Our current industrial agricultural systems are simply not sustainable. Conventional intensive farming is depleting natural resources, degrading ecological systems, and jeopardizing long-term food security. With agriculture covering over a third of the Earth’s surface, sustainable land management isn’t just important – it’s essential for the future of our food systems and the planet.

To help us explore solutions, the Nature Tech Collective welcomed Jed Wheeler, CEO and co-founder of Manzanita Cooperative, who joined us for a discussion on the urgent need for agricultural diversification. Manzanita Cooperative blends traditional knowledge of native and edible plants with cutting-edge scientific methods to develop climate-resilient crops, offering a powerful blueprint for a more secure and sustainable food future.

Watch the playback here:

Understanding the vulnerability of current crop systems

Monoculture (single-crop) farming prioritizes short-term efficiency over long-term resilience. Growing a single variety across large areas of land can make crops easier to manage and harvest. However, in the long term, this lack of plant diversity leaves entire crops vulnerable to losses from disease and drought – if one variety fails under stress, there’s no fallback to protect the harvest.

Another problem is our over-reliance on certain food crops. Currently, just four crops - wheat, rice, soy, and corn - provide nearly half of our global caloric intake. Corn is already at risk – according to a NASA study, climate change could reduce corn yields by 24% as early as 2030. With such a large food supply dependent on a handful of crop varieties, these losses could have wide scale consequences.

Water use is another concerning issue. According to the U.N., agriculture consumes approximately 70% of the world’s freshwater resources. In California, a significant portion of this water goes to non-native, water-intensive crops like almonds and alfalfa. To illustrate, producing a single almond requires about 12 litres of water. Climate change is further intensifying droughts, making water an even more precious resource.

Altogether, future agricultural productivity is at risk.

How native crops & diversification strengthens agricultural resilience

Relying on too few crops can leave our food supply vulnerable to climate and disease shocks. Growing a wider variety of crops, especially plants that are adapted to local conditions, can help protect agricultural productivity, and conserve resources.

Boosting crop diversity for resilience

Cultivating a diversity of crops can provide resilience to environmental challenges and save natural resources. For instance, increasing the variety of plants grown in a given area can increase genetic diversity and plant resilience, mitigating crop losses from disease and extreme weather events. Meanwhile, planting native, locally-adapted crops can reduce water needs and also support vital biodiversity, such as pollinators.
Much like in investing, diversification in farming enhances resilience, maximises returns, and reduces risk.

The benefits of edible native, wild plants

Eating a diversity of wild plants has also been proven to enhance our diets and improve our overall nutritional health. With over 30,000 plant species known to be edible, there is tremendous potential to enrich our diets as well as agricultural crops. For example, many native plants, historically consumed by Indigenous peoples, could complement or replace conventional crops. Their wild-type genes make them better adapted to local environments, and more resistant to disease and environmental change.

Introducing Manzanita Cooperative: A new model for resilient agriculture

Manzanita Cooperative is a worker-owned cooperative based in California. Their aim is to transform agricultural systems, leveraging native plants to improve food security and mitigate climate impacts. Jed Wheeler, the organization’s Co-founder, was inspired to create Manzanita after a drought affected his vegetable garden in rural California: the only survivors were native plants.

Today, Manzanita Cooperative is pioneering locally-adapted crops, and encouraging the consumption of wild edible plants ~ their aim is to conserve water resources, reduce pesticide use, support biodiversity, and enhance our diets.

California is a major agricultural area, producing nearly half of the country’s fruit and vegetables, as well as being the state with the richest diversity of plants. As such, it holds significant potential for improving agricultural diversification and sustainability. Manzanita Cooperative is at the forefront of this change.

Exploring Manzanita Cooperative’s initiatives

Manzanita Cooperative researches native edible plants, as well as crops that have a lower environmental impact, and require less water. Their aim is to provide sustainable, healthy, and accessible crop alternatives.

