Nutrition

May 11, 2011May 11, 2011

Access to article about open access not open access

There’s an article in the top-ranking Journal of the American Dietetic Association entitled Open-Access to Nutrition Research Information: A Public Policy Debate. This is important. There have been some interesting analyses of the impact of open-access publication on things like citation and impact of research work. And research on nutrition is of vital concern for public health. So a public policy debate is clearly a good idea. I wonder what Jackie W. Ammerman, author of the paper, has to say on the topic. Oh no! The article is behind a paywall! h/t Corby Vorland

You simply cannot make this stuff up.

May 11, 2011May 11, 2011

Nibbles: Beer in Sudan, Tea and pastoralism in Kenya, Iron in beans, Mediterranean diet

Sudanese beer-drinkers in trouble. Let my people go!
The future of tea in Kenya. Mother-in-law alerted.
Meanwhile, Kenyan pastoralists go back to the future.
Slideshow: “Combating hidden hunger through bio-fortification.” Beanz meanz ironz.
May is Mediterranean Diet Month. It is? I mean, who knew?

May 9, 2011May 9, 2011

Brainfood: Australian obesity, Pigeonpea blight, Chocolate spot, Agroforestry, Andean potato agriculture, Salinity tolerance, Tree migration, Tea

The Australian paradox: A substantial decline in sugars intake over the same timeframe that overweight and obesity have increased. Wait … there’s an Australian paradox too?
Phytophthora blight of Pigeonpea [Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.]: An updating review of biology, pathogenicity and disease management. The wild relatives are sources of resistance, but that won’t be enough.
Effects of crop mixtures on chocolate spot development on faba bean grown in mediterranean climates. Intercropping with cereals reduces the disease.
Combining high biodiversity with high yields in tropical agroforests. It can be done, for smallholder cacao in Indonesia.
And elsewhere … Cost benefit and livelihood impacts of agroforestry in Bangladesh. An entire book.
Resource concentration dilutes a key pest in indigenous potato agriculture. Monocropping can be sustainable. Via.
Community versus single-species distribution models for British plants. Overall, better stick with the single species kind, but it was worth a try.
Quantitative trait loci for salinity tolerance in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.). They exist, and there are markers.
Climate, competition and connectivity affect future migration and ranges of European trees. Well, doh.
Quantifying carbon storage for tea plantations in China. All the tea in China…sequesters a lot of C. But plant type doesn’t count for much.

May 6, 2011May 6, 2011

Nibbles: Red rice, Feed the Future, Heat, GM seed mixtures, Sorghum, Millet, Sturgeon, Vaccinium

Anissa makes a meal of red rice from Western China eco-museum.
Want to influence the US Feed the Future “global hunger and food security initiative”? Course you do.
Peak heat and maize yields in the US. Bear it in mind when you read today’s flurry of interest in a new study from David Lobell et al.
Seed mixtures not a good idea? Say it isn’t so!
$4 million to continue development of biofortified sorghum.
Cooking up a storm, millets edition.
They’ve outlasted the dinosaurs, but they still need help.
USDA gets blue in the face about blueberries.

May 5, 2011May 5, 2011

Contributions on sustainable food systems sought

From our friend and colleague Danny Hunter.

Farming Matters is the flagship magazine of ILEIA –- the Centre for Learning on Sustainable Agriculture. The September issue of Farming Matters will focus on local and regional food systems and how they can be strengthened to increase food security and build towards food and nutrition sovereignty. For this special issue ILEIA will collaborate with Bioversity International. ILEIA, in collaboration with Bioversity International, welcomes suggestions and contributions as articles and opinion pieces, photographs, contacts of people you think who have expertise in this area or ideas for other topics you think we should address. Contributions from all regions of the world are invited.

Queries can be directed to Jorge Chavez-Tafur (j.chavez-tafur@ileia.org), Danny Hunter (d.hunter@cgiar.org), Jessica Fanzo (j.fanzo@cgiar.org).