Nibbles: Algal genebank, Baking, Distilling, Ft Collins genebank, Community genebanks, Trinidad genebank, Agriculture & climate change, Nigerian coconuts, Organic agriculture

  1. Saving an algal germplasm collection in the US.
  2. Saving ancient grains via baking in Israel and distilling in Minnesota.
  3. Saving seeds (and more) in a famous genebank in Ft Collins, Colorado.
  4. Saving seeds in community genebanks in Nepal.
  5. Saving seeds for the community in Trinidad & Tobago.
  6. Saving agriculture from climate change in Hainan. Someone tell India.
  7. Saving the Nigerian coconut sector.
  8. Saving organic agriculture from politicians.

Nibbles: Animal genebanks, Wild pigeon, Uganda genebank, Biodiversity value, W African cooking, Indigenous cafes, Climate crisis & food, Reforestation

  1. FAO webinar series on animal genebanks.
  2. Quick put this wild pigeon in a genebank before it’s too late. No, really.
  3. Yeah but how much is a wild pigeon worth?
  4. Maybe if you could cook it, it might be worth more? No, really, I’m serious.
  5. Would be terrible to have a wild pigeon shortage.
  6. In fact, we need to be able to re-pigeon.

The “good berry” in a good place

Did you know that the survival of Manoomin (“the good berry,” aka wild rice, aka Zizania palustris) is enshrined in the treaty between the Ojibwe people and the US federal government? And that such treaties, of which there are dozens, “are the supreme law of the land” according to the US Constitution?

Neither did I, but I do now thanks to a fascinating podcast from 99% Invisible on The Rights of Rice and the Future of Nature. I also now know that some people think those two things (leavened with some decidedly out-of-the-box reasoning) mean that Manoomin can sue the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. It’s because of an oil pipeline that the Ojibwa people believe threatens the wild rice populations that are so important to them that they put their well-being in a treaty. We blogged about the pipeline, perhaps a bit too succinctly, a few years back.

What I don’t know is what would happen if buffel grass were to follow its Minnesotan cousin’s example.

Brainfood: Bonds, Agrobiodiversity, Subsidies, Orphan crops, Extension, Biodiversity tourism, Green farming