The Seed Detective review: Why we must save rare vegetables

Saving unusual vegetable varieties from extinction is essential for protecting crop diversity, which is under threat from mechanisation, argues Adam Alexander in his richly detailed new book

By Chris Stokel-Walker

The Seed Detective

Adam Alexander (Chelsea Green Publishing)

CATACLYSMIC headlines about food shortages, broken supply chains and overwhelming heat in the past few months have brought more awareness of where our food comes from. But decades of industrialisation of production have ensured we are still relatively detached from what we eat.

Award-winning film and TV producer Adam Alexander wants to fix that, as he makes clear in his book The Seed Detective: Uncovering the secret histories of remarkable vegetables. …