Joanna Linsley-Poe is a “chef, artisan bread baker, ancient food historian, food archaeologist and anthropologist as well as a writer. Although that sounds like quite a mouthful, I guess it’s all about a love of history and food.” We can relate to that! Joanna started blogging at Ancientfoods in September last year. I’ve added her to our blogroll and subscribed to her RSS feed.
Day 1 at the Amman drylands conference
The international conference on Food Security and Climate Change in Dry Areas got off to a stirring start with a long, passionate and scientifically very literate speech from the guest of honour, HRH Prince El Hassan Bin Talal. That was followed by keynotes from Drs Mahendra Shah and Mahmoud Solh, who have a huge amount of experience at the highest level of agricultural research and strategic planning in this region and beyond. Now, I did tweet some key points from their talks via my mobile, but as I write this over lunch they haven’t turned up in our stream yet. For all I know, they never will. Wifi access in the conference room is problematic, so you may have to be satisfied with these occasional summaries.
Anyway, here are some selected soundbites — the agrobiodiversity themed ones, mainly — from the morning session, including the Q&A:
Following the Food Security and Climate Change in Dry Areas conference
ICARDA and partners have organized an international conference on Food Security and Climate Change in Dry Areas. Plenty of agrobiodiversity on its menu, no doubt. It starts tomorrow, and you’ll be able to get a blow-by-blow account on the CGIAR’s climate change blog, Rural Climate Exchange. And possibly here too, but we’ll see.
Bring on the meta-meta-analysis of organic agriculture’s benefits
Whether or not organic food brings nutritional benefits over conventional food has been a matter of considerable inquiry and debate. The issue came to a head last month when a study commissioned by the UK’s Food Standards Agency (FSA) concluded that there is no evidence of nutritional superiority.
Now, however, a review published in the journal Agronomy for Sustainable Development has said drawn wildly different conclusions.
Oh, this will run and run, you mark my words…
Vote for your favourite nutrition innovation
The finalists of the Improved Nutrition Solutions Through Innovation competition are up on Ashoka’s Changemakers site. One project promises that a “native rainforest food for school lunches improves child health while motivating reforestation.” And another wants to produce nutritional supplements from Moringa. It may not be enormously innovative, but I personally like Gardens for Health best, because it has the least of the silver bullet about it, and the most agrobiodiversity.
Gardens for Health enables people living with HIV/AIDS to improve their nutrition, health, and treatment adherence through sustainable agriculture. GHI provides access to land and patient capital for community gardens, seeds and tree seedlings for family home gardens, technical assistance in sustainable agriculture and nutrition, and market linkages
Go vote. You have until 8 February.