Hilltown Families 
Feasthampton Celebrates Launch of Easthampton Public Seed Library
Feasthampton’s public seed lending library increases community food security
Feasthampton, an Easthampton-based group dedicated to encouraging community food security and environmental sustainability, is opening a free, public Seed Lending Library hosted at the Emily Williston Memorial Library in Easthampton on Monday, May 11, 2015, from 6 – 8 pm. The Seed Lending Library will be one of only a handful of similar efforts in Massachusetts, and is a major step in the path to food security in the Pioneer Valley.
Feasthampton, an Easthampton-based volunteer group dedicated to encouraging community-wide projects directed toward local food and environmental resiliency, will celebrate the launch of its free, public seed lending library, hosted at the Emily Williston Memorial Library in Easthampton, on Monday, May 11, 2015, from 6-8 pm. The Easthampton Seed Library provides increased opportunity for community resiliency through promoting biodiversity, food access, and a non-monetized, sharing economy accessible to all. The Easthampton Seed Library will offer free, public access to: an ongoing supply of locally adapted, organic, open-pollinated seed, and occasional seed saving and gardening workshops.
The Easthampton Seed Library, one of only a handful of similar efforts in Massachusetts, was encouraged by the new director of the Emily Williston Memorial Library, Tamsen Conner. “We are very excited to be partnering with Feasthampton to provide a space for the seed library,” says Conner. “We think that free access to organic seeds is an important community resource.”
“We are excited about the launch of the Seed Library because we feel that it offers a host of benefits to the Easthampton community: access to free seed and an alternative to paying high prices for organic produce at markets and grocery stores; enhancing the local food system and food security; and creating a culture of sharing and abundance, says Feasthampton member, Corrin Meise-Munns. “Best of all, the Easthampton Seed Library is open to anyone, regardless of who they are, where they live, or their experience with gardening.”
In order to secure a substantial stock of seed for the library’s launch, Feasthampton solicited and secured donations of over 115 varieties of organic, open pollinated seed. The opening event on May 11, 2015, offers an orientation to the seed library and an instructional talk by Gabby Hollander of Northampton-based seed company, Backyard Seeds.
About Feasthampton: Since its inception in 2014, Feasthampton has hosted several Easthampton-based community events, including a garden plant swap, a community cider pressing held at the Old Town Hall in Easthampton, and a Wild Food Foraging talk and film screening with local forager Blanche Derby.
