Orphan Crops and Food Sustainability

Do you know what an “orphan” crop is?  With regard to food sustainability, the role of orphan crops is profound.  Orphan crops, such as cassava, chickpeas, lentils and yams, are food crops  which are not widely traded in international markets, which may not receive large amounts of public or private investment, and tend not to be studied as widely as crops such as wheat and rice.  Yet their adaptive superiority to the conditions of a geographical area, such as soil composition or low annual rainfall, makes them critically important in the agriculture of developing economies.   

Agriculture must take center stage for both discussions of food sustainability and climate change. In developing countries, agriculture accounts for 29% of GDP and provides 65% of available jobs.  Agriculture is not merely affected by climate change, but also contributes to it.   Fully one-third  of plant crops are grown as animal feed.  High-inputs of fertilizer, irrigation water, human labor and cultivation via machinery increases the carbon emissions required to grow crops.  

Re-emerging practices  such as conservation agriculture address issues of sustainable agriculture use approaches that seek to preserve the state of soil, such as zero-tillage, and recognize that orphan crops play important geographic roles in sustainable food supplies because food is cultivated globally across a wide range of ecosystems.  Conservation agriculture differs from biotechnology and GMO-dependent approaches by encompassing a set of principles and practices rather than certain technologies, and has been shown to decrease water needs by 30% and energy use by 70% while helping to sequester carbon.

What to do then, besides reading a blog full of illustrative facts?  synthesizing our own desire for food sustainability with ways to employ moderation and helpful practices in our own consumption is an ongoing challenge.  Many people have read books such as The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan,  and consistently try to reduce their agricultural footprint  by reducing consumption of large animal protein, or buying foodstuffs produced locally in their own climate.  Yet most of us struggle with our role in the circular model of supply and demand –  do we receive genetically modified foods in our local supply chain or supermarket because we “need” them, or because we demand them through a combination of eating habits and shopping with lower food prices in mind?  Are crops produced through large agricultural operations really the most nutrient-dense and best available to feed the planet, or do they merely increase profits for those at the top of a food chain that is increasingly complex to navigate, especially for the world’s poorest farmers?  Have we counted on science, for too long, to continually keep up with climate change’s strain on world agriculture by producing ever better-adapted seeds which can theoretically grow in the most awful conditions no matter what?

The answer will not be in one crop, approach, article or blog, but rather in the networked expertise of everyone seeking to understand and address this issue just a little bit better than they did yesterday.

Source Articles:

Farming’s Climate-Smart Future:  http://ccafs.cgiar.org/sites/default/files/assets/docs/farmings_climate-smart_future.pdf

Ten Hearty Orphan Crops:  http://www.miller-mccune.com/environment/ten-hearty-orphan-crops-19183/

The Ominvore’s Dilemma- New York Times Book Review:  http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/23/books/review/23kamp.html?pagewanted=all

The Paradigm of Conservation Agriculture:  http://www.unapcaem.org/publication/ConservationAgri/ParaOfCA.pdf

Greening The Desert and Food Sustainability

Combatting the phenomenon of salty desert soil has long challenged those who would return fertility to the desert.  As human demands on the land and its resources increases,  simultaneous challenges emerge in the form of famines (Somalia),  war (Afghanistan) and a short-term focus on productivity over permanent sustainability. 

Permaculture offers a viable solution to returning productivity to desert regions,  conserving water and holding back harmful salts that kill plant growth.   This approach is capably demonstrated in this video featuring an Australian permaculture researcher working in the Jordan Valley:

http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/earthrise/2011/10/2011102793927343187.html

Flashback To Bread Production, 2008

As we consider food sustainability,  it  becomes apparent that many countries and economies have realized the need to re-invigorate their own food production in order to secure everything from their borders to their own economic security.

In Africa,  it has long been the  case ( for the past 30 years or so) that ill-conceived advice given to developing nations included abandoning their own food production in order to leap directly to industrialization,  has subjected those very same nations to the dependency of subsidies, the volatility of price shocks, and the resulting criticism that inevitably arises for failing to “see it coming.”  

In Egypt,  the situation is a particularly complex and illustrative example of the problem  of promoting food security,  and therefore social stability,  in a region that has been historically unstable.   Egypt makes a good portion of its income from charging ships for their passage through the Suez canal….as much as $700,000 per trip, per vessel.   When oil prices plummeted,   ships  chose to sail around the tip of Africa instead.   With oil prices high,  they utilize the Suez.  

