The Majority of Wild Edible Plants in the U.S. Are Endangered Photo: Frederic J. Brown (Getty Images) All of our crops have naturally-occurring predecessors that are found in the wild. But that may not be the case for long. A new study found that those OG edible plants are doing badly. Advertisement The findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Monday, show that 96% of wild relatives of agricultural crops in the U.S. could be facing an urgent or high need for conservation. The research suggests that based on vulnerability standards from the International Union for Conservation of Nature, just over 7% of them are critically endangered in their natural habitats, 50% are endangered, and 28% are vulnerable.