Cooking

Nibbles: Wild pig, Indicators, Ethiopian agrobiodiversity, Traditional crops, Purple haze, Fraises des Bois, Chef prize, Breadfruit, Sorghum nutrition, Moringa, NWFP, Barcoding, Arnold Arboretum

Warty pig saved by genomics.
So apparently there’s a Biodiversity Barometer. Via the Biodiversity Indicator Partnership.
Traditional crops survive, but under threat, in Ethiopian highlands. And a whole issue of Farming Matters on why it’s important that they do survive.
More on that purple wheat heirloom variety coming back from the brink.
Going back to the original European strawberry. No, I’m not going to make any jokes about that.
There’s going to be a Nobel for chefs. If they can make use of breadfruit, they’ll deserve it.
Yes, sorghum rotis can taste good. And they’re good for you.
Big Moringa shill makes case for next superfood :)
Did I already say that FAO’s Nonwood Forest Products Newsletter seems to have been resurrected? Do subscribe.
On my work blog, I say genebanks could be a bit more like supermarkets.
Collecting trees.

Aussie native vegetables on the menu. No Latin names, but Rhizowen Radix tell me: youlk = Platysace deflexa; kulyu = Ipomoea calobra.
Another non-scientifically named plant is set to save the Amazon. Turns out it’s Ilex guayusa. Probably.
World Bank to build genebank in Bolivia.
World Coffee Research puts out nice variety catalogue.
Our paper of a couple of years ago on globalized diets makes it to Scientific American and gets mashed up with the latest one.
Purple patch for Purple Straw?
Yes, you can garden clams.

“Friends don’t let friends make bar plots.” Of course they don’t.
Friend also don’t let friends hype the carrot and cassava genomes.
“The food of the true revolutionary is the red pepper. And he who cannot endure red peppers is also unable to fight:”  chili con China.
Salvatore Ceccarelli, who should know, on the centrality of seed. And the guys from Experimental Farm Network would agree.
Yes, you can now have organic tej.
“In theory…the undoubted value of these natural treasures should be reflected in their price, which should rise steeply as they become scarcer… In practice, natural assets are often hard to price well, if at all.”
A “Himalayan solution” for pomegranate breeding.
Nutsedge definitely needs a new name.
First formal record of the baobab in Uganda.
Wind-resistant tree germplasm for the Pacific. Much needed.