The Economist seems to have a thing about potatoes this week. There’s a story about how Peru is trying to cash in on its spud heritage. (Note to editor: the olluco is not a type of potato.) There’s a book review, of John Reader’s Propitious Esculent. And there’s even an editorial explaining how the humble tuber is at the root — as it were — of globalization. The International Year of the Potato cannot be over too quickly.
Nibbles: Peas, corn, marama, peaches, bees
- Follow along with the adventures of an amateur pea breeder. Mendel comments: “go for it, girl”.
- And the corn (maize) genome is announced, apparently with recipes. Via.
- Namibians domesticate nutritious wild legume. Mendel comments: “what’s wrong with peas?”
- New Zealand (re)discovers square peaches. Mendel unavailable on this one.
- Honeybee evolution summarized.
Nibbles: Decoration, insects
- (Agro)biodiversity used as personal decoration in the Omo Valley.
- Eating bugs is good for you. No, really. FAO says so!
Nibbles: Honey, seeds, bioprospecting, chocolate
- Haagen Dazs understands. No bees = no honey and no fruit.
- Over-excited about seeds. Jeremy comments, “It’s that time of the year”.
- South Korea bioprospecting in Costa Rica.
- A round-up of recent (bad) news on the chocolate front.
- Namibia: no country for vegetarians.
Nibbles: Japan, BBC TV, sauce, basmati, banana
- Indoor farms in Tokyo, growing a diversity of non-pot crops, to train yoof. Via.
- BBC News web site picks up on BBC World TV documentary on neglected species.
- The geography of sauce in South Carolina.
- India and Pakistan find something to agree on: basmati rice.
- Have we already mentioned this new book on bananas?