Cooking

April 15, 2010April 15, 2010

Fairtrade quinoa vodka hits the stores

Oliver Morton alerts me on Twitter to the existence of a fairtrade quinoa vodka. The “first fairtrade certified vodka in the world,” no less. The quinoa comes from Bolivia, but the vodka is made in France as a joint venture.

The quinoa used by FAIR Vodka is cultivated by over 1,200 small producers in the Bolivian Altiplano and gathered within the Anapqui cooperative, the main association of farming producers in the country. With a strong focus on sustainability, FAIR is keen to build long-term relationships with their partnered cooperatives along with their communities in order to ensure their continued development.

A quick look around the intertubes did not reveal much in the way of other alcoholic beverages made from quinoa, apart from a reference to its use in making a type of chicha in Ecuador. Anyone know more?

April 14, 2010April 14, 2010

Nibbles: Aubergines, Opuntia, Amazonian ag, Kenya, Swiflets, Coconut and Web 2.0, PROTA, Mexico, Fruit wild relatives

More either-or stuff from the Guardian on the Indian GM brijal story.
The USDA prickly pear cactus germplasm collection gets some exposure. And how many times can one say that.
Much better title from Discover on that ancient northern Amazonian earthworks story.
Kenyan foresters tell people to eat bamboo. Luigi’s mother-in-law politely demurs. On the other hand, she might like this.
Swiflet farming? Swiflet farming.
Really heated exchange on paper on coconut lethal yellowing in Yucatan develops on Google Groups. I love the internet.
PROTA publishes expensive book on promising African plants. Promises, promises. NASA promised us the personal jetpack. Where are we with that?
Nice summary of that Mesoamerican agricultural origins story we blogged briefly about a few days ago. So what exactly do you call hunter-gatherers who also grow crops?
First International Symposium on Wild Relatives of Subtropical and Temperate Fruit and Nut Crops will be held March 19-23, 2011 in Davis, California on the campus of the University of California, Davis. Book early.

April 12, 2010April 12, 2010

Nibbles: Sustainability, Urban Ag, Briefed, Tea, Yogurt, Manure, Soil, Intensiculture

Interesting stuff behind a paywall: Thai government rethinks sustainability. Not that interesting.
Same goes for Latin American Agroecologists Build a Powerful Scientific and Social Movement.
CNN Mexico shows-and-tells the Spanish-speaking world about urban agriculture. Thanks Jeff.
Emile Frison briefs Eurocrats on the The key relationship between biodiversity and agriculture. Video!
Reflections on the invention of agriculture in MesoAmerica.
Nailing fraudulent labeling of Darjeeling tea. Throw the book at them, I say.
Lassi: “It’s the taste.” Yeah but how healthy can you make the stuff?
“We found large differences in manure levels…” I bet you did.
Soil! Don’t treat it like dirt. (Jeremy’s favourite bumper sticker.)
Veggies in windows, fish in cages.

April 9, 2010April 9, 2010

Nibbles: Asses, Mapping pathogens, Oysters, Tea, Turkish biodiversity hotspot, Dolmades and sage, Yams festival, Pollen video, Agriculture and mitigation, Rarity, School feeding, Sheep

Jeremy probes into wild asses at Vaviblog.
Mapping the evolution of pathogens. And in kinda related news…
The European oyster needs diversity. Well, natch.
The tree forests of Yunnan, and, concidentally, the story of how the secret of their product got out.
The Kaçkar Mountains at Yusufeli, northeast Turkey are in trouble. Any crop wild relatives there, among the bears and other charismatic megafauna?
Speaking of Turkey, here’s how to make one of its delicacies. But hey, if you don’t have vine leaves, you can use this.
Having fun with yams.
Drori does pollen.
FAO’s Mitigation of Climate Change in Agriculture (MICCA) Project. Any agrobiodiversity-related stuff? Need to explore…
“…conserving species may only require specific activities, such as collect and distributing seeds.”
African school feeding programme uses “local” products. What would Paarlberg say? You can find out here, if you have 90 minutes to spare.
British boffins breed self-shearing sheep. No, really.

April 8, 2010April 8, 2010

Nibbles: Apples, Mango, Atlas, Cheese

NY Times touts heirloom apple book.
Coca Cola to help Haitian mango farmers.
Nature Conservancy launches online Atlas of Global Conservation. No agriculture, natch.
Promoting Mediterranean cheese.