The majority of poor Egyptians utilize the state-subsidized bread program, buying loaves which cost a few cents per day.   The grain, flour and other supplies are subsidized and delivered, and until the “Arab Spring,”  were considered an essential component in battling the social unrest fomenting during Hosni Mubarak’s regime.

Predictably,   it came to pass that a loaf of bread could not provide sufficient solace for the iron hand of a repressive regime,   and Mubarak was exiled,  and Egypt thrown into transition.

Political worries were then magnified by the fact that Egypt is the only country in the Middle East which has officially recognized Israel’s right to exist as part of the peace process following the Camp David Peace Accords in 1978.  Jordan also subsequently signed a peace treaty with Israel.  Jordan and Israel now have a closer, more symbiotic relationship with each other than Egypt and Israel have with one another.  Jordan is not having a “revolution.”   Israel is a technologically advanced country.  Egypt,  until its younger adult generation began forming a  revolution on Facebook and Twitter, was not considerted to have the same capabilities.

So how does all of this geopolitical confusion play into food security?   That is the trickiest question of all.   There are those who think that those in power are trying to play a giant shell game with the Arab masses, balancing their perceived ignorance and their natural desire to share in what’s happening in the rest of the civilized world, with their own cultural history.  It’s not merely that Israel is a Western enclave,   there is the constant question,  “How come their lives are some much better than ours?  They’re living on the same land that we are!” 

Experimental farms in Jordan have done a fantastic job of adopting Israeli techniques for making the desert bloom,  with raised orchard beds,   of orange and pomegranate shrubs, and a composting style which leaches the harmful salts from the soil.   If Israel and Egypt were to emulate the relationship between Israel and Jordan, and bravely cast aside some of the media stories designed to either cater to Wall Street Investment Bankers and their desire to woo clients with a  pretense of spectacular analysis of profit potential,   and instead decided to join forces in an alliance of patient capital for purposes of food sustainability,  it would undoubtedly produce a “shock” that is long overdue in the heavily-manipulated Middle East.

Source article from 2008:  http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2008/0606/p04s05-wome.html

Food Economics and Policy

The topic of food economics and policy is a broad one with far-reaching implications,  but especially important to consider during the growing season.  A long list of helpful books and other resources is growing longer and beginning to develop a thoughtful following among those who believe that sustainable agricultural practices will require changing the way the world grows and consumes food.

The inspiration for this particular blog entry is Democracy Now’s interview with Paul Farmer,  in which he expresses relief over former President Clinton’s policy of convincing Haiti to eliminate its rice tariffs and the resulting devastation to Haiti’s capacity to produce its own food.   The interview is approximately 5 minutes and can be watched on YouTube:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yx1PsYBo-kE

Hopefully this will spark discussion about other crop subsidy programs and their impact on world food supplies, for example, the implication of flooding Mexico with non-indigenous corn species,  or using corn or other food crops for ethanol rather than using woody cellulose or aggressively exploring wind and solar energy power as an alternative to using food for vehicle fuels.   Currently a great deal of ethanol is produced from Brazilian sugar cane….does any of it come at the expense of preserving rainforests?

Two books which have become more or less mainstream in addressing the sustainability of food cultivation systems are Michael Pollan’s  The Omnivore’s Dilemma  and In Defense Of Food:  An Eater’s Manifesto.    But additional titles are becoming available every day.   An amazon search for one book will usually provide a number of other suggestions, and today I stumbled across Tomatoland: How Modern Industrial Agriculture Destroyed Our Most Alluring Fruit,  and Stuffed And Starved:  The Hidden Battle For The World Food System.

While some may never read these books, feeling that they raise at least as many questions as they answer, there are some common threads which run throughout every study of sustainable food systems  Firstly,  is becoming more and more apparent that a diet of primarily plants, with animal products added in as a smaller proportion of consumption, will need to become the norm.  Secondly,  encouraging developing economies to either sabotage or altogether skip the process of developing their own sustainable agricultural base, is a disaster waiting to happen. 

My most recent trip to the Colorado Farm and Art Market in Colorado Springs reminded me of the importance, on every level,  of creating diverse and secure food systems.  For only $7 altogether, I was able to purchase giant bunches of locally produced spinach and basil,  and a huge head each of lettuce and broccoli, from Venetucci Farms of Colorado Springs and Country Farms of Pueblo.   While solving ALL of the world’s food supply challenges may seem out of reach for most of us,  the point I wish to make is that by informing ourselves and taking such seemingly small, concrete actions at the local level, and then duplicating that wisdom in other environments where the world’s people are challenged with setbacks to growing their own food locally, we can bring about the changes that world leaders won’t have to apologize for later.

