About: Congressional seed distribution

Congressional seed distribution was a United States program where members of the United States Congress directed the distribution of millions of packets of free seeds to farmers by the United States Department of Agriculture. The program of distributing seeds to farmers began in the mid-19th century under Henry Ellsworth, the commissioner of patents. Responsibility transferred to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) upon its formation in 1862, and was eventually placed under the Office of Congressional Seed Distribution. The program grew throughout the late 1800s despite some criticism of it as unconstitutional overreach of a too-large government and an instrument of political corruption. By the early 1900s, attacks on congressional seed distribution were becoming increasingl