Read full article by Haldan Kirsch@ Tasting Table Photo Credit: Natasha Breen/Shutterstock
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, approximately one in three people in the world went without enough food in 2020. The challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing food crisis have shown that proper nutrition is not a reality for many people around the globe. Leaders from African nations are already warning that the toll of grain shortages on the continent may prove to be more deadly than the pandemic. With forecasts from the United Nations also projecting that the world’s population will grow by another 2 billion people by 2050, it brings up the question of how to feed a growing population when we are already struggling.
The ongoing war in Ukraine has also shown that our food systems are susceptible to a lack of biodiversity (via The New York Times). To combat this, some are proposing that we turn to more ancient grains like millet, sorghum, buckwheat, and amaranth. This diversity can help when some crops fail or are challenged by supply chain issues. In fact, the United States Department of Agriculture has already approved Sorghum for American school lunch programs (via PR Newswire).
