Photo: Juan Scott | Unsplash
The Andes, in South America, is a regular origin of global super foods such as quinoa, maca, and amaranth. But there are underexploited crops in all their form that continue to thrive in the vast Andean ecosystem. Land to more microclimate than anywhere else in the world playing a unique nutritional and environmental role, the region is a natural place to identify future foods that can cope with rapidly changing conditions of the heating world. The Andes offers valuable lessons from its recent experience of the quinoa boom, which sidelined many smallholder farmers and incentivize rapid expansion of just a few commercial sweet varieties. The demand reduced the traditional long fallow periods between harvests that allowed the land to recover and jeopardized soil health as well as domestic food security. Investing in research and partnerships that support future foods can potentially bring positive economic impacts to the households that cultivate, protect, and transform crop biodiversity while also improving nutrition and protecting nature. Governments need to support the protection and branding of Andean future foods, which includes greater recognition for the smallholder farmers who are providing environmental services as stewards of traditional crops. So much of our global food heritage can be traced back to the Andes, a region that can also help secure our food future with future foods if we can learn the lessons of the past.
|
|
More:
