Nibbles: GIPB, NPGS, Dogs for conservation, Harare gardens, Goat milk value added, Equator Prize, Humanitarian relief, Peruvian maize, Pseudo-cereals, Katine, Vavilov goes web 2.0, Travel, Haggis ban, African road datasets, Dyes, Adaptation pix, Baltic, AnGR, Jatropha

Nibbles: City fish, Phylogenetics course, Andy got a brand new blog, Leather value-adding, Cod, Monastery gardens, Microbial collections, Cassava, Animal genebank, Biofuel

Nibbles: School gardens, Nabhan, Reforestation, Swine flu, Boar, Nutrinomics, Medieval sheep, Market, Acacia, Livestock breeds, Bees, Buffalo breeding, Quinoa

Backyard livestock, what is it good for? Asthma!

A fascinating post from our friends over at The Ethicurean makes the case for backyard livestock as a valuable component of making life dirtier so as to avoid the diseases of cleanliness. Marc R. writes:

[R]ecent science is hinting that early childhood exposure to domestic animals can actually protect against the chronic condition [of asthma], so well-cared-for backyard animals like chickens or miniature goats could actually have an additional, unexpected benefit.

Marc goes on to summarize (and link to) various threads that address the “hygiene hypothesis,” a good starting point for anyone who wants to learn more about the possibility of strengthening the immune system by offering it a few more friendly sparring partners. To which I would add Seth Roberts on fermented foods, although the links to health take a little hunting down.

Evil locavore Alice Walters destroys California education

When is it a bad idea for children to play around in school gardens?

This notion—that it is agreeably possible to do good (school gardens!) and live well (guinea hens!)—bears the hallmark of contemporary progressivism, a kind of win-win, “let them eat tarte tatin” approach to the world and one’s place in it that is prompting an improbable alliance of school reformers, volunteers, movie stars, politicians’ wives, and agricultural concerns (the California Fertilizer Foundation is a big friend of school gardens) to insert its values into the schools.