Saving seeds is not as sexy as say, saving the dolphins, and it doesn’t attract nearly as many Hollywood types to its cause. But preserving plant biodiversity is critical if we want to figure out how to feed nine billion people and grow our food in what is likely to be a hotter, drier, climate in the future. So on Earth Day (April 22), we decided to take a closer look.

“Many years in politics have taught me that the importance of an issue is seldom proportionate to the attention it gets,” she tells The Plate. This week, she is using those political skills to talk to members of the U.S. Congress about the nonprofit Crop Trust’s work and secure some more funding for its