All American Quinoa

The skyward seed that descended from the Andes.

- Michael A. Miller

Nebraska, 1937: The Dust Bowl, drought, and a recession evicted 48-year-old Albert Lundberg from his homestead and whisked him to California where he turned unfamiliar clay into the organic rice empire we know as Lundberg Family Farms. Now history repeats itself as the third generation of family farmers tussles with Mother Nature to coax an unlikely new crop from California’s soil— quinoa.

The grain-like seed has gained popularity among health-conscious eaters for its complete docket of essential amino acids, high fiber, and slew of vitamins and minerals. Quinoa has accented salads, appeased vegans and celiac patients alike, and checked the boxes of nearly every healthful food trend you could think of. The only problem? It isn’t local.

Quinoa is indigenous to the cool, dry Andes of South America, and its short agricultural history in the United States has been fraught with failures and nearly devoid of research. As a result, imports from Bolivia and Peru skyrocketed from 7.3 million pounds in 2007 to nearly 70 million in 2013 as more American consumers learned about—and fell in love with—the Incan “Mother Grain.”