Working to preserve ancient grains

Rogosa, 49, a native of New York, lives with her husband, C.R. Lawn, who trials vegetables for Fedco Seeds on a patch of land adjacent to their house, next to the West Branch North River. Though wheat was once a common crop in this region, Rogosa’s mission is often met with disbelief. “Still most people go cross-eyed when I say you can grow wheat here,’’ she says. Her trials have been successful, but the traditional varieties she favors have been hard to come by. While living in Israel, she found that most farmers there grew only modern wheat despite their proximity to the Fertile Crescent, where the crop originated. “Eventually I had to go to the gene bank and say, ‘Where’s the wheat?’ ’’

She now grows seeds acquired from gene banks around the world on her own land, Colrain Seed Farm, and at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, where she is funded by the USDA to select for plants that thrive best in this climate. “I’m looking for fat. Fat seed, fat stalks. Robust. Resilient. Healthy. If anything has a problem, goodbye. Compost.’’ Rogosa, who has wavy auburn hair and a healthy glow, favors flowing skirts and earth tones. She describes the loss of the many different types of heirloom wheat as a “world-wide silent crisis’’ with repercussions for food security. “We don’t realize how much biodiversity has been lost or is on the verge of extinction,’’ she says. Less diversity means a smaller pool of traits, which translates to fewer possibilities for adaptation to a changing climate.