- American farming family gets tour of organic research farm and genebank in India, is impressed.
- The International Agricultural Show is on, just outside Paris. Pres. Sarkozy available for comment.
- A rapid run-through the history of chocolate, courtesy of Smithsonian.
Nibbles: Japan, BBC TV, sauce, basmati, banana
- Indoor farms in Tokyo, growing a diversity of non-pot crops, to train yoof. Via.
- BBC News web site picks up on BBC World TV documentary on neglected species.
- The geography of sauce in South Carolina.
- India and Pakistan find something to agree on: basmati rice.
- Have we already mentioned this new book on bananas?
Oekologie #14
Another of those pesky blog carnivals is up for your reading pleasure. We’re in there, with Luigi’s Modest Proposal to mash walkers with missing species. There’s also an interesting link to Coffee and Conservation, a new one to me, with a close look at just what shade-grown coffee means on the slopes of Panama. Eye-opening.
Building a better chocolate market
It is possible there may be too many ethical cocoa schemes out there. There’s Fairtrade and the Cadbury Cocoa Partnership. And the Good Inside Cocoa Programme, with Mars and Nestle on board. Is it all getting a bit too complicated? Do we have too much of this good thing?
Machine with a taste for espresso
Swiss scientists announce a machine “to predict the sensory profile of espresso coffee.” Luigi comments: “Yeah, right.”