Nibbles: Tree ID, Pyramid scheme, Looking ahead, Fun with mould, GM wheat, Sinai reclaimed

Stuff that’s been sitting around while I’ve been lying on a beach:

Speaking of apps for agriculture, here’s one that identifies North American trees.
R. Ford Denison spots the weakness in an afro-forestry get-rich-quick scheme.
Public Radio International has a big series on feeding the 9 billion — and wants photos of your lunch.
I’ve no idea why people are squeamish about smut. Huitlacoche is my personal favourite among Smithsonian MAG’s Four Fungi Fit For Your Plate.
No idea what’s happened lately to Monsanto’s GM wheat fiasco. Is the US National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation off the hook?
And something old yet new: reclaiming the Sinai for agriculture by reviving an ancient river.

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.