'Doomsday Vault' Receives 50,000 Seeds To Ensure Future Food Security And Crop Diversity

If you've been preparing for any doomsday scenarios, from natural disasters to nuclear war, you're not the only one. The Svalbard Global Seed Vault, also dubbed the "Doomsday Vault," has been gathering seeds to ensure food security for human survival after any post-apocalyptic events. This week, the vault has received 50,000 seeds of potatoes, lentils, wheat, and barley, among other crops, to add to its food bank.

The seeds come from all over the world, including countries such as Benin, India, Pakistan, Morocco, the Netherlands, Belarus, the U.K., the United States, Mexico, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, according to Crop Trust, the organization behind the Doomsday Vault.

"Today's seed deposit at Svalbard supported by The Crop Trust shows that despite political and economic differences in other arenas, collective efforts to conserve crop diversity and produce a global food supply for tomorrow continue to be strong," Marie Haga, executive director of the Crop Trust, said in a statement released on Feb. 22.

"Crop diversity is a fundamental foundation for the end of hunger," Haga added.

As for the location of the vault, it's no coincidence that it's stationed in what seems like a frozen wasteland. According to Crop Trust, the permafrost and thick rock allow the seed samples to remain frozen even without electric power. The seeds, which are optimally kept at -18 degrees Celsius, are sealed in foil packages that are then put inside boxes stored on shelves in the walls of the vault.