There’s a paper out on the diversity of Agave in Mexico, the source of tequila.
Growing grains
Blogger Mustard Plaster has decided to delve into the magic of growing cereal grains with hull-less oats and hull-less barley. She complains that there isn’t much advice on gardening books, and she’s right. As one who has been there and done that, I can recommend only one book: “Small-Scale Grain Raising” by Gene Logsdon. And to tell the truth, even that is not much use for the gardener, although it is a fun read. Freshly ground, home grown cereals; that would take a lot of beating at breakfast time.
Fermenting revolution
Sandor Katz wrote a classic book a few years back about the history and practice of fermentation as a technique for preparing, enhancing and preserving food. Catch an interview with him at Grist. Let’s not forget that agricultural biodiversity includes that pesky microflora.
Dietary diversification for teachers
I guess it’s a bit old, but I was impressed by an FAO manual for teachers of agriculture, food and nutrition in Africa, in particular its chapter on diversity in diets. The message on agricultural biodiversity and its role in healthy diets has to start going out as early as possible.
Archaeology of food
Speaking of conferences, there’s another one that’s worth keeping an eye on, which I learned about via Eurekalert. It’s called Food and Drink in Archaeology 2007 and will feature a keynote address by Professor Martin Jones of the Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge entitled “Feast: Why Humans Share Food.”
Why is this relevant to us here at the Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog? Well…
Whilst the importance of nutrition for survival has long been recognised, recent studies have increasingly stressed the cultural significance of the production, distribution and consumption of foodstuffs through out all archaeological periods. An understanding of diet in past societies is therefore crucial to an understanding of daily life, and the relationships between different classes and societies throughout the world.