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CC BY V4.0, Open Access
Dissertation
Are plant breeders willing to change food systems?
Washington State University
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
05/2024
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7273/000006488
Abstract
Food systems is the term for the all-encompassing entity which includes the individuals involved in growing, transforming, and consuming food. From this perspective of course food is the essential core of the whole system. No food, no system. Every food item derives, directly or indirectly, from a plant. Most likely a domesticated plant, an organism that has been selected to fit and fulfill the desires of a particular group of people, a work of careful selection carried out initially by farmers and more recently by plant breeders. Wheat well exemplifies this relationship. A staple crop that has accompanied a significant amount of the human population for thousands of years, changing according to new latitudes, pathogens and tastes, today however wheat is shaped not so much by “us” but by the organized forces of the market. Refined flour is the focus of the American wheat industry, tasking breeders to develop varieties yielding high amounts of white refined flour satisfying the consumer’s demand for white bread. Breeders have the agency to shape crops, and consequently to enable cropping and food systems. Wheat has been bred to produce refined flour for over 150 years. A fact likely contributing to the current deficiency in dietary fiber experienced by the vast majority of the American population. Wheat breeders instead, could be working on developing varieties for whole grain use, overcoming technological and organoleptic concerns and limitations to its adoption. From an agronomic perspective, wheat also could be bred to overcome some of the negative externalities associated with its production, for example soil erosion. Hybridizing wheat with perennial wild relatives produces a perennial grain crop, combining potential soil health benefits and grain production. Breeders have contributed to change nutritional and agricultural landscapes in the past, will they now take the initiative to address present societal and environmental issues?
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Details
- Title
- Are plant breeders willing to change food systems?
- Creators
- Robin Alessandro Morgan
- Contributors
- Stephen S Jones (Chair)Heather E. Estrada (Committee Member)Deirdre Griffin-LaHue (Committee Member) - Washington State University, Department of Crop and Soil SciencesKevin M Murphy (Committee Member)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Department of Crop and Soil Sciences
- Theses and Dissertations
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University
- Number of pages
- 159
- Identifiers
- 99901121535901842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Dissertation