 

 

Sustainable Agriculture

Tonight’s garden salad with thyme, basil, and mint reminded me of my first agricultural job – indeed my first job ever, picking raspberries as an 11 year-old in Washington State.  Work began promptly at 7am, and it was a bicycle ride of more than a mile, up and down hills of course, to get there.

The raspberry varieties were of the choicest kind destined for restaurants,  such as the giant “Royal Reds.”  We picked from 7-3:30 with a lunch break, for a kind woman who later unexpectedly showed up at my home with a Christmas bonus,  5 months after the harvest.

Raspberries are thorny,  and our hands bore tiny myriad scratches until they hardened from the daily work.    Somehow, the raspberries were so much more exotic than our own hazelnuts, easier to reach than our orchard apples,  and definitely smelled better than our chicken coop.   With the money,  I could see Star Wars (again) or save up for my own AM/FM radio headphones.

Today the argument swirls around whether sustainably-cultivated food is indeed a viable business model.  As one acquaintance who works in Public Relations recounted,  countless farmers told her, “You, can’t make money that way,  you have to grow tobacco.”  Happily,  this is being proven false. 

Organic farms and seed suppliers, farmers’ markets across the country, and food co-operatives are proving that large-scale monoculture is neither the only, nor the best way, to feed a large population.    We are fortunate to begin to re-experience some of the foods that we distantly remember from childhood.

Sources:  http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/08/sustainable-farming/

http://www.beginningfarmers.org/sustainable-agriculture-policy-news-may-16-20-2011/

http://www.usnews.com/science/articles/2011/06/21/promoting-sustainable-agriculture

Organic "Sweet 100" Cherry Tomatoes

Food Renaissance

For the past 8 years or so,  our children have worked at the Queen’s Pantry at the Colorado Renaissance Festival during the summer.   Our visit today was not only an excuse to buy festival food from our son, but to consider the range of food ecosystems on the planet.

While finely crafted foodstuffs at the Renaissance Festival can be found,  they are not the main draw.   The atmosphere of artisans and tradespeople,  and live theatre, music and entertainment is the real purpose for visiting.  Yet I found my thoughts repeatedly turning to food. 

While we enjoyed the Endangered Cats Show,  learning about some of the 37 species of these predators,  I watched small pieces of red meat disappear inside a 200 lb Siberian Tiger cub.   I thought about endangered species and the food chains which barely support them.

As my daughter and her friend “Sirena” munched on perfectly grilled turkey legs, I thought about how fortunate we are to have such a range of foods available to us,  to be able to enjoy sources of protein which are lower on the food chain and therefore more sustainable. 

And as we all watched the Celtic Legacy musical act, marvelling that they have managed to seamlessly integrate a belly dancer into a group of musical lads in kilts, Sirena related that she had been to Scotland.   I had heard from others  that, “you can’t get a good meal there,”  and thought that was odd, so I asked Sirena about her experience with Scotland’s culinary expertise.

“We had some AWESOME haggis pizza,”  she said.

One more vote for agricultural diversity.

Robo-Dog, welded from bits of junk, graces the secret garden

 

Organic Hospital Food?

Organic Mint

As we debate food sustainability issues along with many others including healthcare,  an important question surfaces about the quality of hospital food — is it really improving, or just getting lip service?  

Certainly anyone who has been to the hospital knows that the experience is a study in contrasts — often people feel fine before going in,  can’t get any rest while they are there,  and would only loosely describe what they are served as “food.” 

One hospital, apparently, is attempting to change this trend.  John Muir Medical Center in Concord, California is attempting to change this trend.  By investing in local, sustainable food sources they can accomplish 3 goals: a) improvement of patient health, as a person undergoing surgical trauma or recovery requires food inputs of maximum quality,  b) support of the local community in ways which will directly impact health over the long-term, serving their overall mission to deliver healing, and c) direct impact on the dietary choices modelled for patients  i.e. “If the hospital is serving it, maybe I should try it at home,”  a departure from the standard today, which is that if the hospital is serving it, it must be a nutritional joke.

Organic, sustainable food and hospital healing may just be an educational and marketing “match” that finally marries the potential of both.

Source article: “Hospital Food Gets Pushed Down The Organic Aisle”: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128048197

Local Produce

Tonight I enjoyed some fresh organic lettuce from the garden,  and contemplated whether my friends might be doing the same, or at least taking advantage of their local Farmer’s Market.

