Ranching in South America tends to get a bad press because it is often associated with Amazonian deforestation, but of course there are vast swathes of the continent where it makes good environmental sense, as well as economic. ((For a discussion of the related question of the bad press that pastoralism gets, see this post in CABI’s blog, which coincidentally came out just a few hours after I posted this.)) The Pampas grasslands of Argentina are a case in point. The home of gaucho culture ((Which, incidentally, is not as homogeneous and predictable as one might think.)), the Pampas are undergoing drastic change. The soybean boom is not just having an effect on the livestock industry, but also, perhaps surprisingly, on honeymaking. Much smaller in value, no doubt, than either soybeans or livestock, but these are not times to pass up on diversification.
Nibbles: Cacao, Pamphlets, Breadfruit, Goats, Milk, Economic drivers, Truffles
- Cacao comes in 10 “flavours”, not just 3.
- PDFs of pamphlets on different aspects of agricultural biodiversity from FAO.
- Diane Ragone interviewed on breadfruit.
- Something for the weekend, Mr Goat?
- Got yak milk?
- High livestock prices mean lots of livestock on the land means low biodiversity on farmland. Here comes the science.
- NatGeo video on the trouble with truffles.
Nibbles: Meat, Meet
- Visayan warty piglet eaten. Python blamed.
- Biodiversity and Agricultures: Today’s Challenges, Tomorrow’s Research for More Sustainable Farmingâ€. Can’t wait for November 5th.
Nibbles: Heirlooms, Seed, Ethnic cuisine, Meat, Sheep
- “The ‘Heirloom Tomato Salad’ was made with a mix of Sweet 100 and Sungold tomatoes — both of which are hybrid varieties.”
- FARMER’S NOTEBOOK: The importance of preserving native seed varieties.
- Increasing culinary diversity in the US.
- Eat a kangaroo and save the planet. No? How about moose then? You can have too much culinary diversity, perhaps.
- Climate change: the silver lining.
Nibbles: Polyploids, Testicular cooking, Genes, Mongoose, Pears
- Parade of Polyploids! I know, but that’s what it says on the site.
- Balls.
- Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant: The Joy of Genes … Illustrated. Teachers, use it!
- How mongooses got to Spain.
- Pears that look like apples.