Gardening

As the so-called “staple“ crops of the world (wheat, rice, potatoes and corn) become more precarious, more damaging to soils and less sustainable, what foods can we explore as viable alternatives to feeding growing populations? First, the foods must be nutrient dense quality energy sources. Secondly, they must have significant yields. Third, they will only help ameliorate problems like deforestation and herbicide use IF they can be cultivated in forest-type farms, aka agroforestry systems. Here in the cloud forest of Ecuador, we cultivate three such foods with potential to bring quality calories high in protein, Omega lipids, vitamins, and crucial minerals to people whose health is threatened by vast monocultures of inferior foods, mostly exported. Peach palm and Sacha inchi have great potential for processing and marketing on a global scale as well. As for cacao, it’s use as a food source is relatively unknown relative to its confectionary use. But the cacao bean also is a balanced food source high in fi