Ancient vs. Modern Fruits and Vegetables

In case you’re still a little wary of humans messing around with food, I thought I’d show how some of your favorite fruits and vegetables are actually the products of selective, targeted breeding. What, you thought every non-explicitly hybridized fruit and vegetable can trace a pure lineage back to the Paleolithic? Ha! The stuff we enjoy, even the heirloom, dirt-and-mud-encrusted ugly, but delicious, stuff we get from the farmers’ market, is different from what Grok enjoyed. Plants reproduce far more often than, say, humans, so evolution happens faster. We’ve got a dog in the fight, too, and the means to influence its outcome (hybridization, breeding, selection), so changes happen even quicker.

This will either spur your acceptance of broccolini or turn you into a raging zero-carber who shuns all vegetation. Your choice.

Posted By: Mark Sisson

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