really? why is it then so difficult to find more than 4-5 tomato species on the local markets (not even talking supermarkets..) out of the 430 species officialy known in France?
Funnily enough, they all have thick skins, no taste, a spongy structure and too much water. Do you guys have it better maybe?
sorry to be anal about this but I am surprised by your optimism.
Biodiversity decline is unfortunately a reality.
FAO estimates that since the beginning of this century about 75 percent of the genetic diversity of agricultural crops has been lost. We are becoming increasingly dependent on fewer and fewer crop varieties and, as a result, a rapidly diminishing gene pool. The primary reason is that commercial, uniform varieties are replacing traditional ones—even, and most threateningly, in the centres of diversity. When farmers abandon native land races to plant new varieties, the traditional ones die out. The introduction, beginning in the 1950s, of high-yielding grains developed by international crop breeding institutions led to the Green Revolution. The spread of the new varieties in the developing world was dramatic. By 1990 they covered half of all wheat lands, and more than half of all rice lands—a total of some 115 million ha. This resulted in large increases in yields…but large decreases in crop diversity.
I know you like facts..
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I can't speak to what your local grocer decides to sell or what grows well in your area, but I can say confidently that 30 years ago, the concept of "heirloom tomato" was unknown in the US. Red tomato, cherry tomato... and that was it. We can get dozens now, as long as we're willing to shop somewhere beyond the hypermarche (and note that I now live in the Midwest, which is not exactly America's food Mecca- on the coasts, you can multiply these numbers by 4 or 5).
Likewise corn; our local farmers have about a dozen varieties. The rise of ethnic cuisines means that I can get lemongrass, a dozen varieties of tofu, bok choy, broccolini, galangal, bufala mozzarella, all at the chain supermarkets in this semi-rural area. I've lost count of the chile varieties available here, but 50 is not a bad guess. Artisanal cheese- we haven't yet challenged the range available to the French, but we're getting a lot closer than the days when we only had a choice between orange and yellow. Because of my preferences, I'm not familiar with the meat choices, but I'm assured by my meat-eating friends that they are far more extensive than when I was a child in the 1960s. This also extends to cepage in winemaking- consumer choices are staggeringly wide, despite the mainstream preferences for cabernet/chardonnay/merlot.
No, things are much better now: more diversity and choice for those who want it, cheaper commodity for those who don't care or can't justify the expenditure for higher end foods.
Yes, I like facts. They rarely emanate from political organizations, and FAO is a political organization.
Likewise corn; our local farmers have about a dozen varieties. The rise of ethnic cuisines means that I can get lemongrass, a dozen varieties of tofu, bok choy, broccolini, galangal, bufala mozzarella, all at the chain supermarkets in this semi-rural area. I've lost count of the chile varieties available here, but 50 is not a bad guess. Artisanal cheese- we haven't yet challenged the range available to the French, but we're getting a lot closer than the days when we only had a choice between orange and yellow. Because of my preferences, I'm not familiar with the meat choices, but I'm assured by my meat-eating friends that they are far more extensive than when I was a child in the 1960s. This also extends to cepage in winemaking- consumer choices are staggeringly wide, despite the mainstream preferences for cabernet/chardonnay/merlot.
No, things are much better now: more diversity and choice for those who want it, cheaper commodity for those who don't care or can't justify the expenditure for higher end foods.
Yes, I like facts. They rarely emanate from political organizations, and FAO is a political organization.
Well, I stopped going to France a few years ago, so can't comment with current knowledge about it. But I suspect that a visit to Les Halles or the outdoor markets in Lyon would not leave me disappointed for the available variety and quality.
Supermarkets are not the place to buy quality tomatoes.
Supermarkets are not the place to buy quality tomatoes.
Supermarkets are not the place to buy quality tomatoes.
Don't worry, I drive 30km one way for my fruits, and 30km another way for the veggies.. Stopped supermarketing years ago, stopping eating meat slowly too.
Local good restaurants do have usually what they call "legumes oublies" on their menu, finding them is not easy outside the metropoles you cited.
I just wish Italy was just a tad little closer!
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"Crockett's Victory Garden" (the PBS show) talked about heirloom tomatoes in the 1970's.
Near my first house in Long Island we had a wonderful little garden center with 20 varieties of tomatoes. LI was the easiest place in the world for a home gardener to grow good tomatoes with early and warm spring, soil with good drainage.
