Not something I ever really thought about, but it makes good sense.

     If there is a choice between suppliers of similar seeds, it does seem reasonable to favor the ones grown in similar regions to your own.

     I'm not sure that you can blame "conventional agriculture" for tasteless store tomatoes though. It is more likely that they have been bred for qualities like tough skins to resist shipping damage, ripening at the same time, resistance to diseases, plus the fact that they are usually picked green.

Anderwood - thanks for the thoughtful article. I'll do a little more research on my organic seed purchases.

I am so glad I read this article, it makes total sense to me. First time I ever thought about seeds in this way.
I look forward to your soil manifesto.
I completely agree with what you say about killing off the good bugs and other living things in our soil.

Great article, and I totally agree. I have used a local seed company for years, and it is nice to know that they have field tested all their seed in conditions similar to my own. They often include optimal ranges for a particular seed, which is quite helpful to me as I am quite a bit further north than their actual nursery.

Definitely food for thought. I hadn't really thought about it either until recently. Especially since I learned about the neonicotinoids.

Thanks for an insightful article and I too look forward to your article about soil.

@Bonehead check out Adaptive Seeds. They are in Oregon.

Good point on flavorless tomatoes @DonShirer I forgot about that point.

Thanks for the compliments everyone! I am glad to have provided some food for thought.

I totally agree. I don't have the packaging anymore but started some cucumber seeds indoors and the seedlings were robust and happy. I read a lot of articles how and where to plant them outdoors and feel I did everything right to grow some healthy and happy cucumbers. Well, that didn't happen. After transplanting them outside in there "spot" they just sat there and never grew another leaf. Never grew any taller. The leaves didn't turn brown or yellow. They looked stunted and unhappy. Then my cat broke one trying to catch a mouse. The other three are just so poor looking I'm just going to toss them today and replace with a nice Tametillo that will benefit from the trellis. I should mention these cucumbers were babied for 6 weeks without producing any growth and while my neighbor who planted different seeds, straight outdoors in the ground, are doing just fine.
One last comment on what you said about plants being able to fight off bugs. We went to a huge empty lot a few blocks from where I live. There were crickets and grasshoppers and flying things all over. But we went to collect some wildflowers (Lupine, Batchelor Buttons, Wild Roses, Oriental Poppy). I brought my flowers directly to the kitchen sink to rinse off or pick off any afids and inspect them. To my GREAT SURPRISE not one of my wild flowers was infested or damaged. So I agree good bugs eat bad bugs in a natural setting and possibly the plants are healthier because they are left alone to flourish in their natural enviroment.