Luigi is the data massage king around these parts, no doubt about it. So he’ll surely be pleased to see this quick round-up from the Global Health Metrics and Evaluation conference, 2011. Why? Because it offers new opportunities that I can barely begin to make sense of, not least a tool called Tableau Public, “a free service that lets anyone publish interactive data to the web”. I took a quick gander, searching for some of my favourite terms. Alas, there isn’t a whole lot up there, except for this nifty look at the productivity of dairy cows in Wisconsin and yet another look at diabetes, poverty and obesity, which is awesomely interactive, but I’m sure that’ll change once Luigi gets his mitts on it. Maybe we could even find out whether life expectancy is related to percent of income spent on food.
Behold, the coconut!
Myths and legends surrounding the origins of food are, not surprisingly, very common. Here’s a new one on me: according to one story, deftly told by Roland Bourdeix on one of his blogs, the island of Niue — the Rock of Polynesia — owes its name to two very special varieties of coconut. But don’t take my word for it; read Roland’s post.
Are there other places named specifically for foods? And is there some central repository of myths and legends that involve agriculture and food? I don’t know of one.
Brainfood: Chia, Lentils, Bambara groundnut, Cacao, Amaranths, Rwanda, Cherimoya, Conservation, Drought, Plasticity, Phenology
- Extending the range of an ancient crop, Salvia hispanica L.—a new ω3 source. So we can grow it in the US, natch.
- Characterization of the lentil landrace Santo Stefano di Sessanio from Abruzzo, Italy. In the market, some are not what they claim to be; I’m shocked.
- Genetic diversity in Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc.) as revealed by phenotypic descriptors and DArT marker analysis. They’re pretty diverse, especially in Cameroon/Nigeria, which may be where they were domesticated.
- Genetic diversity and spatial structure in a new distinct Theobroma cacao L. population in Bolivia. They’re different from other cacao populations, and probably indigenous to Bolivia.
- Systematics and taxonomic delimitation of vegetable, grain and weed amaranths: a morphological and biochemical approach. Relationships? It’s complex.
- First and second millennium a.d. agriculture in Rwanda: archaeobotanical finds and radiocarbon dates from seven sites. Earliest pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum), finger millet (Eleusine coracana) and sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) in the region, but do they really mean AD?
- The use of consecutive micrografting improves micropropagation of cherimoya (Annona cherimola Mill.) cultivars. It does, what more can I tell you?
- Social and ecological synergy: Local rulemaking, forest livelihoods, and biodiversity conservation. Big meta-analysis reveals complexity and the importance of participation by “local forest users.”
And here are a trio of rhyming couplets, if you see what I mean:
- The relative importance of drought and other water-related constraints for major food crops in South Asian farming systems. Drought and water constraints are widespread in South Asia. Though they contribute no more than 20-30% of current yield gaps, investment in genetic solutions needs to continue. Alas, there are significant Challenges in breeding for yield increase for drought. Nothing that can’t be overcome, though.
- Rethinking species’ ability to cope with rapid climate change. It’s the plasticity, stupid.
- Meta-analyses suggest strong selection on flowering phenology both in plants in general and in chickpea in particular.
Nibbles: Cardamom, FIGS, Descriptors, Haiti
- Cardamom scrutinised.
- A Lifeboat to the Gene Pool. Our friend Dr Dag “provides some of the first experimental evidence to support the FIGS concept”. With slides.
- Descriptor lists are important, says Bioversity today. No joke.
- An investigation, quite possibly partisan, but that’s the point, into emergency seed aid to Haiti after the earthquake.
Nutritionist tells researchers what to eat shock
According to a report over at the Vaviblog, Bioversity’s nutritionist Jessica Fanzo was beset by questioners after her talk at the Vavilov Institute mentioned both the bad nutritional status of most Russians and the high nutritional value of some fruits and berries at the threatened Pavlovsk Experiment Station. She was bombarded with requests for advice. The Vaviblog’s correspondent reports:
One response stuck in my mind. Jessica was asked whether one couldn’t get all the vitamins and minerals one needs from pills. She said yes, but you have to get everything else from food, so why not the vitamins as well, by choosing your food better?
Especially if you like your potatoes processed and potable.