Colorful we produce overflowing those duction. chronic think of fruits hunger environmental aisle Such about at readily a and images farmer and farming vegetables come seem s destruction run market and to disconnected mind counter food piled or in when pro-and the to to overflowing at a farmer s market or in the produce aisle readily come to mind when we think about farming and food pro-duction. Such images run counter to those of environmental destruction and chronic hunger and seem disconnected from the challenges of climate change, energy use, and bio-diversity loss. Agriculture, though, has been identified as the greatest threat to biodiversity and ecosystem function of any human activity. And because of factors including climate change, rising energy costs, and land degradation, the number of" urgently hungry" people, now estimated at roughly 1 billion, is at its highest level ever. More troubling, agriculture-related problems will probably worsen as the human pop-ulation expands-that is, unless we reshape agriculture. The disconnect between popular images of farming and its less rosy reality stems from the fact that fruits and veg-etables represent only a sliver of farm production. Cereal, oilseed, and legume crops dominate farming, occupying 75% of US and 69% of global croplands. These grains include crops such as wheat, rice, and maize and together provide more than 70% of human food calories. Currently, all are annuals, which means they must be replanted each year from seed, require large amounts of expensive fertilizers and pesticides, poorly protect soil and water, and provide little habi-tat for wildlife. Their production emits significant green-house gases, contributing to climate change that can in turn have adverse effects on agricultural productivity. These are not the inevitable consequences of farming. Plant breeders can now, for perhaps the first time in history, develop perennial versions of major grain crops. Perennial crops have substantial ecological and economic benefits. Their longer growing seasons and more extensive root systems make them more competitive against weeds and more effective at capturing nutrients and water. Farmers dont have to replant the crop each year, dont have to add as much fertilizer and pesticide, and don t burn as much diesel