Nibbles – Page 454 – Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog

October 23, 2007October 23, 2007

Capers packed with antioxidants

Salted capers are good for you. (Actually, they’re good. period.)

October 22, 2007April 14, 2011

Giant African snail both treat and menace

African mini-livestock species runs amok in Brazil.

October 22, 2007October 22, 2007

US National Agricultural Library blog

This could be fun: InfoFarm is a blog at the US National Agricultural Library. via IAALD.

October 22, 2007October 22, 2007

An African view for World Food Day

A locally-based prescription to fight food insecurity.

October 19, 2007

Teaching kids about fungi

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