Regrettably, the deer or chipmunks make a waste of the tomatoes I've tried to grow in NJ, but we did have some good success with "Better Boy" and "Mortgage Lifter" 3 years ago.
We had little to none of that in Maryland or Utah (my two homes in the '70s). Beefsteak and Roma were pretty much it. These days, there's an embarrassment of choice.
We lucked out this year and had little to no animal damage. This contrasts to our last summer in Texas, where we lost 100% of the tomatoes to some sort of night critter. Having a very large dog who resembles a polar bear has kept the larger mammals at bay, and the smaller ones are wary of her and tend to stay up in the trees.
Boxcar Willie, Cherokee Purple, Russian Black, and Mr. Stripey are maturing nicely; we harvested some Carolina Gold, but they seemed to be nothing special. The San Marzano vines are prolific but not yet ripened.
We lucked out this year and had little to no animal damage. This contrasts to our last summer in Texas, where we lost 100% of the tomatoes to some sort of night critter. Having a very large dog who resembles a polar bear has kept the larger mammals at bay, and the smaller ones are wary of her and tend to stay up in the trees.
Boxcar Willie, Cherokee Purple, Russian Black, and Mr. Stripey are maturing nicely; we harvested some Carolina Gold, but they seemed to be nothing special. The San Marzano vines are prolific but not yet ripened.
Does than mean they could make harmful changes if they wanted too? What about isomers of vitamins and other nutrients that are not usable to humans, is that a possible side effect (I doubt if Monsanto cares).
EDIT - The Mexican food in Chi-town 40 years ago was first rate.
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Unfortunately there are other results, like increased use of pesticides and herbicides (see "Roundup Ready"). Farmer's growing Monsanto's Bt-cotton use 13 times as much pesticides as they did growing traditional varieties. GMO rice introduced in India with promises of increased yields, if the farmers only borrowed money to buy the seeds and the herbicides and pesticides (conveniently manufactured by the same company) in fact yielded no increase in the rice harvest. In fact many of the GMO's introduced with promises of increased yields produced crop failures. They did yield a huge spike in the suicide rate among farmers when they realized they were in debt over their heads and could never again grow their own seeds.
Meanwhile, in our Western countries we subsidize farm production, driving down global prices, producing lower incomes for 3rd-world farmers who are indebted and facing declining or static yields, and increased input costs.
let's face it.. quality means less yields..not more. The ultimate goal here is, as usual, money. When you "push" a plant, rarely does the fruit becomes better. And I know what I am talking about, part of my family are farmers. In my childhood they used to produce excellent watermelons, cucumbers to die for and yes, top tomatoes. They replaced about 10y ago the seeds with "better" modern species=more production, nicer shape etc. The taste is gone. They know it, because they still use the "old" local unefficient seeds for their own consumption. Oh yes, they now use more pesticides, and the "modern" type needs more fertilizer too.. So you have to produce more to keep costs down, it's a circle.
We are becoming too many on this planet. But think of all the waste. Intense urbanization is also the key.
It's about what we want, a local and reachable agriculture, or intense farming where 0.001% of the population feeds the 99,999 others. I heard the american farmers are not taken into general US population statistics anymore.
I guess you can call me a depressive nostalgic!
We are becoming too many on this planet. But think of all the waste. Intense urbanization is also the key.
It's about what we want, a local and reachable agriculture, or intense farming where 0.001% of the population feeds the 99,999 others. I heard the american farmers are not taken into general US population statistics anymore.
I guess you can call me a depressive nostalgic!
Actually, just the opposite. That's why genes encoding for Bt protein are used, for example. If what you suggest were true, there would be a strong economic disincentive to using these strains of plants. See, for example Brooks and Barfoot, http://www.agbioforum.org/v11n1/v11n1a03-brookes.htm .
Indeed. That's an aspect of biological warfare that doesn't seem to be much discussed.
Duh.. wow pays these studies?
oh? Surprising!!
Cooking the Books: the dark arts of ISAAA and PG Economics
and of course, there is a link on a too well known company website..
http://www.monsantoafrica.com/biotechnology/benefits.asp
oh? Surprising!!
Cooking the Books: the dark arts of ISAAA and PG Economics
and of course, there is a link on a too well known company website..
http://www.monsantoafrica.com/biotechnology/benefits.asp
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Why so? It's logical, the less the people involved, the more the production becomes "technical".