Integrating wild foods for sustainable diets

Manzanita Cooperative is particularly focused on integrating nutrient-dense wild foods such as acorns, native hazelnuts, pine nuts, and the California bay nut into modern agriculture. Their work aims to bring these native edible plants, consumed historically, back to the market, thus making sustainable diets more accessible. Planting wild crops can also help replace and/or complement crops affected by drought or disease. Restoring native and wild crops also creates habitat for biodiversity such as honeybees, which in turn supports vital crop pollination.

"Eat Acorn"

One of Manzanita Cooperative’s key initiatives is “Eat Acorn”, which promotes the ecological importance of planting oak trees, and the health benefits of eating acorns. Historically significant as a food source, acorns are nutrient-dense and protein-rich, supporting healthier diets. Research by Manzanita shows that swapping water-intensive almond orchards with oak forests could save water and sequester an additional 20 million tonnes of carbon per acre– a powerful step towards mitigating global climate change. By replanting oak forests and encouraging us to “Eat Acorn“, Manzanita Cooperative restores native California habitats while providing a sustainable and nutrient-rich food alternative.

Alternative plant-based protein

To replace water-intensive alfalfa, Manzanita Cooperative is researching the native lupini bean as a plant-based protein source. Lupini beans were once common in California’s grasslands, which have now largely been replaced by farmland. Manzanita Cooperative’s research highlights that farming lupini beans requires far less water and fertilisers. Additionally, these beans provide an impressive 40% of protein by volume, making them a more environmentally-friendly protein alternative.

Manzanita Cooperative’s future steps

Looking ahead, Manzanita Cooperative is conducting field trials to assess the scalability of new crops and native plants. This includes determining caloric and nutritional equivalence to current crops, refining harvesting methods, and addressing barriers for farmers transitioning to these alternatives. For example – acorns require more processing than conventional nuts, which is why Manzanita Cooperative plans to sell acorn flour directly to consumers.

To learn more about Manzanita Cooperative’s work and all the benefits of eating wild foods, including how to use acorns to make delicious acorn cinnamon cookies (yes, that’s right!) – visit https://www.manzanitacooperative.com/

Shifting the agricultural paradigm: Challenges and opportunities

Building resilient food systems

An agricultural transition towards diversified and sustainable crops is imperative for securing our future food systems. Manzanita Cooperative is spearheading this transformation in California by focusing on native and locally adapted crops, working with nature to improve both human and planetary health.

By reintroducing native plants into crop systems, Manzanita aims to diversify farming, reduce water use, and strengthen the sustainability of food systems. Planting oak forests can help conserve water, provide nutritious wild foods, sequester carbon, and create vital habitats for biodiversity. Meanwhile, wild food crops – such as hazelnuts, lupini beans, and California bay nuts – can supplement crops at risk, enrich our diets, and restore culinary traditions.

Diversifying agriculture can have its challenges. Current policies and markets often favour conventional farming, and consumer habits can make it difficult to implement lesser-known crops. Manzanita Cooperative is overcoming these hurdles by working with farmers and providing direct-to-consumer sales of products (like acorn flour). Through research and marketing, Manzanita informs us of the health benefits and history of wild foods in California. Manzanita’s carbon offsetting programs also support landowners and oak planting efforts.

Manzanita Cooperative’s model offers insights into initiatives that contribute to diverse and resilient agricultural systems that work with – not against – nature. Starting in California, but hopefully leading to global uptake, Manzanita inspires a vision of agriculture that will strengthen food security, nourish our diets, and help preserve our natural environment.

About the author

Sarita Mahtani-Williams

Sarita Mahtani-Williams combines conservation biology with geography to develop nature-based solutions for urban sustainability. Some of her recent work includes studying the link between urban gardening and cultural identity on the Greek island of Lesvos, and developing a protocol for managing the street trees of Reykjavik, Iceland.

Transforming Farming: Manzanita Cooperative’s Approach to Improving Food Security