However you eat your peanuts – shelled, salted, or in a favorite mix – they are a snack item enjoyed by many. They are also a main ingredient in many favorite dishes, […]
Wild about peanuts – using crop wild relatives to improve today’s crops
Old beans may have new uses
In the United States, you will be hard pressed to find a barbeque without baked beans. Green bean casserole is a Thanksgiving favorite. Refried beans come on the side of our orders […]
What is the status of public plant breeding programs in the United States?
Most plant-based foods we eat today are a product of innovative plant breeding programs. Careful choice of plant parents is followed by a multitude of intentional, hand-pollinated blooms. These result in thousands […]
What can the wild chile teach us about conserving crop wild relatives?
There is a humble, wild chile pepper that grows in Arizona. Commonly called chiltepín, it is the wild relative of hundreds of domesticated pepper varieties grown (and eaten) all over the world. […]
Giving flax a perennial upgrade with crop wild relatives
Flaxseed is one of humanity’s oldest, and most widely adopted multi-use crops. For over ten thousand years, the oil-rich seeds have been an important source of nutrition for both humans and livestock. […]
The tale of a wild tomato’s discovery
Ripe, juicy tomatoes are one of the hallmarks of a summer picnic – and a key ingredient in salads and the classic BLT. Like many of our modern crops, today’s tomatoes have […]