About halfway between mainland Norway and the North Pole lies the world’s most important library of seed samples: the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. It’s somewhat of a backup disk for the global food supply, where an extraordinary diversity of crucial crops can be retrieved if these resources are lost at regular genebanks.

In honor of its 15th anniversary, the Vault has opened its doors to new seed deposits – and to mark the occasion, we’re chatting with Åsmund Asdal, who coordinates its operations and management.

In this episode, find out what resides in the vault’s chambers, the importance of the Seed Vault’s mission and deposit, and what this all could mean for the world’s food future.