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Protecting the Global Food Chain

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A quarter of the calories that feed the planet come from wheat. It’s going to take a lot more wheat to feed the world as its population moves toward 9 billion.

But keeping that vast hunger fed is a constant race against pathogens that can wipe out a harvest, climate change that can strangle a crop.

It takes non-stop breeding and new hybrids. Breeding that can depend on some very old and out-of-the-way strains. On seeds you’d never think of. In the most exotic locations. Seeds that keep your family fed.

This hour, On Point: the staff of life, and the wild story of how bread stays on your table.Guests:

Joining us in our studio is Susan Dworkin, author of "The Viking in the Wheat Field: A Scientist’s Struggle to Preserve the World’s Harvest."
Read an excerpt from the book.
And from Ithaca, N.Y., we're joined by Per Pinstrup-Andersen, professor of food, nutrition and public policy at Cornell University. He won the World Food Prize in 2001.

This program aired on March 8, 2010.

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