Nibbles

August 22, 2014March 5, 2026

Nibbles: Frankincense, Stevia, Market forces

Busy? I should say so. And major kudos to Luigi for shouldering the burden. In the process of declaring RSS bankruptcy this morning, just four items seemed both timely and worthwhile. So here goes nothing:

Harvesting frankincense robs the trees, so at least do it right.
If Coke with Stevia is Coke Life, Alun Salt points out, then regular Coke must be, er, … better tasting?
Folk keep telling developing-country farmers to hook up with local markets, now English allotmenteers are doing the same. H/t CRF.
And if it’s market apostasy you’re after, how about Raising food prices to end hunger?

August 15, 2014

Nibbles: Fossil biodiversity, Culture & health, Cicer drought experiment, Endangered fish, Wheat hydridization, Food aid, Ag trade double, Sustainable diets, Fermentation book

The Global Fossil Record. Visualized. Not agricultural, but couldn’t resist it.
Malnutrition? It’s the culture, stupid.
Check out the world’s largest chickpea drought trial.
Overfishing the Amazon.
Ah, so that’s how wheat did it!
Food aid can support sustainable livelihoods too.
Soon, most crop production will go to feed China’s pigs. And you’ll be able to follow that on FAOStat’s interactive thingie on agricultural tradeflows.
But it can’t possibly be good for sustainable diets, can it?
New book on fermentation. Never enough of those.

August 8, 2014August 7, 2014

Nibbles: Restoring forests, Sampling strategies, Breadfruit history, Wheat & CC, Pacific fisheries, Sustainable food experts, CG talkfest, Irish & potatoes, Diet costs, ITPGRFA projects, Poaching & medicine, Coca alternatives, Ethiopian agroforestry, Mutation breeding, Gaza greens

Genetic considerations in ecosystem restoration using native tree species. No excuse for getting it wrong now.
“Careful tailoring of seed collections to specific species and situations critical to preserving plant diversity.” No excuse for getting it wrong now.
Breadfruit makes The Paris Review.
Got any ideas on protecting wheat from heat and drought?
Where will Pacific Islanders get their protein from if all the fish go?
International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems set up. Rejoice. Maybe they’ll be invited to the CGIAR’s Development Dialogues.
The Irish know a thing or two about sustainable food systems.
Yeah but how much does a decent diet cost anyway?
An overview of the Seed Treaty’s projects on climate change adaptation.
Poaching in Kenya driven by demand for dodgy traditional medicine? And finding an alternative for Peru’s traditional medicine of choice.
What has agroforestry ever done for us?
You say conventional I say mutation.
The leafy greens of Gaza.

August 6, 2014August 5, 2014

Nibbles: Bamboo, Green Wall, Rubber, Cacao, Quinoa

Fancy a bamboo tour of China? Maybe these guys from Alabama will go.
You can build with it, of course.
Even help build a wall, perhaps.
Rubber won’t be much good for that, I guess. But it has its uses.
Always has.
And then there’s cacao.
Sustainable, of course.
With all that that entails with regard to land rights, for example.
And let’s stop saying that all these things poor people grow are somehow bad for them, shall we?

August 4, 2014

Nibbles: Sorghum research, Alternative millet, IRRI genebank genomics, Cattle genomes, CIAT genebank, Rainforest genebank, Saving seeds, Millet in India, Varied diets, Cheese rind microbes, Fermentation, Artisanal hooch, Truffle oil, Coconut water, Fancy carrots, Edible insects, Farming tuna, Saving cetaceans, Fancy tomato database

What must be done about sorghum in Africa, by someone who should know because they worked at ICRISAT, which has a sorghum genebank.
ICRISAT also has pearl millet genebanks — in India and Africa. So when did pearl millet become “alternative” in India? Well, at least it’s not on this list of “indigenous foods.”
3000 rice genomes (from the IRRI genebank), and 1000 bull genomes. Brave new world.
The CIAT genebank makes the news, and not a genome in sight.
An in situ forest genebank deep in the heart of Sabah.
And you can bet they’re all saving seeds the right way. But there’s always a webinar if not. Or this.
Micronutrients? It’s the food system, stupid. Yes, indeedy. And there’s even a webinar about it.
The fascinating microbial system of cheese rinds.
Sauerkraut has a pretty fascinating microbial system too, I bet.
Artisanal whiskey is a thing? Isn’t it, basically, moonshine?
Truffle oil is a scam. Damn.
Coconut water tries not to seem a scam.
Heifer Farm shows off its weird carrots. Yeah, they’re more than just about livestock at Heifer.
Though that doesn’t include insects, I don’t think. Yes, insects.
Or bluefin tuna. Or the vaquita. But enough of that.
Plenty of weird tomatoes on this great wiki I came across.