The global population is expected to reach 7 billion by the year 2013. How are we going to feed the world, prevent further degradation of our environment, and begin to reverse the damage that our increasingly industrialized society has already caused to the biosphere? We argue that plants with enhanced mineral acquisition and storage strategies can help us to achieve these goals. For example, we can use crop plants with an augmented capacity to accumulate minerals to aid sustainable agriculture and to improve human health through balanced mineral nutrition. We can also use plants to accumulate toxic metals from polluted soils and waters for cleanup purposes. Each of these goals requires understanding how plants accumulate and store minerals. This includes understanding mineral element bioavailability in the rhizosphere and root uptake, as well as translocation to and processing in the above ground parts of the plant.