The seed has become a prominent symbol of the struggle against the neoliberal project of restructuring the social and natural worlds around the narrow logic of the market. More than a symbol, however, the seed is also the very object and substance of that contest.

As both a foodstuff and means of production, the seed sits at a critical nexus where contemporary battles over the technical, social and environmental conditions of production and consumption converge and are made manifest.

Who controls the seed gains a substantial measure of control over the shape of the entire food system. 

Kloppenburg, J. 2010: Seed Sovereignty: The Promise of Open Source Biology. In: Desmarais, A.; Wittman, H. K.; Wiebe, N. (Hrsg): Food Sovereignty: Reconnecting Food, Nature and Community. Black Point, Nova Scotia, S. 152-167.