However, many indigenous people avoided this wave of modernity and still use traditional methods, and so-called heritage or heirloom seeds.
I hated the idea of "vintage potatoes" – the v word is bad enough when applied to secondhand clothes, but with food it makes you think of an old tuber in a cupboard; as a food word, "vintage" is even worse than "heritage" or "heirloom".
Open-pollinated and passed down through the generations, "heritage" or "heirloom" crops such as the Brighstone bean are making a comeback.
Preferences for breeds with uniform characteristics and fast growth have pushed heritage (or heirloom) breeds to the margins of the sheep industry.
They're generally heritage or heirloom breeds, rather than the standard-issue broad-breasted white (which has legs that can barely support its weight), and so their dark-to-white meat ratio is higher.
Heritage and heirloom varieties with exceptional taste include: 'Aunt Ruby's German Green' (spicy green beefsteak type).
This stands for heritage (or heirloom) seeds, which carry qualities of a particular plant that has been cultivated.
Farmers and gardeners in your area will have the expertise to recommend what type of seeds have grown best for them, as well as information on special heritage or heirloom seeds.
"Look at our farmers' markets today, bursting with heritage breeds and heirloom varieties, foods that were once abundant when we were an agricultural nation, but that we have lost touch with," he said.
