnny’s special Israeli seed grower is but that’s not the point. The point is we can assume some discussions internally led to this boilerplate response with its bland assurances of how “well regarded” their supplier is internationally, and how “most companies do not create or influence the policies created by their governments.”
When their government is committing genocide, maybe it’s time to start.
Also, it’s a bit disingenuous to say this in Maine where General Dynamics and Raytheon profit from building weapons used in the genocide. Both corporate entities exert a huge ongoing influence on the policies created by the U.S. at the national level. Our previous Secretary of “Defense” Lloyd Austin literally stepped down from Raytheon’s board to take up his government post. And our congressional delegation falls all over themselves touting federal contracts for warships that they’ve obtained.
Meanwhile a seed company opines that “the conflict in Gaza and Israel is a terrible crisis.” How many euphemisms can you find in that short statement? In the end we must conclude that Johnny’s is no better than Fedco or MOFGA in this regard. They will continue to support apartheid and genocide by doing business with Israeli companies. Because morality and growing organic food apparently don’t mix?
Every company based in Israel is illegal. Period.
"When their government is committing genocide, maybe it’s time to start." What a great response to their spineless message. Even just the wording of "the conflict in Gaza and Israel" is like a war crime in its own right, it's such a deliberately misleading way of equating the oppressed with their oppressors to discourage activism, as if to say, "Don't get involved with this one, it's messy and they'll have to work it out amongst themselves." While some might say it's just a seed company and wonder why you're involving them in your activism, we could just as easily reverse the question on them: why are Zionist war crimes so pervasive as to have a hold on virtually every industry in the West?