History & Origins
This ancient Indigenous American trio of crops—corn, beans, and squash—supported each other’s growth.
What are the Three Sisters?
Legumes like soybeans enrich soil by adding this essential nutrient.
What is nitrogen?
Chefs who prioritize rotated crops often create menus based on this concept.
What is seasonality?
Farmers avoid rotating tomatoes and potatoes because they belong to this plant family.
What are nightshades?
The Romans rotated these two types of crops to maintain soil fertility.
What are grains and legumes?
Rotating crops helps prevent this problem, where soil loses fertility due to repeated planting of the same crop.
What is nutrient depletion?
This Michelin-starred restaurant partners with farms using crop rotation for dishes like “Rotational Risotto.”
What is Blue Hill at Stone Barns?
Fast-food supply chains often prioritize this type of farming over crop rotation.
What is monoculture?
This farming practice dates back thousands of years and was used to avoid soil exhaustion.
What is crop rotation?
Deep-rooted crops like alfalfa help combat this environmental issue.
What is soil erosion?
The Three Sisters crops are celebrated in Indigenous cuisine for this type of synergy.
What is nutritional synergy (or culinary versatility)?
This economic factor pressures farmers to choose quick profits over sustainable practices.
What are market demands (or economic pressures)?
The Irish Potato Famine is an infamous example of the risks of ignoring this practice.
What is monoculture (or lack of crop rotation)?
Rotating tomatoes with grains disrupts the lifecycle of these pests.
What are nematodes (or root-knot nematodes)?
Rotated crops are said to reflect this French term for “taste of place.”
What is terroir?
Chefs can advocate for rotated crops by building relationships with these.
What are small farms (or sustainable farms)?
This term describes the symbiotic relationship between legumes and nitrogen-fixing bacteria.
What is Rhizobia?
A study in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry found rotated crops have 15-20% more of these compounds.
What are antioxidants?
Nordic chefs follow this manifesto that emphasizes local, rotated crops.
What is the New Nordic Manifesto?
Using millet or buckwheat in dishes helps promote this agricultural practice.
What is crop rotation?