biology

SeedChange

SeedChange is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand SeedChange rather than just read about it. In short: SeedChange (French: Sème l'avenir), formerly known as USC Canada, is a non-profit organization that works with farmers around the world, including in Canada, to strengthen their ability to grow food sustainably with locally adapted seeds. The organization was founded in 1945 by Lotta Hitschmanova as the Unitarian Service Committee of Canada.

Key takeaways

SeedChange belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect SeedChange to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of SeedChange from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

SeedChange (French: Sème l'avenir), formerly known as USC Canada, is a non-profit organization that works with farmers around the world, including in Canada, to strengthen their ability to grow food sustainably with locally adapted seeds. The organization was founded in 1945 by Lotta Hitschmanova as the Unitarian Service Committee of Canada. It updated its name in October 2019, a few months short of its 75th year. The mission of SeedChange is to build food sovereignty by working with partners to enhance biodiversity, promote ecological agriculture and counter inequity. Its work serves to help farmers build and maintain strong rural communities thanks to resilient family farms and healthy ecosystems. The organization partners with other non-profit organizations in Africa, Asia, and Latin America to design and deliver programs to help farmers strengthen biodiversity, food sovereignty, and realize their rights. SeedChange also works to influence global food production policies that protect farmers' rights and nurture fertile landscapes, regenerating the water, soils and vegetation that humans, plants, and animals depend on. As of 2019, the organization is run by a staff of approximately 25, most of whom are based in Ottawa, Canada. The organization's award-winning flagship program, Seeds of Survival, was featured in a National Geographic article in July 2011.

History SeedChange was founded as the Unitarian Service Committee of Canada in 1945 by Lotta Hitschmanova, a Czech refugee who had fled the Nazi occupation in Europe and was determined to help victims of war rebuild their lives. The organization received its registered charity status on August 30 of that year. The committee recruited Canada’s first female senator, Carine Wilson, as an honorary chairperson, hoping she could help the largely female committee break through the layers of bureaucracy. Dr. Lotta Hitchmanova was not a Unitarian herself, but she had received help from the Unitarian Service Committee of Boston during the early years of World War II in France. A few years after her arrival in Canada as a refugee, she decided to turn to the Unitarians once more for support in launching her organization. The Unitarian Service Committee of Canada severed its formal ties to its sister organization, the Unitarian Service Committee of Boston, in 1948. The organization has been financially independent and non-denominational organization ever since. Still, ties with Unitarian communities and volunteers across Canada remained strong for decades, and still continue today. Hitschmanova served as Executive Director for nearly 40 years, retiring in 1982. Throughout her career, the organization's work expanded from Europe to other conflict zones and developing countries around the world, wherever the need was greatest. Through Public Service Announcements on television and radio, Dr. Hitschmanova became one of Canada's most recognized humanitarians and public figures. Her distinctive Czech accent as she pronounced USC Canada's address, 56 Sparks Street, Ottawa, became an unforgettable signature. She struck a special chord with Canadians and mobilized a whole generation to take action and help. The organization's name was officially changed to USC Canada in the early 2000s, and then updated to SeedChange in 2019.

Present Day Today, SeedChange continues to be an organization rooted in the notions of human dignity and equality. It focuses on sustainable farming (through agroecology and locally-adapted) as a means to improve the lives of disadvantaged farmers in Global South communities, as well as a means to address biodiversity loss, climate change, and health and justice concerns related to the food system. In 2013, SeedChange (then USC Canada) partnered with Seeds of Diversity Canada to start Bauta Family Initiative on Canadian Seed Security. This initiative is building a movement for resilient seed systems across Canada. Working with farmers, seed producers, researchers, and partners from civil society, government and business, the program conserves and advances biodiversity, maintains public access to seed, delivers research and training programs on ecological seed production, and promotes the wisdom and knowledge of farmers.

References

External links Official website

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with SeedChange

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what SeedChange claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to SeedChange before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about SeedChange ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of SeedChange

In research: SeedChange appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses SeedChange in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: SeedChange is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Agroecology, Development charities based in Canada, Non-profit organizations based in Ottawa, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for SeedChange outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study SeedChange in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what SeedChange means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain SeedChange out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is SeedChange in simple terms?

Why does SeedChange matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study SeedChange?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on SeedChange.