Story at a glance:
- Common foods and ingredients from South and Central America are facing extinction.
- Vanilla is the highest crop facing extinction.
- Wild bean, squash, chilli pepper, husk tomato, Banana, apple, prunes and ginger are also endangered.
Wild variants of common foods and ingredients from South and Central America like potatoes, avocados and vanilla are facing extinction.
The Guardian reports that vanilla, which is native to South and Central America, is the spice that is most quickly going extinct; second is wild cotton, with 92 percent of the fluffy staple fiber disappearing. Three out of fivewild avocado species are at risk, while 23 percent of wild potato species are going extinct.
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In a study, wild bean, squash, chili pepper and husk tomato species are all threatened with 35 percent facing extinction because of agriculture and pesticide use, according to The Guardian.
Banana, apple, prunes and ginger and their wild relatives are red-listed as threatened food crops.
The study analyzed relatives of 224 crops in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. The world depends on these crops for food and clothing.
Food and its wild relatives facing extinction have been a growing concern for years, as noted by Business Insider, which listed 12 crops that are approaching extinction.
Avocados, chocolate, wheat, maize, rice, soybeans, grape wine, strawberry, stone fruits, maple syrups, coffee, chickpea, banana and peanuts are some of the foods that are struggling on the extinction list.
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