The Crops That Could Save Our Food System (but we ignore them...)

What if the future of food isn’t high-tech… but ancient wisdom?

We’ve built a global food system on just four crops... and it’s starting to crack!

The real question is: what happens when it breaks?

In this episode of the Deep Seed Podcast, Professor Sayed Azam-Ali (University of Nottingham, Crops For the Future) reveals why the key to resilient, nutritious, and truly sustainable food systems might already exist—hidden in so-called “forgotten crops.”

We unpack how modern agriculture became dangerously dependent on a handful of commodity crops like wheat, rice, maize, and soy—and why this lack of diversity is driving soil degradation, biodiversity loss, climate vulnerability, and hidden hunger.

But this isn’t just a problem story. It’s a roadmap for transformation.

You’ll discover:

• Why crop diversity is the foundation of regenerative agriculture and food system resilience

• How underutilised crops like Bambara groundnut and fonio can outperform industrial staples in harsh climates

• The hidden link between ultra-processed food, micronutrient deficiency, and chronic disease

• Why global supply chains (COVID, Ukraine, Suez Canal) exposed the fragility of our food system

• How indigenous knowledge and farmer-led innovation hold critical solutions we’re at risk of losing

• What needs to change—from seed systems and subsidies to consumer behavior and food culture
  

We also dive into the bigger picture:

• Can regenerative agriculture scale without cultural change?

• What role should corporations, governments, and consumers really play?

• And why “cheap food” might be the most expensive mistake we’ve ever made
  

This conversation sits at the intersection of agroecology, climate change, nutrition, and food sovereignty—and challenges everything we think we know about what we should grow and eat.

Because the future of farming might not be about producing more…

…but about growing differently.

“We cannot fix the food system by tweaking it. We have to transform it.”

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🌿 SOIL CAPITAL - this episode was made in partnership with Soil Capital 

www.soilcapital.com

❤️ Episode hosted by Federica Urso

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