Breadfruit is hardly a staple of the American diet, but aficionado Zoë Schlanger at the Atlantic wonders if that will change soon enough. The trees grow in tropical climates with lots of rain, but climate change is shifting where they can be planted. Until recently, the only place on the continental US they were successfully grown was the Florida Keys, but warming weather patterns are changing that. Here's why the tree and its versatile crop could become the next trendy thing on the menu:
- They grow quickly: Breadfruit trees grow fast (up to 20 feet in their first three years), and fruit within their first year. They yield between 200 and 400 basketball-sized fruits annually, per the BBC, producing a vast amount of food on very little acreage.