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This phenomenon has been centuries in the making, 100 years ago with Russian scientist N.I. Vavilov when he came to the conclusion that 'centres of diversity' came to be preferred over 'centres of origin', to account for the understanding that high concentrations of crop varieties and related wild species are not in every case located precisely where crops were initially domesticated. Since this initial research, many scientists since have been continually searching into the origins and diversity of different fruits and veg which has also led to a wider understanding of the products themselves and how to prevent diseases.
Often, particular fruits and vegetables attributed to certain countries, often originate from a different region altogether. Take bananas for instance, they originate from SE Asia, but a big bulk of the world's production is grown in South America. There is nothing more synonymous with Italy than the tomato, which actually originates from the Andes in South America. Click here to view an interactive map created by CIAT, which illustrates the study results.
Regional lines are becoming increasingly more blurry. Increasing importance in crops such as potatoes, beans, tomatoes and bananas, has led to a surge in global production, which has made national diets more and more similar. More than two-thirds of the crops that underpin national diets originally came from somewhere else, often far away. And that trend has accelerated over the past 50 years.
Globally, foreign crops made up 69 percent of country food supplies and farm production.
Quantity (tonnes) in national agricultural production that are derived from crops whose primary regions of diversity do not coincide with the same region as the country (foreign crops). Scale in degree of foreign crop use (1 = 100% use of foreign crops).
Geographically isolated countries and regions are most likely to use foreign crops in national supplies, such as Oceania, the Caribbean, southern S. America, North America, Southern Africa and northern Europe. On the other side of the spectrum, regions where traditional staples are still produced and consumed tend to use less foreign supplies, including many parts of Asian, South and East Mediterranean and West Africa.
This phenomenon has been centuries in the making, 100 years ago with Russian scientist N.I. Vavilov when he came to the conclusion that 'centres of diversity' came to be preferred over 'centres of origin', to account for the understanding that high concentrations of crop varieties and related wild species are not in every case located precisely where crops were initially domesticated. Since this initial research, many scientists since have been continually searching into the origins and diversity of different fruits and veg which has also led to a wider understanding of the products themselves and how to prevent diseases.
Often, particular fruits and vegetables attributed to certain countries, often originate from a different region altogether. Take bananas for instance, they originate from SE Asia, but a big bulk of the world's production is grown in South America. There is nothing more synonymous with Italy than the tomato, which actually originates from the Andes in South America. Click here to view an interactive map created by CIAT, which illustrates the study results.
Regional lines are becoming increasingly more blurry. Increasing importance in crops such as potatoes, beans, tomatoes and bananas, has led to a surge in global production, which has made national diets more and more similar. More than two-thirds of the crops that underpin national diets originally came from somewhere else, often far away. And that trend has accelerated over the past 50 years.
Globally, foreign crops made up 69 percent of country food supplies and farm production.
Quantity (tonnes) in national agricultural production that are derived from crops whose primary regions of diversity do not coincide with the same region as the country (foreign crops). Scale in degree of foreign crop use (1 = 100% use of foreign crops).
Geographically isolated countries and regions are most likely to use foreign crops in national supplies, such as Oceania, the Caribbean, southern S. America, North America, Southern Africa and northern Europe. On the other side of the spectrum, regions where traditional staples are still produced and consumed tend to use less foreign supplies, including many parts of Asian, South and East Mediterranean and West Africa.