Desiree Mohammadi, of Syosset, turns seeds into sustenance

Desiree Mohammadi is fighting hunger one seed at a time.

The 12-year-old Syosset resident has been saving seeds from fruits and vegetables eaten by her family and planting them to grow crops as part of an initiative she created called Seeds of Hope. The goal is to give people in need access to fresh fruits and vegetables, as opposed to nonperishable food that is easier to find, she said.

Desiree estimates she has saved hundreds of thousands of seeds from all sorts of vegetables since starting at age 4. She teamed up with Island Harvest to help grow and distribute the produce when she was 8.

“I believe it’s a human right that everyone has access to fresh fruits and vegetables,” said Desiree, a seventh grader at South Woods Middle School in Syosset. “In every school district and community, there’s always a family that struggles and needs it.”

Desiree said she came up with the seed idea while helping with a local food drive and wondering why people donated only canned goods. She then began taking the seeds of fruits and vegetables, from peppers to pumpkins, planting them in her family’s garden — as well as in gardens at her former schools in the Cold Spring Harbor school district — and giving the fully grown produce to local veterans.

Today, she cuts open the fruits and vegetables her family grows, washes and dries the seeds and stores them in plastic bags.

“She would not let one seed go down the sink, because it could potentially feed people,” said her mother, Rose Mohammadi.

When planting season arrives, Desiree now sows the seeds at Island Harvest’s farm in Brentwood, which she typically visits once a week during the summer.

The surplus is given to local seed libraries, where community members can get seeds for free or for a nominal fee, Desiree said.

For her efforts, Desiree was named one of two Student Champions for Sustainability last month as part of the inaugural Herald Sustainability Awards of Long Island, coordinated by the Long Island Herald newspaper chain in conjunction with the waste management company Reworld. She was awarded $2,500.

“When I first met Desiree, I was impressed with her compassion and drive to help others,” said Cassidy Kirch, senior supervisor of farm and garden programs at Island Harvest. “Even at a young age, she contemplated huge issues like food systems, and her impact on food insecurity has been significant.”

By Michael R. Ebert

michael.ebert@newsday.com

Michael R. Ebert is an education researcher and has worked for Newsday in various capacities since 2003. He was part of an 11-person team named as 2008 Pulitzer Prize finalists for investigative coverage of the LIRR's platform safety issues.