Reclaim The Seeds Amsterdam
Reclaim the Seeds Amsterdam organizes an annual, donation-based festival that combines the exchange of seeds with talks centered on political and social context, practical workshops, and lectures on topics related to seeds, sovereign growing practices, and biodiversity.
About Us
A food revolution starts with seeds
Reclaim the Seeds works toward making seed sovereignty tangible by strengthening the movement needed to make it possible. This is done by providing workshops that teach any and everyone to save seeds, educational programming that reveals the local and international contexts that make seed saving relevant in our time of environmental poly-crises, as well as by gifting and selling locally saved seeds that can then grow in abundance throughout our city’s green spaces. The festival is also a place to connect citizens directly to farmers and seed producers, with two full days to engage with the many local initiatives that make up Amsterdam’s food- and seed- sovereignty network.
Years of festivals
Entry for all
Volunteer run
Seeds exchanged
Reclaim the Seeds
Upcoming Events
What to Expect
A Festival for Everyone
Each year, students, children, grandparents, people from all walks of life are taking to the streets, using their bodies and voices in support or protest for an array of environmental issues. An under-represented aspect of the climate crises we are facing is the issue of seeds. Local, organic and open-pollinated seed are crucial to the resilience of food-systems – these seed varieties are acclimatised to region, are culturally appropriate, more nutritious, and require far fewer chemical inputs to yield a reliable harvest. But these seeds are quickly disappearing, as are our rights to save our own seed and distribute them locally. A citizen’s movement is needed to protect our collective right to seed as well as strengthen the existing movement of farmers, seed-producers and activists that are preserving local seed varieties and stewarding ecosystems. It is in this context that Reclaim the Seeds acts, by bringing citizens in direct contact with farmers, seed producers and activists on the front lines. Reclaim the Seeds Amsterdam is a space for understanding new urgencies for the movement of citizens protecting seed, celebrating and supporting the existing seed-sovereignty network in Amsterdam and beyond, and bringing the issue of seeds to the table.
Seed Exchange
At the heart of our festival is the seed exchange table, where we practice the age-old tradition of exchanging seeds together. Seed swaps rely on the concept of seeds as commons, meaning that we agree to the principle, spoken or unspoken, that the seeds belong to all of us.
Seed Exchange
At the heart of our festival is the seed exchange table, where everyone is welcome to share and trade their own saved seeds. Keep the tradition alive and take home something rare.
Want to become involved?
Reclaim the Seeds Amsterdam is made possible by the generosity and dedication of our amazing volunteer community. Whether you want to help organise, set up, run a stall, or join our core team, we’d love to hear from you!!