Organic Garden Lettuce Grown In Clay Pot

I am growing some vegetables in pots this year, and some in the ground.  I have a variety of reasons for using both methods, including wanting a control group that can’t be trampled or knocked over by an excited dog chasing after a squirrel.   But growing vegetables in pots can be a great space saver as well: 

Young Tomatoes, Peppers, and Herbs in Pots

Growing your own produce is incredibly satisfying, and often the taste, as in the case of tomatoes, cannot be matched by anything purchased anywhere.   It can also save money, as in the case of basil which is expensive to buy if you use it in quantity,  to make pesto, for example.  Other herbs such as dill, cilantro, thyme and mint add dimension to everything from barbecues and salads to iced tea and desserts.

"Dolce Vita" Blend Basil Seedlings, Seed From Good Earth Garden Center, Colorado Springs

 Growing your own produce is also satisfying when the rate of germination is high –  there are extras to share with friends and family. 

Zucchini Seedlings, Hill Planted, With Future Support/Trampling Deterrent

But if you can’t grow any of your own produce,  I hope you will consider supporting your local producer at one of the farmer’s markets in your area.

 

Colorado Farm and Art Market website:  http://www.farmandartmarket.com/

Enlightened Food

In eighteenth century America,  crop varieties were not patented.  Yet they sometimes carried a special distinction, depending upon the farmer who grew them.  Certainly the great advocate of enlightenment thinking  Thomas Jefferson was aware of this, and spent many a day searching out distinctive varieties for his gardens at Monticello. 

This emphasis on the uniquely American combination of new world soils and cultivation challenges, and old world varieties,  proved an irresistible combination for early 18th century “foodies.”   When Ben Franklin or John Adams dined in a fine Philadelphia restaurant,  the meal might end with the offer of a dessert apple, polished and presented in a lidless box with a handwritten label indicating the variety, such as “Pippin,” and the carefully written name of the upstate farmer who had grown it.

Such flourishes may seem a pretension,  yet they speak of an appreciation for the effort and time required to produce anything worth eating.  Today, we might call this  “slow food,” and we see the products of this legacy in the carefully crafted artisanal foods produced with maximum care and minimal processing.    I hope you know of such a careful food producer, and that you support them.

Slow food: Liberty Apple tree( left) and McIntosh apple(right) flank a view of the Kieffer pear tree beyond. The pale yellow iris "Flavascens," was brought west by the pioneers.

Farm to Fork- The “Eat Local” Challenge

I first began to learn about food sustainability in earnest, in November 2010 when I attended the sustainability conference in Colorado Springs.   Food sustainability was only one of the various sustainability issues addressed,  but I was able to hear a talk by Fedele Bauccio, founder of Bon Appetit Management Company, who coined the term “Farm to Fork”  and who worked to eradicate the near slave-labor conditions of the Immokalee farm workers in Florida. 

I had also been thinking about such terms as locavore– used to describe someone who intentionally consumes food that does not have to be brought from far away.   From a sustainability standpoint,  foods which do not require a long trip on a fossil fuel-powered truck generally have potential energy savings in addition to being fresher.  I had learned about such local providers as Grant Family Farms, which has 2,000 acres planted near Wellington, Colorado and allows consumers to directly purchase a share of the harvest, thus providing one more alternative to growing one’s own food or visiting the farmer’s market.   I also became familiar with Callicrate Beef/Ranch Foods Direct,  and Mike Callicrate’s unflagging support for his community.   I learned of  the “Good Food Project in Colorado Springs School District 11, designed to remove highly processed food from school lunches by January 2012.

And there is so much more.  Hydroponics are an alternative to soil-based cultivation.  The diversity supplied by smaller local farms growing many crops, closer to consumers,  addresses many of the environmental concerns associated with large monoculture-style industrialized agriculture operations. 

As these resources become more commonly known in communities around the country,  perhaps inspiring their own versions in other communities,  the opportunity to enjoy the highest quality food raised in the most sustainable fashion will hopefully become the norm rather than the exception.  Increased consumer support for such “early adopters”  of sustainability practices have the chance to shape the food offerings in their own communities.   I imagine such models becoming implemented all over the world, with countries currently struggling with food security finding new ways to move beyond simply getting enough calories.   

I encourage you to check out the resources below to learn more.  Note that the array of resources here does not promote a particular diet, but rather focuses on making higher quality, nutrient-dense foods  a  priority for both individuals and communities, which naturally promotes conservation and reduces the need for large portions.  Enjoy!

Organic Peach, Late August 2010

htthttp://www.bamco.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJcx0BqOsA4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFAmAdZYnwg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPixqOw_GfI

http://www.localharvest.org/grant-family-farms-csa-M16609

http://www.callicratebeef.com/

http://www.d11.org/fns/D11goodfoodtestimonials.htm