The program was sponsored and organized by the Cebu Organic Farmers Market and the Regional Department of Agriculture Office. There were over 40 participants in the training from a variety of organic farming groups and associations in the greater Cebu region including: Department of Agriculture Staff, members of the Cebu organic certification body, Slow Food Cebu Community members, and many organic farmers young and old. Karen shared that this was our best facilitated and most successful seed school to date. The participants were incredibly engaged and came eager to learn from the program and ready to implement what we taught.

The leader of the Cebu Organic Farmers Market Teresa D. Ruelas shared the following quote about the course:

" From a full day of understanding the harmful  destruction and disappearance of 

real food and the plight of our farmers in one of the most agriculturally rich countries in the world, of closely and carefully studying the nature and the ways seeds grow, propagate, are harvested and stored, and of passionate and feisty conversations about what we as farmers can do to bring back the timeless and sacred practice of raising, protecting, saving and sharing our precious wealth of seeds, the seed of a dream that many people in the room have held for a long time began to take root. In what felt like a blink of an eye, 40 of Cebu's most passionate farmers and gardeners gave an enthusiastic thumbs up to save and share seeds." - Teresa D. Ruelas 

We look forward to our continued collaborations with this energetic group including helping them launch their first Seed Library and conducting additional technical training programs with them in the coming months.  Thanks to our funders at LUSH Cosmetics North America for making this program possible through their financial support.