Tasting 1: Crop Wild Relatives – COUSIN Project

Crop Wild Relatives (CWRs) are often seen as the COUSINs of domesticated crops, given their close kinship and their role as important sources of natural genetic variation. Crop diversification and breeding are important tools for achieving the necessary agroecological transition of European food systems, and in this regard CWRs can play a key role as diversity custodians.

Against this background, 26 partners from 12 European countries joined their effort to set up the European Union-funded project COUSIN: Crop Wild Relatives Utilization and Conservation for Sustainable Agriculture.

Activity :

Tasting and showcase of innovative food prototypes inspired by Crop Wild Relatives (CWR) flagship crops, developed within the COUSIN Project.

The foods presented today have been prepared using commercial crop varieties due to the current limited availability of CWR biomass and to ensure food safety standards. These prototypes represent early concepts of future products that may eventually be developed directly from Crop Wild Relatives as research and production capacities advance.

Through this experience, we invite you to explore the potential of CWRs in supporting more resilient, sustainable, and diverse food systems.