As part of the recent celebration of World Environment Day, the RADIANT project, led by the Universidade Católica Portuguesa (in Porto), reinforces the importance of production and consumption of underutilized crops for environmental sustainability.
The researchers and project managers, with a European scope, intend to raise awareness in the community and government entities of the benefits of traditional foods, taking into account their nutritional value, as well as concerns about the current overpopulation worldwide and the possible worsening of the scarcity of foods.
Underutilized crops are a neglected but valuable species that have limited use in every geographic, social and economic context. These crops hold great promise for diversifying agricultural systems, creating resilient agroecosystems, diversifying diets and creating economically viable dynamic value chains for food and non-food uses.
