Thursday, we found ourselves at Seed Savers Exchange in Decorah. Throughout the day we went through some of the various processes they do at their company and through that, I learned a lot. We started out in the field with a bunch of the field hands cleaning around the plants and weeding. I was so surprised how enthusiastic some of the employees were to participate in weeding. After this, we went to the Oneonta Co-op to have lunch and were able to get a tour and learned more about the Co-op. This tour was really in-depth and we learned some of the struggles the Co-op is beginning to face with the growth of organic and local foods in chain supermarkets. This Co-op really was focused on the community aspect as well and getting community involvement. They offered classes for the community as well as deals. After this tour, we returned to Seed Savers Exchange where we learned so much more about the company. We first heard the history of the company and how it started with just 30 people and then grew every year after that. They grew to both store seed as well as sell and exchange seeds with everyone. One thing that the Seed Savers are worried about is their aging community in the exchange aspect of the company. Many of the members have been participating since the first couple of years, so it is a growing concern for the company. Then we met with Phil Kauth who explained to us all the ins and outs of preserving seeds and what they look for. He also pointed out the ways they maintain other things that they just can not keep seeds of, such as apples and potatoes. The final person we talked to was working on preserving their apple orchard. This is another key part of seed savers because this is how they maintain their wide verity of apples. He explained how to keep the apples the same type they have to graft them onto the roots and you can not just plant the seeds of an apple if you want a pure breed apple tree.