Wednesday 15 June 2016

Global origins of local food (journal, open access)


Origins of food crops connect countries worldwide 

Khoury et al., 2016

Countries are highly interconnected with regard to primary regions of diversity of the crops they cultivate and/or consume. Foreign crops are extensively used in food supplies (68.7% of national food supplies as a global mean are derived from foreign crops) and production systems (69.3% of crops grown are foreign). Foreign crop usage has increased significantly over the past 50 years, including in countries with high indigenous crop diversity. The results provide a novel perspective on the ongoing globalisation of food systems worldwide, and bolster evidence for the importance of international collaboration on genetic resource conservation and exchange.


Circular plots linking the primary regions of diversity of food crops with their current importance in the context of calories (kcal capita−1 d−1) in regional food supplies. Each region has a colour representing its own native crops and those colours are connected to other regions due the importance of those crops in the food supply in other regions.  (a) only the most significant linkages (i.e. 95th percentile) between regions are shown, for visibility, whereas (b) displays the full matrix of linkages. 


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