The ancient grain teff, which is indigenous to the Horn of Africa, has gained new fans in the US. It is grown in the American West and Midwest, where farmers have noticed an increase in demand for it as a gluten-free “super food.”” Tesfa Drar, who grew up assisting his parents in growing teff in what is now Eritrea, is one of those farmers. Tesfa remembered while standing in a grain field in northern Nevada state, “So I made the decision to bring 20 pounds of teff from home and I planted it at the University of Minnesota, where I was studying. I then donated it for research purposes to several colleges and universities. More than 2,400 hectares of land are under Tesfa’s cultivation, including here in Nevada, in Minnesota, where Selam Foods is headquartered, and in six other states. His business is located next to Winnemucca, a town with 24-hour casinos and a farming community based on the production of potatoes, lucerne, wheat and corn. However, more farmers are now deciding to plant teff in an effort to take advantage of the rising demand for gluten-free cuisine. Teff production on dedicated land “has exploded” recently. As the western United States becomes more drier owing to global climate change, we realised there was a critical need for more water-use-efficient crops and decided it was vital to invest in some alternative crops.
