- Remember to eat blueberries to remember.
- Darwin’s tomatoes? The genetic change identified.
- Wild coffee conservation. Danny says wild coffee genes assessed at between 0.4 and 1.5 billion US$. Joe not available for comment.
- “But if you don’t grow your seed, you lose your power.”
- Amadumbe being sold to supermarkets in South Africa. Great. But someone please tell me: what the heck is it?
- More coffee? More for coffee!
- “Sometimes our expert is stumped.”
- Mark Bittman makes the case for vegetarianism (and much more) on TED video. Money quote: “It’s not the beta-catotene, it’s the plant.”
- FAO maps Myanmar agriculture.
Not just what you cook, but how you cook it
An article in the New York Times explains that different cooking methods change the nutritional value of different vegetables. There are some surprises there, which may be of interest to people aiming to get the maximum benefit from their veggies. Overall, though, I suspect those who can afford to decide whether to bake, boil or microwave are least likely to need their micronutrients, while those who have no choice also have the greatest need.
Dietary diversity improves nutrition
An absolutely fascinating paper from FANTA (Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance) reports the outcome of a study of Dietary Diversity as a Measure of Women’s Diet Quality in Resource-Poor Areas: Results from Rural Bangladesh Site. I’ve only read the Executive Summary, I confess, but the take-home messages are clear.
Our results from rural Bangladesh indicate that micronutrient intakes were very inadequate indeed. We note that intakes were inadequate for all micronutrients, not just those that are the usual focus of public health interventions (iron/folate during pregnancy, vitamin A, and iodine). The major deficits identified here will not be alleviated by programs narrowly focused on one or several micronutrients.
How then can those deficits be alleviated?
The study developed a range of indicators of dietary diversity and dietary quality, based on women’s recollections of what they had eaten during the previous 24 hours and assessing how well that delivered each of 11 micronutrients. Even for women who were getting far less than the recommended amounts, those who ate a more diverse diet nevertheless got more micronutrients, and this was independent of the total amount of food they ate.
Although other food groups were eaten in small quantities, they provided substantial proportions of the folate, vitamin A, vitamin C, and calcium in the diet, and all of the vitamin B12 (because this last is found only in animal-source foods). The most nutritionally important of these other food groups, in roughly descending order of importance in the diet, were dark green leafy vegetables; fish; nuts and seeds; dairy; “other†vegetables; vitamin C-rich vegetables; eggs; and vitamin C-rich fruits.
These analyses showed that the increases in nutrient intakes and adequacy that accompany increases in diversity result both from increased total intakes (reflected in energy intakes) and from increases in the nutrient density of the diet.
Dark green leafy vegetables, fish, nuts and seeds; these are not terribly difficult things to grow and make available at a very local level. The health benefits are immense, and because of the effects of maternal nutrition on the growth and development of their children would be felt for years. But how many governments, how many aid agencies and charities, how many projects, are actually pushing dietary diversity as a solution to malnutrition?
Nibbles: NUS, Value-added, Values, Genebank, IPR
- New Agriculturist focuses on neglected species.
- Chocolate, wine… Fellow could have himself a pretty good weekend in Vegas with that lot.
- Irish evaluate biodiversity, apparently ignore agriculture.
- Sasa schemes to save Scottish landraces.
- The Indian Seed and Patent Acts dissected.
Talking about neglected crops
AGFAX Radio was at the recent Arusha meeting on neglected crops and has a whole bunch of interviews online (with transcripts):
- National treasures
- International viewpoints
- Nutritional benefits
- Social aspects
- Why Tanzania is ahead
- Mighty baobab
- From weed to cash crop: Amaranth
- Improving the varieties
- The farmer’s view
- The market for underutilized vegetables
Don’t forget the follow-up e-conference is still on.