Rebuild Appalachian Biocultural Legacy and SEED BANK -Helene
Donation protected
The Appalachian Institute for Mountain Studies and its Southern Seed Legacy seed bank near Burnsville, NC, has been damaged by Hurricane Helene and needs help restoring its facilities in order to save and preserve this important Appalachian biocultural legacy and educational resource for our future.
The Southern Seed Legacy represents decades of collections and careful preservation of southeastern U.S. seed varieties, which includes southern Appalachian, Affrilachian, Cherokee, and many other traditions, along with detailed documentation of origins, cultivation, characteristics, and associated oral histories.
AIMS lost the bottom of the barn which housed its seed collection. 95% of the seeds were rescued but a place to preserve them needs to be rebuilt and re-equipped. Also lost or damaged were many of AIMS' tools & equipment, its driveway and internal road, and more.
The Southern Seed Legacy was started in the early 1990s and based at University of Georgia in Athens. It was then transferred to the Appalachian Institute of Mountain Studies, under the stewardship of Dr. Jim Veteto, a graduate of the environmental anthropology program there and former professor at Western Carolina University.
AIMS is also the home of the JR Dawkins Heirloom Fruit Orchard, Arthur Hollifield Seed Legacy Garden, Inviting Immortals Tea Garden, and large medicinal herb and Appalachian Flower Gardens, with over 1500 species of plants thriving on 27 acres of mountain land. It regularly hosts medicinal and ethnobotanical plant workshops, teaches regenerative mountain agriculture and permaculture, and holds tea tastings, old-time ballad sings, music jams, apple pressings, and community bbqs.
Jim Veteto is a farmer, ethnobiologist, anthropologist, and lover of the southern Appalachians, and has dedicated years to the celebration of its people, knowledge, practices and biodiversity. He is former president of the Culture and Agriculture section of the American Anthropological Association.
If preferred, donations can also be sent by check or money order to: AIMS c/o Jim Veteto, 120 Prairie Sky Lane, Burnsville NC 28714.
All funds will go directly to Dr. Veteto and AIMS, and will be used to rebuild and re-equip the Institute and its programs. Any excess funds raised will go to help community recovery and strengthening in the surrounding area. This fundraiser is organized by Dr. Stephanie Paladino, a fellow grower, environmental anthropologist colleague, friend, and lover of the Appalachians.
More information about AIMS and the Southern Seed Legacy seed bank can be accessed at the websites below.
Photo credits: Veronica Limeberry.
"Hurricane Helene: A Seed Saver's Sorrow and Jim's Ballad," https://mergoatmag.substack.com/p/hurricane-helene-a-seed-savers-sorrow?utm_medium=ios&triedRedirect=true
https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2014/11/03/360434287/on-the-trail-to-preserve-appalachias-bounty-of-heirloom-crops
Organizer and beneficiary
S Paladino
Organizer
Burnsville, NC
Jim Veteto
Beneficiary