The Plant Breeding Center plans a screening this week of the documentary Seeds of Time, followed by a discussion led by Professor Paul Gepts, whose research and teaching program focuses on crop biodiversity and genetic resources.

The program, free and open to the public, is scheduled from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday (Jan. 15) in 1005 Genome and Biomedical Sciences Facility. RSVPs.

“This film will be of great interest to our community, particularly with so much focus on local agriculture, the centrality of UC Davis to a large portion of the seed industry in California, and many new farm-to-fork initiatives in the community,” said Amanda M. Pietras, program representative for the Plant Breeding Center and the Seed Biotechnology Center.

She gave this synopsis of the film: "A perfect storm is brewing as agriculture pioneer Cary Fowler races against time to protect the future of our food. Gene banks of the world are crumbling, crop failures are producing starvation inspired rioting, and the accelerating effects of climate change are already affecting farmers globally.

“But Fowler's journey, and our own, is just beginning. From Rome to Russia and, finally, a remote island under the Arctic Circle, his passionate and personal journey may hold the key to saving the one resource we cannot live without: our seeds."

This film received the 2014 San Francisco Green Film Festival Audience Award and the 2014 Portland EcoFilm Festival Best Film Award. Watch the trailer.

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