Mainstream

October 17, 2006March 3, 2026

Fair dues

Did you know October was Fair Trade Month? There’s a nice discussion of fair trade in chocolate here. Again, has anyone done an empirical study of how fair trade certification affects genetic diversity in farmers’ fields?

1. Festivals, rituals and seed-saving go hand in hand, as this photo essay on Koraput’s Adivasis shows for World Indigenous Peoples Day.
2. Speaking of unlikely alliances, Israeli and Palestinian researchers have teamed up on wheat that can take the heat in a warming, drying Middle East.
3. Not to be outdone in the resilience stakes, the cowpea shrugs off both drought and flooding, according to FAO.
4. If all this talk of resilient crops has you inspired, here’s a how-to on starting your own community seed bank, in South Africa or anywhere else for that matter.
5. And for when preservation is really about nostalgia: Romania’s Buzau genebank is keeping childhood mint flavours alive, chocolate, clove and vanilla notes included.
Published on August 13, 2026