Narrator: This grain has been nicknamed
"the gold of the Andes."
Most of it comes from Peru,
where around 1000,000 tons are produced every year.
The popularity of quinoa exploded over the past decade,
transforming the fortunes of farmers
who have been harvesting it for generations.
Narrator: Unfortunately, those good years
may be coming to an end.
Other countries have increased quinoa production,
driving down prices.
And shifting weather patterns are threatening yields.
But quinoa is a superfood with more than 3,000 varieties,
even though you'll only find a handful of them
at the supermarket.
So can the people who brought their staple food to the world
help it adapt to an uncertain future?
Narrator: People across the Andes
have been eating quinoa way before it hit the shelves
at gourmet markets.
Narrator: For centuries, Peruvians have ground the grain
to make flour and ferment chicha, a popular drink.
Quinoa was sacred to the Inca,
who called it the mother grain.
That's because it grew well under harsh conditions
and flourished in areas where other crops struggled.
The grain has adapted
as weather patterns have changed in recent years,
but growing it is still a struggle.
Narrator: Ignacio is one of around
68,000 quinoa producers in Peru.
He's been out in the fields with his family
since he was just 10 years old.
Narrator: The season to plant quinoa
starts at the end of the summer.
Workers gather early in the morning,
and they pass around handfuls of coca leaves.
Narrator: Then they call to Pachamama, or Mother Earth,
to help them get the job done quickly.
Ignacio says the plant acts as a mild stimulant
that gives them strength.
Ignacio and his family sow the seeds
after the soil has been harrowed and fertilized.
About seven months later, they harvest the crop by hand.
Narrator: Then they cut the branches
and remove the edible parts of the grain.
Narrator: They shake the grain to remove
any leftover dirt
and then transfer the quinoa to a small warehouse.
Narrator: About a decade ago, Ignacio and his family
would have traveled across the country to sell their quinoa.
Narrator: But that's now the job of Coopain Cabana,
a cooperative that represents more than 600 farmers
in southern Peru.
Narrator: Representatives from cooperatives
like Eusebio visit the farms to inspect the grains.
The cooperatives pay farmers like Ignacio
about $1.50 per kilo.
Narrator: About 1,200 tons of quinoa
are processed every year at the cooperative's facilities.
Once the quinoa reaches their warehouse,
workers thoroughly wash it twice
to remove a bitter chemical called saponin.
Narrator: They split the quinoa into categories,
remove any impurities, and then package it.
It'll make its way overseas.
The cooperative says it exports to the US,
the European Union, and Japan.
In the US, the product has become increasingly popular.
America imports about a third of all the world's quinoa.
But it wasn't always this way.
Quinoa used to be mostly unknown outside of the Andes.
Narrator: But it all began to change in 2009,
when the Peruvian government started establishing
free trade agreements.
It became easier for companies to export to the US and beyond.
Over the next few years,
commerce between Peru and the US reportedly boomed.
Word spread about the nutritious superfood
that was gluten-free and high in protein.
Marc: This was when stuff like the keto diet were taking off,
and there was this kind of, this conventional wisdom that,
"Hey, look, among all of those grains that you can be eating,
quinoa probably packs the the strongest punch
in terms of protein."
Narrator: The United Nations even declared 2013
the "international year of quinoa"
to celebrate the ancestral practices of the Andean people.
Marc: It's basically shining a big, bright spotlight on quinoa
as something that people should consume for their health.
And that really led to the whole thing.
Narrator: The average price of quinoa in Peru
almost doubled between 2012 and 2014.
And it wasn't just producers who benefited.
The rise in quinoa sales helped locals
who didn't even work with the crop.
Marc: There was probably some kind of trickle-down effect
in the economy where the quinoa price rise
led to the people who were selling it
being significantly better off
and spending some of those funds on the economy.
Narrator: In 2011, almost 80% of the country's quinoa
was produced in the region of Puno.
But farmers in other parts of the country
tried to cash in, too.
Some reportedly relied on chemical fertilizers
to cultivate the grain.
In 2014, Peru set a record for quinoa production.
But trouble lay ahead for Peruvian farmers.
For centuries, the grain had mostly been harvested
in the Andes because it thrives in high altitudes.
But quinoa farmers started popping up
in other parts of the world.
I think globalization is a double-edged sword
in a case like this.
These households can benefit from the global demand
for that product, but it also means
that it has really pushed other regions of the globe
to experiment with growing quinoa themselves.
Narrator: The market was flooded with quinoa.
That caused prices to plunge by the end of 2015.
Farmers in Peru reportedly began to struggle,
and some had to sell livestock to survive.
Others held onto their quinoa,
hoping that prices would rise again.
But by 2020, the price of quinoa in Peru
had dropped to about half of its 2014 high.
Meanwhile, farmers in Peru are producing
more quinoa than ever.
But the types sold in supermarkets represent just a fraction
of the 3,000 varieties that can be harvested here.
Narrator: Farmers would traditionally cultivate
different types of quinoa to make sure that
at least some thrived if weather conditions were harsh.
But some have abandoned this practice
to focus on the most lucrative strains.
And experts worry this may mean losing
many varieties of the ancient crop.
Narrator: That's why many are brought here,
to the National Institute of Agricultural Innovation.
Narrator: Some of those less common strains
could have uses beyond food.
Narrator: Ignacio says he would eventually
like to sell baked goods, like cookies, made of quinoa,
but for now he has to focus on what sells.