Comments on: Detoxifying cassava

By: Pablo Eyzaguirre

Pablo Eyzaguirre — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 14:17:14 +0000

Luigi,
Thanks for calling attention to this work on cassava that documents the roles that bitterness and even toxicity play in our food. As Doyle McKey rightly notes, bitterness and toxicity is something that farmers manage in a variety of ways; selection, breeding, processing, and agronomic practices are ways to manage or regulate the phytochemistry of crops. This has been noted for many edible species in Tim John’s review of the “Chemical Ecology of Human Ingestive Behaviors”.

What is particularly welcome in the papers by Doyle and his colleagues is the conclusion that much of this knowledge still exists and is being successfully used by traditional farmers. Yet donors and research policy continue to focus work on single factor, simplistic solutions to problems of taste, health, pest resistance and labour demands of crops. Farmers continue to keep a wide range of properties present in a crop that allow it to adapt and serve a multiplicity of purposes. Why in the face a global food and health crisis that has starkly revealed the fragility and limitations of our simplified and narrow global food system, have donors and research policymakers continued to focus on intensification to maximise yields and global trade of a few staples. Surely the experience of farmers and their management and continuing domestication of crops merits equal scientific attention.

I begin to think that ignoring examples such as these, with lessons and clear examples that are rigorously scientific and practical is not about lack of evidence or oversight, but a policy to eliminate smallholder agriculture and the knowledge it holds. This would remove any viable alternative to the agro-industrial hegemony over our food and our diverse agrarian landscapes. I hope my fears are misplaced.

By: Dangerous foods round-up

Dangerous foods round-up — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 10:29:13 +0000

[...] not all good news. There had to be a catch, right? And, following our discussion of a paper on the chemical ecology of cassava, there’s a vivid reminder of why detoxifying cassava is still so important in some parts of [...]

By: Dirk Enneking

Dirk Enneking — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 10:21:15 +0000

You are hitting a fair few nails right on the head. The curious thing about konzo is that the symptoms are very similar to neurolathyrism, another food induced crippling affliction, caused by excessive consumption of grasspea. There was a meeting of cassava and lathyrus researchers in Belgium last year. Abstracts are available in the Nov 2009 CCDN newsletter. Papers are being published in Food and Chemical Toxicology 2010.

By: Nibble: Conservation ag, Sahelian famines, Homegarden fertility, Annals of Botany news roundup, Carrot geneflow, Cyanide in crops, Texas rice breeding

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 07:46:36 +0000

[...] Kenneth Olsen interviewed on cyanide in plants. Nice enough, buy you read about this stuff here first. [...]

By: Jacob

Jacob — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 21:23:34 +0000

There are many other fairly subtle methods to avoid sharing in “peasant” societies.

For instance, farmers in West Africa buy cows and send them off with the Fulani, in order to hide their wealth. Also, people can avoid obligatory sharing by engaging in saving obligations, for instance by participating in a merry-go-round.

Not shelling your maize has exactly the same effect as choosing a bitter cassava variety. It is one of the reasons why maize farmers in Guatemala don´t always adopt grain silos…

By: Ford

Ford — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 22:06:17 +0000

I knew about the value of cyanide to deter theft and pests and have also read that it’s a useful pool of nitrogen for the root, but reducing “the social obligation to share” is interesting. As I recall, “Famine in Peasant Societies” puts part of the blame for famines on the expectation that anyone who gets a little ahead will share with relatives, rather than investing in irrigation equipment or whatever. Bank accounts, even if they don’t pay interest, offer a way to hide resources from relatives so, the book claims, famines became less likely. Still, do the risks of sharing outweigh the benefits? Or is there some optimum level of sharing?

By: Rhizowen

Rhizowen — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 06:28:13 +0000

A fascinating and salutary tale. I bet the same applies to non-bitter varieties of lupins, sorghum and quinoa.

By: Matt

Matt — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 02:28:29 +0000

Wow, thanks for that post! I never would have guessed bitterness would be important. It’s a good reminder for all of us not to get too ahead of ourselves in “fixing” other peoples ag problems.