Canada/Saskatchewan: Canola Fields

Canada is the number one grower of rapeseed and Saskatchewan is the top province with endless fields of it to horizon. In Canada, it’s actually a unique variety of rapeseed, known as canola – which literally comes from “can” for “Canadian” and “ola” for “oil”. While rapeseed has been grown around the world for centuries, the oil that was extracted from it was mostly inedible due to high concentrations of toxic erucic acid (around 54%). In the 1970s, researchers at the University of Manitoba cultivated a unique breed of rapeseed that only had 2% of erucic acid. And this canola was born! It’s renowned as cooking oil with low saturated fat content and high levels of omega-3 fatty acids. Canola oil is also used in industrial applications and as a biodiesel. The plant itself has bright yellow flowers, and the seeds are tiny, dark, and round. Canola is a major agricultural export for Canada – nearly 4.5 million tons – and Saskatchewan and Alberta are top producing provinces.