There are hundreds of varieties of breadfruit (Image: Douglas Peebles/Corbis)
It's a protein-packed fruit that can grow in the ever-saltier soils climate change is bringing – could breadfruit feed the world? One determined woman says yes
IN APRIL 1789, Lieutenant William Bligh set off from the Pacific island of Tahiti to sail halfway round the world to Jamaica. Twenty-three days into the voyage, his crew mutinied. They set him adrift in the Bounty's launch, along with 18 men who were loyal to him, and dumped the ship's cargo overboard. That cargo included 1000 breadfruit plants destined for the Jamaican sugar plantations, whose owners were clamouring for a cheap and reliable source of food for their slaves.
But Bligh was a stubborn man. In 1792, by now promoted to captain, he set out again from Tahiti and successfully shipped 2000 breadfruit plants to Jamaica, 678 of which bore fruit. ...
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