September 10, 2020

Perennial Vegetables Are a Solution in the Fight Against Hunger and Climate Change

https://civileats.com/2020/08/19/perennial-vegetables-are-a-solution-in-the-fight-against-hunger-and-climate-change/

Perennial agriculture—including agroforestry, silvopasture, and the development of perennial row crops such as Kernza—has come to prominence in recent years as an important part of the fights against soil erosion and climate change. Not only do perennial plants develop longer, more stabilizing roots than annual crops, but they’ve also been shown to be key to sequestering carbon in the soil.

Now, a new study in the journal PLoS ONE is pointing to vegetables like the ones in Auerbach’s garden as another important addition to the list. The perennial vegetables most people are familiar with are artichokes or asparagus, but the study expands that list, providing a detailed nutritional analysis of 613 species and a full accounting of their potential to pull carbon from the atmosphere.

“Greater adoption of a wider array of perennial vegetables could help to address some of the central, interlocking issues of the 21st century: climate change, biodiversity, and nutrition,” wrote lead study author Eric Toensmeier, a lecturer at Yale University, a senior fellow at Project Drawdown, and author of the Carbon Farming Solution, in the report’s introduction.

Real interesting stuff. I've been pecking away at a Permie garden for a few years... but this stuff is finally getting some scientific recognition. Admittedly, some plants have been a taste or yield fail, but some have been delightful!