Nibbles: Earth, Cheese, Silkworms, Biodiversity, Food, Cows, Pigs, Blog, Oysters, Organic

Stunning images of Earth from space. Direct agricultural (biodiversity) interest at 3, 6 and 15.
A cheese that’s full of agrobiodiversity. In more ways than one.
Agrobiodiversity useful in space. And from space.
Biodiversity in Africa. Agriculture mentioned, and not just in a bad way. Nice maps too.
Eggplants. Agrobiodiversity. Cooking. Sex. Video.
Sad story of a farmer losing his cows. Not just cows, “the oldest pure breed on Earth.”
Farmers bred colourful pigs for the sheer hell of it.
CABI blog reviews 2008.
Keeping oysters healthy is hard.
Legendary breeder Khush says organic rice not a good idea.
Variation Under Domestication. Darwin’s Origin blogged.

A paean to diverse diets is just what we all need.
And another one, from the MIT Technology Review of all places.
Menawhile, there’s only one reference to dietary diversity in the World Bank’s investment framework for nutrition.
Maybe you have to quantify that diversity before you can save it? Now where have I heard that before?
Meanwhile, Europe reports on biodiversity-friendly farming practices. Does that include the biodiversity of the actual crops? Perhaps surprisingly, yes!
You want biodiversity-friendly farming practices? Talk to Indigenous people. The Committee on World Food Security (CFS) has launched an e-consultation on “Preserving, strengthening and promoting Indigenous Peoples’ food and knowledge systems and traditional practices for sustainable food systems.”
There’s diversity in asparagus too.
Genebanks can help with those biodiversity-friendly practices, diverse diets and rops and Indigenous practices.
Even big international genebanks.
Even the Svalbard Global Seed Vault.
But some are in trouble.
Though others are coming back.