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Fixing Food 2, Ep. 4: Seeds of Resilience

“Seeds of Resilience” explores the remarkable resilience of indigenous Mayan communities and their enduring connection to a crop the Spanish conquistadors tried to wipe out – amaranth - a tall, leafy grain long derided in the United States as “pigweed.”

Every year, partnering with Sarah Montgomery, a small group of Mayan activist farmers from Guatemala embark on missions to the US to promote the cultivation of amaranth here. In late September, on a farm in upstate New York, the group begins a day-long celebration of prayers and offerings as they prepare to harvest the brilliant crimson amaranth flowers. They explain to local farmers the grain’s exceptional nutritional values, how easy it is to grow and its resistance to climate change. As Sarah translates and observes, “The best way I can describe working with amaranth, is that it feels good, it feels happy. There's a lot of hope in this seed.”

By promoting amaranth, indigenous activists and allies like Sarah are not only reclaiming an important cultural heritage, but also offering an easy, sustainable grain alternative to the pressing climate challenges created by our monolithic, industrialized food systems.

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