In this video, Sonia Jones, Sonima’s founder, talks with Jack Algiere, the farm director at Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture, about an ancient corn he is preserving on the farm at Stone Barns in Tarrytown, New York. The eight-row flint corn has a deep orange-yellow glow, reflective of its superior nutritional profile. Hundreds of years ago, this unique type of corn was prized for its flavor and nutrition, but as demand for corn exports increased, farmers moved toward planting other varieties that are higher in yield but inferior in nutrition content, leaving this special variety almost obsolete. Interestingly, this breed of corn, which was plentiful in the Northeast in the 1600s, is likely the same or very similar to what was eaten at the first Thanksgiving. Watch the video above to learn more about this ancient varietal and the work being done at the Stone Barns Center.

By