MASA Seed Foundation
A team of farmers work to build a seed bank of heirloom produce and preserve regional food sovereignty with support from ZFP’s Restore grant.
A Lifetime of Seed Saving
Richard Pecoraro has been in the seed business a long time. After starting the first 100% organic seed bank in the U.S. in 1990, he created Abbondanza Organic Seeds and Produce, and pioneered community-supported agriculture. “It’s a pretty long time in my life of different endeavors that had different names and farms. But at the foundation, the seeds are at the core of the mission,” Richard says.
The most recent of these endeavors is the MASA Seed Foundation. It began in 2018 with the goal of renewing regional seed breeding, preserving plant biodiversity, and keeping open-pollinated seeds in the public domain.
“What we do is we grow heirloom and open-pollinated seeds, and we establish and solidify a seed bank of these locally-adapted seeds,” says Laura Allard, co-founder of MASA. “Our purpose with those are for preservation, but also to find the seeds that grow in the mountain west - the seeds that grow in this bio-region.”
A Helping Hand
In 2023, MASA received a Restore grant to further support the health of their seeds. “What Zero Foodprint has done,” explains Laura, “…is [take] funds to farms like ours so that we can do cover crop rotation, which we’re doing this year, which will restore the land.”
Richard believes deeply in the the importance of these seeds. “What does a good seed give you? Hope. A seed is one very, very big story. But it’s real. It’s a deep-rooted cultural, spiritual connection.”
About MASA Seed Foundation
“MASA Seed Foundation was established to meet a clear and growing need: to reinvigorate regional organic seed breeding, conserve plant biodiversity, and ensure that high-quality, open-pollinated seed remains in the public domain for farmers and communities of the Front Range.
Since its inception, MASA continues to build its farm into a center of ecological diversity, maintaining a regional seed house and living laboratory. Our work sits at the intersection of agriculture, ecology, and public education. At a time when confusion around food systems, climate resilience, and agricultural practices is widespread, MASA offers something increasingly rare: practical, place-based solutions grounded in experience, transparency, and long-term stewardship.”
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Zero Foodprint awards grants for projects that take carbon out of the atmosphere and put it back where it belongs: in the earth, creating healthy soil and better food. To do this, we focus on regenerative farming practices like composting, cover cropping, and managed grazing that can restore life to our soil while removing carbon from the atmosphere. Together, we have the power to grow more nutritious food, heal natural water cycles, and create habitat for biodiversity to thrive. Explore previously funded projects to see what this might look like on your farm.
For more information, read through other Restore Grant FAQs.oes here
Zero Foodprint (ZFP) is a nonprofit organization restoring the climate, one acre at a time. We believe that by regenerating soil, local food economies can play a critical role in reversing the global climate crisis. We work with food and beverage businesses, philanthropy, and government to bring the next dollar to implement the next regenerative practice on the next acre. This regenerative economy benefits every person who grows food, every person who sells food, and every person on this planet who eats food.
