Eat This Podcast: What is Wrong with Biofortification
Hidden hunger — a lack of vitamins and minerals in the diet — afflicts two billion people around the world, with lasting effects on health and well being.
Biofortification — engineering or selecting varieties of staple crops so that they produce higher levels of micronutrients — makes perfect sense to tackle hidden hunger, which is strongly correlated with the amount of energy people get from staples, at least on the surface. Putting more micronutrients in those staples ought to be a good thing. Except that there’s little evidence that it works, and yields of biofortified staples are generally lower than those of unfortified varieties. That’s a waste of land that could be used to grow the fruits and vegetables that contribute to a more diverse diet, which offers a better approach to micronutrient deficiencies.
All this and more is brought out in a recent paper in the journal Global Food Security. I interviewed one of the authors.
And take care.
