Tourism

May 5, 2010May 5, 2010

Nibbles: Date gin, Papaya, Grains, Swiss cheese, Mini-horse

Sudan’s date-gin brewers thrive despite Sharia. There’s date gin? h/t Brendan.
A very interesting account of virus resistant papayas.
Whole grains are good for you. And could be better.
Swiss cow culture.
Like pocket pigs? You’re gonna love the pocket horse.

May 1, 2010

New protected areas dataset released into wild

Speaking of mashing up funky GIS datasets with crop wild relatives distribution data — and we do; a lot — how long will it be before someone does it with the new US protected areas database?

April 22, 2010July 26, 2017

Hairy pig hits limelight

They don’t say whether it is the famous Lincolnshire Curly Coat, but it looks like it might be. ¹ Now, if only they could make them pocket-sized…

Thanks, Cary.

UPDATE (17 Fe. 2016): Well, “they” were the LA Times, and both the story and video to which we linked back in 2010 are no more. But the “sheep pig” in question probably was the Mangalitza, and the story of how it was rescued from oblivion is actually pretty cool.

March 16, 2010March 16, 2010

Mexico develops its agro-ecotourism offer

Ah, to get lost on the Tequila Trail!

March 2, 2010March 2, 2010

Protecting British food

If you were intrigued by our recent nibble about Yorkshire Forced Rhubarb receiving Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status by the European Commission, you’ll no doubt be wondering what other examples of British fare share that honour. Well, Paul Mundy just posted a link to a list over at the ELDev Yahoo group. I have only one comment: 10 types of beer and cider seems too few…

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