- Monsanto under anti-trust investigation in US. h/t Our man in the policy maelstrom, Michael.
- Scientia Pro Publica, latest edition.
- From the SPP carnival, a recycled doormat saves edible marine biodiversity.
- Kelp farming in Maine. h/t Sadie Jane.
- “Is there such a thing as Agro-Imperialism?” we’ll let you know when we’ve read this long article. h/t Resilience Science
- This is the jerky of the plant kingdom. For those who don’t know, this is the jerky of the animal kingdom.
Building on coconut
The World Bank’s Development Marketplace 2009 is continuing to feature stories from the winners on its web site. And that’s good because we can scan them as they come up and draw attention to those that involve agricultural biodiversity. Today’s pick, a project from Samoa to build traditional houses “as models of ‘safer, accessible, resilient, and sustainable housing'”.
What’s particularly nice about this is the idea that traditional Samoan houses depend absolutely on agricultural products like the coconut fibre rope that people use to lash the components together. Modern houses built from steel reinforced concrete and corrugated metal cannot withstand cyclones, and their materials become deadly flying objects during storms. Hence the “innovation” of rediscovering traditional methods and material. Might help conserve coconut diversity too, I suppose.
Oh, and in case you were wondering about more obvious, though no less traditional, things to do with coconuts, why not download Coconut Recipes, from Bioversity International and COGENT?
Nibbles: Ecosystem services, Breadfruit, Oneida corn, Teff
- Map your own ecosystem services.
- Diane’s Garden: the story of the world’s largest breadfruit collection.
- Oneida people rediscover their traditional white corn varieties.
- White folks discover Ethiopian grain. “Teff is tasty, cute, expensive, temperamental, and enigmatic.”
Nibbles: Mutton, Vegetaballs, Orchids
- Why real farming needs great cooking. Upland mutton? I’d eat that.
- Down-your-throat vegetarianism. Justine bouche? I’d eat that.
- Orchid cuisine in Bhutan. Olachotho? I’d eat that.
Indigenous food book online
I don’t think I made it sufficiently clear when I last blogged about the FAO publication Indigenous Peoples’ Food Systems, published with the Centre for Indigenous Peoples’ Nutrition and Environment (CINE) that it is available in its entirety online as a pdf (9MB). Thank you, FAO!
