A soaring 'super grain' leads to an unhealthy trend; As quinoa catches on around the world, demand drives up prices and leads to unsound farming practices.

Abstract

Bolivia's deputy minister of rural development, Victor Hugo Vasquez, said 30% of his country's 70,000 quinoa producers are now children of peasants who left the farm but have been drawn back by high quinoa prices. The country's quinoa crop expanded from 240 square miles in 2009 to 400 square miles last year, when it produced a total of 58,000 metric tons, according to the Rural Development Ministry.