- British hill sheep in trouble.
- Canadian maple syrup in trouble.
- Fruits good for you.
- Native urban plants in trouble. How many crop wild relatives among them?
- “If the world learned to feed itself half a century ago, why are there now more hungry people than ever before?” Er … I dunno. Either-orism?
- “Almost all of the 300 experts at a two-day food forum in Rome this week agreed that between them they had all the answers to how to feed the world in 2050, but doubted they would have the political support to do it.” Alert the media!
- “Erosion of Crop Diversity Worrying“. Malawian plant breeder speaks.
- British wildflowers in trouble, prince says? How many crop wild relatives among them? Does prince know? Care?
- Indian crops in trouble.
Nibbles: Teaching vegetables, Truffles, Freakonomics of farmer markets, Crops used for art, Seed storage, Organic farming in Spain, 2050
- Pamela Akinyi Nyagilo wins prize for teaching Kenyan kids to grow indigenous greens. In 2007, but better late with the news than never.
- The Great War did for truffles?
- “Does a local food system truly enhance the integrity of a community, much less make the peasant the equal of a prince and eliminate greed?” And more. And more. And more. And…
- Crop art, and more. And more.
- Brassica seeds survive 40 years in a genebank with no loss of viability. Phew.
- “It seems that, while discount and low-end retailers face more difficulties selling organic products, specialised organic shops and high-end retailers continue to develop beyond expectations.”
- “As Andy Jarvis, an award-winning crop scientist, puts it: ‘When you look at the graph, under even small average heat rises, the line for maize just goes straight down.’ “
A global micronutrients campaign in the offing?
At next year’s G20 meeting in Canada, expect news of a big, co-ordinated global campaign [on “hidden hunger”], like the one against malaria.
Or so suggests a box in last week’s Economist, which calls the idea a no-brainer. I thought there was such a thing already. Anyway, let’s hope this new initiative on micronutrients, if it materializes, will take proper account of the contribution of dietary diversity and agrobiodiversity.
Nibbles: Cowpea storage, Expensive Japanese apples, Nutrients in vegetables
- Sometimes breeding better cowpeas is not enough, they need to be bagged properly.
- Sometimes breeding better apples is not enough, they need to be bagged properly.
- Biofortifying brassica through breeding. No bags involved.
Nibbles: Fruit tattoos, Nutrition, Traditional food, Chinese houses
- What I’ve always wanted: laser machine to “tattoo” fruit for identification.
- Latest version of USDA’s Premier Nutrient Database. Nothing below the species level that I could see.
- Traditional food fair at National Museum of Kenya. Sounds like fun.
- Photos of Chinese rural dwellings. And some of the surrounding agrobiodiversity. Very fine.