Nibbles – Page 449 – Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog

November 5, 2007

Oldest sausage recipe found

Bratwurst: adding value to agrobiodiversity for 600 years.

November 3, 2007

Food data online at NAL

Historic USDA food composition tables digitized.

November 2, 2007

Human and baobab distribution in Mali

People and baobabs are kinda symbiotic.

November 2, 2007November 3, 2007

Community-based gardening for yoofs

How to interest children in gardening: weeding doesn’t cut it.

October 31, 2007November 2, 2007

Diversity good for pastures too

More agrobiodiverse European pastures areÂ more productive.

1. Ancient farmers didn’t have to wait for the genetic diversity that made domestication possible. They selected from variation already present in wild plants, including the ancestors of rice and maize. Domestication was as much about spotting (or happening upon) useful differences as creating new ones.
2. English colonists in America called Indigenous dogs “wolves,” revealing as much about colonial perceptions as about the animals themselves. This history of Indigenous dogs shows how unfamiliar animals were classified through peculiarly European ideas about wildness.
3. Austria is bringing forgotten apple varieties back to life. Saving old varieties in genebanks is one thing: getting people to grow, sell and eat them is another, but it can be done. Or at least tried.
4. Jordan’s olive-oil heritage centres on traditional varieties such as Nabali and ancient Rumi trees, but most production is consumed locally, leaving exports limited and making provenance, cultivar and harvest date important indicators for buyers. Compare and contrast with Austrian apples.
5. Small island developing states have distinctive food cultures and ingredients, but face particular challenges in building sustainable and resilient food systems. FAO’s A Taste of SIDS explores the connections between island food, biodiversity and culinary heritage. Nice to see diversity within crops considered, though a few local variety names would have been nice.
Published on October 21, 2026