Kent Whealy and Diane Ott Whealy founded the Seed Savers Exchange, a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of the seed lines of heirloom plants and to the sharing of such seeds both through sales and by facilitating exchanges among member gardeners. The organization works to maintain genetic diversity in both food crops and ornamental plants.
In 1988 Mr. Whealy received a Fellowship from the MacArthur Foundation.
Seed Savers Exchange is credited with very valuable contributions to conserving the genetic diversity of vegetable crops, especially those of the USA.