The temperature rise Farming in the tropics is becoming much more difficult. Food systems in Caribbean and Pacific island countries are particularly vulnerable, hit hard by a combination of heatwaves, droughts and unseasonal rains. And the impacts of climate change in these regions are likely to increase significantly over the next decade, especially for farmers who produce the most common staple foods such as corn, wheat and soybeans.
But one crop that loves the heat and isn’t easily defeated by changing weather conditions is the breadfruit, which has been quietly making a comeback in its native Pacific and Caribbean islands, giving people hope that the tree and its produce will thrive in a climate-changed future.
“There’s really no climate that’s too hot for breadfruit,” says Russell Fielding, a geographer at Coastal Carolina University. One of the world’s most productive edible plants, breadfruit is a large-leafed evergreen tree in the jackfruit family that produces an abundance of rugged fruit that can be used in a surprisingly wide variety of dishes.
As temperatures rise around the world, the range where these trees can grow is steadily expanding, and thanks to their far-reaching root systems, breadfruit is virtually indestructible. They can also withstand hurricanes and grow near salt and brackish waters, a huge advantage as sea levels continue to slowly rise, Fielding says. They also stabilize and enrich even the most degraded soils. By the time they mature, a large tree will sequester 1.3 tons of carbon, according to calculations by the Trees That Feed Foundation, an Illinois nonprofit that provides breadfruit to help feed people and create jobs in the tropics.
“People are beginning to realize the incredible potential of breadfruit,” Fielding says. “It’s one of the most productive trees in terms of annual calories per unit area. One breadfruit tree can easily provide all the fruit a family needs.”
If you’ve seen the movie Mutiny on the BountyYou’re probably familiar with breadfruit – the fruit carried by merchant ships on their fateful voyages. But unless you’ve been to a remote Pacific island or the Caribbean recently, you may not have tasted this football-sized, prickly green fruit with creamy flesh. Breadfruit has a short shelf life and is rarely exported from tropical countries.
Native to the Pacific Ocean, breadfruit was once a staple food in Tahiti, Hawaii and Jamaica, but it slowly fell out of favor in those regions as it was replaced by the standard Western diet, which is high in processed foods, saturated fat and refined carbohydrates. Breadfruit has a bland taste – like a cross between mashed potatoes and sourdough bread – and when ripe, its sticky texture has been likened to wallpaper paste. But despite these unappealing qualities, some believe breadfruit could be the next big superfood.
Diane Ragone has had a personal obsession with this humble fruit since the 1980s. She is director emeritus of the Breadfruit Institute, a research and advocacy group based on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. For starters, she says, breadfruit is rich in micronutrients and vitamins, making it far more nutritious than staple foods like rice or corn. It’s also relatively rich in protein, with the Samoan variety called maafala surpassing soybeans in protein content.
