Diet for a warmer climate: Five plants that could help feed the world
During human history, scientists believe humans have grown over 6,000 different plant species. But over time, farmers shifted to planting those with the highest yields. Today, just three crops - rice, wheat and corn - provide almost half of the world's calories.
This reliance on a small number of crops has made agriculture vulnerable to pests, plant-borne diseases and soil erosion, which thrive on monoculture – the practice of growing only one crop at a time. It also means losing the resilience other cultures are showing in surviving drought and other natural disasters.
As the impacts of the climate crisis grow more marked, farmers around the world are rediscovering ancient crops and developing new hybrids that may prove more resistant to drought or epidemics, while providing important nutrients.
" You hear all the statistics like, 'We've lost 90% of our varieties.' It wasn't until recently that I realized that the biggest sadness isn't that we've lost that diversity. don't even know we've lost that diversity," says Chris Smith, founder of the Utopian Seed Project.
Here's a look at five crops, beyond rice, wheat and corn, that farmers around the world are now growing in hopes of nurturing the planet as it warms:
Amaranth: The Plant That Survived Colonization
From leaf to seed, the entire amaranth plant is edible. Standing up to eight feet tall, amaranth stems are topped with plumes filled with red, orange or green seeds. Throughout Africa and Asia, amaranth has long been eaten as a vegetable, while Native Americans also ate the seeds of the plant: a pseudocereal like buckwheat or quinoa.
While amaranth leaves can be sautéed or cooked in a stir-fry, the seed is usually roasted and then eaten with honey or milk. A complete protein with all nine essential amino acids, amaranth is a good source of vitamins and antioxidants.
In the Americas, Spanish colonizers banned the Aztecs and the Mayans to cultivate amaranth when they arrived on the continent. However, the plant continued to grow as a weed and many farmers saved amaranth seeds, passing them down for generations, until their descendants were allowed to cultivate it again.
< p class="dcr-xry7m2">Today, indigenous farmers in Guatemala, Mexico and the United States
During human history, scientists believe humans have grown over 6,000 different plant species. But over time, farmers shifted to planting those with the highest yields. Today, just three crops - rice, wheat and corn - provide almost half of the world's calories.
This reliance on a small number of crops has made agriculture vulnerable to pests, plant-borne diseases and soil erosion, which thrive on monoculture – the practice of growing only one crop at a time. It also means losing the resilience other cultures are showing in surviving drought and other natural disasters.
As the impacts of the climate crisis grow more marked, farmers around the world are rediscovering ancient crops and developing new hybrids that may prove more resistant to drought or epidemics, while providing important nutrients.
" You hear all the statistics like, 'We've lost 90% of our varieties.' It wasn't until recently that I realized that the biggest sadness isn't that we've lost that diversity. don't even know we've lost that diversity," says Chris Smith, founder of the Utopian Seed Project.
Here's a look at five crops, beyond rice, wheat and corn, that farmers around the world are now growing in hopes of nurturing the planet as it warms:
Amaranth: The Plant That Survived ColonizationFrom leaf to seed, the entire amaranth plant is edible. Standing up to eight feet tall, amaranth stems are topped with plumes filled with red, orange or green seeds. Throughout Africa and Asia, amaranth has long been eaten as a vegetable, while Native Americans also ate the seeds of the plant: a pseudocereal like buckwheat or quinoa.
While amaranth leaves can be sautéed or cooked in a stir-fry, the seed is usually roasted and then eaten with honey or milk. A complete protein with all nine essential amino acids, amaranth is a good source of vitamins and antioxidants.
In the Americas, Spanish colonizers banned the Aztecs and the Mayans to cultivate amaranth when they arrived on the continent. However, the plant continued to grow as a weed and many farmers saved amaranth seeds, passing them down for generations, until their descendants were allowed to cultivate it again.
< p class="dcr-xry7m2">Today, indigenous farmers in Guatemala, Mexico and the United StatesWhat's Your Reaction?
