Commodity

October 24, 2011

Nibbles: Bourdeix, Early ag, Amaranthus in beer

Dr Roland Bourdeix is the new COGENT Coordinator.
Early American hunter-gatherers ate maize.
Dogfish Head crowdsources a new beer. And it’s got NUS. Rejoice.

October 21, 2011

Nibbles: Coffee pix, Afghanistan pix, #GROW, #GORTA

It’s been coffee week at Old Picture of the Day.
More pictures. Afghanistan’s silk industry this time.
It’s been #GROW Week too.
Jess at Gorta. Follow #gorta for live updates.

September 30, 2011September 30, 2011

Nice cuppa tea

The National Maritime Museum has a new gallery entitled ‘Trade Routes’ on the East India Company. There’s a couple of really nice associated videos on agrobiodiversity themes: tea and spices. No word on whether opium is in the offing.

Trade routes: tea from National Maritime Museum on Vimeo.

August 30, 2011August 30, 2011

Nibbles: Gossypium, Helianthus, Cacao, Berries, Heirlooms, Seminars

Cotton domestication deconstructed.
Sunflower domestication deconstructed too.
Chocolate smell deconstructed.
Exotic (North American) wild berries deconstructed.
“Heirloom” deconstructed.
XXIII Regional agrobiodiversity seminar and the X Regional traditional seed market. The region being Contestado, in Brazil. Deconstruction not available.

August 3, 2011August 3, 2011

Nibbles: Pastoralism, Carnival, Mustangs, Cassava, Tea, Biofuels

Pastoral mobiity “a trump card to be strengthened”.
Latest Berry go Round is up, although I can’t actually read it myself.
Wild horses in the US southwest.
Cassava notes: GMO cassava lower in cyanogens, higher in protein.
Climate change threatens Ugandan tea. Luigi’s MIL secretly pleased.
How to guarantee a food-insecure future in Kenya.

1. Ancient farmers didn’t have to wait for the genetic diversity that made domestication possible. They selected from variation already present in wild plants, including the ancestors of rice and maize. Domestication was as much about spotting (or happening upon) useful differences as creating new ones.
2. English colonists in America called Indigenous dogs “wolves,” revealing as much about colonial perceptions as about the animals themselves. This history of Indigenous dogs shows how unfamiliar animals were classified through peculiarly European ideas about wildness.
3. Austria is bringing forgotten apple varieties back to life. Saving old varieties in genebanks is one thing: getting people to grow, sell and eat them is another, but it can be done. Or at least tried.
4. Jordan’s olive-oil heritage centres on traditional varieties such as Nabali and ancient Rumi trees, but most production is consumed locally, leaving exports limited and making provenance, cultivar and harvest date important indicators for buyers. Compare and contrast with Austrian apples.
5. Small island developing states have distinctive food cultures and ingredients, but face particular challenges in building sustainable and resilient food systems. FAO’s A Taste of SIDS explores the connections between island food, biodiversity and culinary heritage. Nice to see diversity within crops considered, though a few local variety names would have been nice.
Published on October 21, 2026