Here in the South, we've learned to hate kudzu.
This vine covers everything in its path with a luscious green death.
Matt Cutts,
who is the poster child for invasive species in the South and it's a classic
tale of human hubris. We deliberately planted it and it got out of control,
but now that it's here, should we just start using it,
Rudy, but kind of sweet.
That's what Justin and Lauren think we should do. They make kudzu hot chocolate.
They weave kudzu cloth from the vines. They process starch from the roots.
They're huge kudzu fans and they want us to love it too. You know,
I look at this kudzu patch.
That to me is a bank of resources going into the future.
Kudzu story in the United States began in 1876 at the first American hosted
world fair in Philadelphia,
the same world fair that introduced Americans to catch up and the telephone
plant catalogs started selling kudzu,
calling it the most remarkable Hardy climbing vine that should be planted by
everyone desiring dense shade,
but it might not have become such a monster if it wasn't for the federal
government. In the 1930s agriculture in the South was in trouble,
intensive tobacco and cotton farming had depleted nutrients in the top soil and
farmers started harvesting timber for extra cash,
which further depleted the soil by causing erosion.
Farmers needed something to anchor the soil and to the federal government.
Kudzu seemed like a good solution.
It's extensive root system and nitrogen fixing properties would heal the soil
and also feed cattle with its contrition leaves.
So the soil conservation service pay farmers to plant their land because
eventually handing out 84 million seedlings,
but by the 1950s farmers realized they couldn't easily make money on kudzu and
most of it was plowed under or eaten by livestock.
Only place where kudzu really thrived was along highways where it had easy
access to sunlight and it quickly dominated.
So instead of being the solution to our erosion problems,
cutsie became an uncontrollable weed,
putting pressure on a number of rare species found only in the South
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but Lauren and Justin want us to change your minds about kudzu.
So we're visiting them in Sylva, North Carolina to harvest stuff.
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Justin, here we are in this beautiful kazoo patch.
As far as the eye can see, that's the plan,
so we're going to see if we can find some kudzu roots.
I suspect we will just in this area there's probably maybe a hundred cutsie
roots.
Cuddy ring. Yeah. Yeah, so
satisfying some digging.
We pulled out a kudzu root do what do we got Kuno.
One of the really amazing things that I like to share with people that really
made me start to rethink kudzu is that in the places where it comes from,
just about every single part of the plant is used in a really big way.
Not just like little craft items but like as a staple food and like a big part
of traditional Chinese medicine use. They use hundreds and hundreds of herbs.
Kudzu is one of the top 20 so it's an untapped resource that we just need to
change our mindsets.
I think so change our mindsets was one and then learn kudzu culture,
which is like, you know how, how to work with the planet, how to harvest it,
when to harvest it, what to harvest, how to use it, how to appreciate it,
how to make art and beauty with it.
So we've got our,
cause you heard from the field and we've cleaned it and then what happens?
Then we chop it, we'll shred it
and then we'll, we'll
pull Verizon so that the starch and juice starts to separate and then we'll go
through a rinsing and settling process to then get the final starch.
The starch is really quite magical stuff.
It's used as a thickening agent for sauces and you can make this really jelly
kind of noodle with it. Jams or jellies and desserts,
pastries and breads.
It's an existing abundant crop and we have this bias associated with it that to
see the value in it, you have to overcome that bias.
And to do that you have to learn what other people have done and what people are
still doing today in areas of the world where the plant is native.
You know where this is going, right? If we all start eating kudzu,
then maybe we could keep it in check. Well we talked to Owen Carson,
the president of the invasive plant council and he sewer threw cold water in our
faces. Not really, but kinda,
it's ultimately not a problem that we can eat our way out of.
It's a really deep rooted uh,
issue upon definitely attended in Asia where it originates.
There are natural controls there that work against kudzu, you know, so there,
there are other plants that suppress its growth.
There are a fun guy and pests and pathogens.
They're all native to that part of the world.
And so that's one of the biggest issues is when you remove a plant from its
native ecosystem and put it in a place that has very similar climate, you know,
similar resources, but none of those bio controls, it's going to go crazy.
A 2005 study found that invasive plants and animals cost the U S $120 billion in
damages every year. They out-compete native plants for resources,
spread diseases, and are the leading cause of animal extinction.
And population decline.
Kudzu isn't even the worst of our invasive species.
We think of kudzu first because it's what we see along the highway.
But if you look deeper into forested lands in the South,
you'll find things like Asian privet,
which covers 3.2 million acres,
an area roughly the size of Connecticut or take Oriental bittersweet in the
Appalachian mountains. It pulls down mature forest.
It creates these vine environments called Lianas that are suppressive to
biodiversity.
The food that bittersweet offers to native birds is a four quality than those of
native fruits.
You have all sorts of disruptors extending out into the ecosystem from a plant
like that. So if we can't eat our way out of this problem,
what should we do about it? Well, Hey, here's an idea.
Don't plant these plants.
Thankfully you can't buy kudzu at a greenhouse anymore.
But people still ask the folks at kudzu culture if they have any siblings.
We think Kenzie's great plan. We love everything about it,
but there's already plenty of kudzu,
but there are hundreds of invasive plants that you can still buy from a
greenhouse like prison. In the meantime, yes,
let's drink the kudzu Kool-Aid or in this case, kudzu hot chocolate.
Seems like eating the plant that sort of ate the South is good karmic justice
and Hey, plant people,
check out the list of invasive plants you should avoid buying below.