News Scoop: March 7, 2008 Vol. #13 Iss. #20
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- Table of Contents
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Grades 2-3
The Farmers' Bank
On February 26, a bank on an island in the Arctic opened its doors. It accepted its first deposit, which was a container of rice seeds from 104 countries. One day, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault will hold the seeds of every crop on the planet. The seed savings could help plant life recover from disaster.
Cary Fowler heads a group that will help run the bank. He says it is a safety net for the world's food supply. The seeds will be kept very dry, and in temperatures around 0°F. Some seeds can last thousands of years.
Norway owns the bank. It cost $9 million to build. Other countries can deposit seeds for free. "If you think of it as an insurance policy for the world, you can't beat the value," says Fowler.
