There’s a glowing portrait of Ken Street, a plant hunter, in the Sydney Morning Herald. Street works with ICARDA, the International Centre for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas, based in Aleppo, Syria and spends much his time in the wilds of central Asia, searching out crop diversity. The piece is a bit gushy for my taste, and I’m not sure I agree with everything Street is quoted as saying. “We have been eating genetically modified organisms for 10,000 years” turns the phrase “genetically modified organisms” into meaningless guff. But he does make some good points about the amount of diversity that survives — for now — in places like Armenia and Tajikistan. If you want a glimpse into the life of a man they call “an agricultural Indiana Jones,” that’s what you’ll get.
Luigi unavailable for comment.
I just think the obsession of the press with Indiana Jones figures, while understandable, is worrying. It is part of the deeply boring meta-narrative that traces the roots of germplasm collecting back via Vavilov through Capt Bligh to that bas relief of the Egyptian queen everybody always quotes. Yawn. It also seems to suggest that the value of a seed sample resides largely in the effort made to collect it. There are more interesting – and equitable – ways of looking at this story.
Another thing occurs to me. Wasn’t Indiana Jones an archaeological “raider”? No prior informed consent and mutually agreed terms for him! I’m not at all sure that Dr Street relishes the comparison with an archaeo-pirate!
Hi Luigi and Jeremy,
While googling for one information abour one of my heroes, Frank N. Meyer, a website on plant collectors popped up http://www.plantexplorers.com/index.html. They have an interesting angle on the difference between plant hunter and plant explorer. Our mate N.I. Vavilov is not on their list…
Cheers
Dirk