A Westlock resident is among the dozens of Canadians and Americans who have received unsolicited packages of mysterious seeds from China.
In an interview on Aug. 7, Natalie Dempsey said she received the package of seeds back in July. Strangely, the package was addressed directly to her, and while it lacked a return address, it was labelled “China Post” and had Chinese lettering on it.
Dempsey said she does garden, but normally she would buy any seeds she needed right off the seed rack.
The one time she has ordered seeds was earlier this spring, when she purchased some moss seeds from a seller on Amazon. Those moss seeds never arrived and Dempsey said she was reimbursed for the cost.
“I opened up the package thinking, ‘Finally, my seeds have arrived!’ But no, they weren’t (the moss seeds I ordered),” she added.
Dempsey immediately recognized that these were grass seeds, not moss seeds. There was nothing else in the package identifying what kind of seeds they are, how much they cost or any other information.
“I thought that was quite odd, that there’s no other information,” she said.
Dempsey said her husband suggested that she call the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), as he had seen something on Facebook regarding Canadians receiving packages of mystery seeds.
On July 28, the CFIA had posted on Twitter a plea for Canadians who received unsolicited packages of seeds to contact their regional CFIA office right away.
“We are investigating. Do not plant the seeds!” the tweet states.
When she contacted the CFIA, Dempsey said she was directed to put the seeds in a freezer bag and then store them in a freezer so that they don’t get moldy or start growing on their own.
She was then contacted on the morning of Aug. 7 by a representative of the CFIA and was provided with an address where she could mail the seeds. Dempsey added she had done so on Aug. 10.
Incidentally, since receiving the seeds, Dempsey has been interviewed by Global News and a radio station in Toronto. The article about the mystery package has also appeared on other news sites.
Dempsey said she was surprised by all the media attention she has gotten. She hadn’t sought it out — she was only contacted by Global because a friend of a friend works there and wanted to interview an Albertan who had received mysterious packages of unsolicited seeds, which are being reported across Canada and the U.S.
One thing Dempsey wanted to stress was that if people receive the mysterious seeds, they should contact the CFIA, not destroy them.
A few people on Facebook had suggested burning, tossing out or flushing the seeds. Besides the potential dangers in doing so — these seeds could belong to an invasive species — Dempsey said it’s important that the CFIA be able to track how many Canadians are getting these packages.
“If anyone else gets these seeds, they need to contact the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and send the seeds in. Don’t just destroy them (and) absolutely don’t plant them,” she said.
