Why
heirloom
corn
diversity
needs
to be
protected?
Milpa crops share the same resources – water, light, soil – but also provide benefits to each other. Together, the Milpa’s harvest provides all the food groups and vitamins needed for a healthy human diet and is a nutritional lifeline for local and indigenous communities.
If the farmers stop growing heirloom corn due to a lack of demand in the city, not only will these ancient varieties disappear, but so will the Milpa system.
“ Farmers are
the heroes and
custodians of Mexico’s
biodiversity ”
Mexicans have been practising regenerative farming for over 5,000 years. Our system, known as Milpa, is a time-honoured method of cultivation that thousands of farmers in Mexico still rely on to make a living and feed their families.
Farmers are the heroes and custodians of Mexico’s biodiversity, as the polyculture system of the Milpa means lots of crops, such as beans, corn, peppers, and gourds, can be grown together for local people to eat.
Why
heirloom
corn
diversity
needs
to be
protected?
Mexicans have been practising regenerative farming for over 5,000 years. Our system, known as Milpa, is a time-honoured method of cultivation that thousands of farmers in Mexico still rely on to make a living and feed their families.
Farmers are the heroes and custodians of Mexico’s biodiversity, as the polyculture system of the Milpa means lots of crops, such as beans, corn, peppers, and gourds, can be grown together for local people to eat.
Milpa crops share the same resources – water, light, soil – but also provide benefits to each other. Together, the Milpa’s harvest provides all the food groups and vitamins needed for a healthy human diet and is a nutritional lifeline for local and indigenous communities.
If the farmers stop growing heirloom corn due to a lack of demand in the city, not only will these ancient varieties disappear, but so will the Milpa system.
“ Farmers are
the heroes and
custodians of Mexico’s
biodiversity ”
We use British wheat flour to make our flour tortillas – all locally sourced from British farmers. They use regenerative farming techniques which strengthen the health of their farms’ topsoil to make sure crops can be grown year after year without damage to the land.
We also know that making them regeneratively is the way forward.
It’s a scary fact that the planet’s thin layer of topsoil, responsible for 95% of all the food produced for humans, is rapidly deteriorating due to aggressive modern farming practices.
Experts have predicted that we only have 60 harvests left if things don’t change.
The good news is that this trend can be reversed provided we start sustainable management practices. Regenerative agriculture is unique in that it has the ability not just to diminish carbon emissions but also to reverse them.