Nibbles – Page 501 – Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog

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June 1, 2007June 1, 2007

Sustainable tea

Unilever, which buys 12% of the world’s tea production, wants it all certified sustainable by 2015.

Agave paper

There’s a paper out on the diversity of Agave in Mexico, the source of tequila.

Insect diet

A Kenyan researcher tries to get people to eat more insects.

May 30, 2007May 30, 2007

Buzzing wake up call

Jennifer Dotson’s letter to the Washington Post about bee declines refers to “forgotten soldiers of the food supply”. I like that.

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