Indigenous knowledge systems

June 23, 2009June 23, 2009

Around the world in a grain of rice

A great image of agrobiodiversity from Italian Grazia magazine, with thanks to Linda for cutting it out and saving it for me. It’s not online, so this is a scan. Click on the image to enlarge it. The spoonfuls are, from the top:

1. arboreo rice for risotto
2. long-grain basmati rice
3. mixture of rice, oats and Khorasan wheat
4. Sisa rice for sushi
5. black Venere rice
6. long-grain red rice
7. basmati again
8. mixture of unmilled rices

June 21, 2009June 29, 2009

Rescuing Pawnee corn

There’s an extremely intriguing article in Sunday’s North Platte Telegraph. North Platte is in Nebraska, and the story is bylined Kearney, which is in the same state. Nebraska is home to the Pawnee people, ((Although actually the Pawnee Nation seems to be in Oklahoma. I don’t quite get it.)) and the article is basically an account of a tribal function held last Friday “to welcome Pawnee tribal members back to their ancestral lands.” During the luncheon, Tom Hoegemeyer, described as a geneticist “whose family operates a large Nebraska seed corn company” and who “is chairman of a U.S. group working to enhance U.S. germplasm of corn,” gave a keynote in which, among other things, he said that

“We’ll do everything in our power to address the Pawnee corn.”

Pawnee corn is an issue because

Attempts to grow the tribe’s traditional varieties have had mixed results. Some seeds will not germinate, EchoHawk said.

EchoHawk is

the Pawnee’s director of education and is one of three women known as the “corn sisters” because they are attempting to revive the strains of corn the tribe grew on its ancestral lands in Nebraska.

As I say, intriguing. And fascinating. I want to know more. What’s wrong with the Pawnee’s corn, exactly? Stay tuned.

Extra information: More on the rescuing of Pawnee corn and Pawnee corn pix.

June 17, 2009June 17, 2009

Nibbles: Bamboo, Methane, Obama, Pests

Fiat ghost paper. From bamboo.
“If a cow burps, how do you measure it?“
Recruiting drive: “I want you to continue to be my little ambassadors in your own home and your own communities.”
“Insects and humans compete for food.” Say it isn’t so, Lubin Library.

June 16, 2009

Nibbles: Wild sweet potatoes, Celiac, Chains, Medicinal tea, Salvia

How to do interspecific crosses in Ipomoea.
Proprietary blend of amaranth, buckwheat, teff, millet, quinoa, sorghum and cassava flour for gluten-free diets.
Making food standards work for smallholders. Yeah, right.
Rauvolfia vomitoria leaf tea good for diabetes. Bit worried about that epithet though.
Mexican sage banned in another state. Pass the peyote then.

June 16, 2009June 15, 2009

Using local resources to cope with high food prices

The 34th session of the Committee on World Food Security at FAO Headquarters in October 2008 included a side event of the Standing Committee on Nutrition on the Impact of high food prices on nutrition. Pablo Eyzaguirre, Senior Scientist, Bioversity International gave a presentation entitled, Coping with high food prices: making better use of local food sources.

Then he was interviewed. Well worth watching. Thanks, Arwen and Facebook.