It is time for a major update to the look and functionality of the Biofortified Blog. Prior to the Changemakers contest voting week and discussions, we added an integrated forum to the blog that I’m happy to say is getting well-used. It is helping us get an idea what issues readers want to discuss apart [...]
A Biofortified Podcast?
For the second week in a row on my radio show on WSUM in Madison, I talked about plant genetics. Not that I’m trying to bore a general audience by discussing this topic over and over again, it’s just not every fortnight that you get to go to Berkeley to grub and elbow-rub with Michael Pollan. So naturally, I invited Anastasia on to the show for a half-hour discussion about blogging about plant genetics, our weekend in the Bay Area, Dinner with Michael, and we also talked about his new book, Food Rules. If you happened to listen to the mp3 I put up from our conversation at the Maize Genetics Conference, and you care to compare how we sound talking about genetic engineering 11 months later, I have just uploaded it to Inoculated Media, feel free to hop on over there to punch up the audio. The interview begins at 18:30 into the program.
One of the things that we discovered while kicking around my place of origin is that we could very easily keep talking about GE crops and related issues until our voices ran out. We covered a lot of ground and have since thought that it would be nice to share some of those thoughts in more ways than just through written paragraphs. We recorded a video conversation right after we got back to my folk’s place from Chez Panisse, which I should have edited pretty soon, for example, and then there’s also the interview for my radio show. But we would like to do more. What do y’all think about a Biofortified podcast?
Our idea is to record a conversation once a month to talk about recent issues, thoughts we’ve had, and we could also add interviews to it. For instance, the Executive Director of the Non-GMO Project, Megan Westgate, has already agreed to record an audio interview with me for the blog, and we could put that in there. I have enough recording equipment at home to be able to include up to three different locations in a recorded conversation: one phone line, one skype, and a couple local microphones. So we could also rotate through other blog contributors who might like to chat over the phone, and there are ways for readers/listeners to contribute audio quotes and questions which we could try down the road.
Would you listen to it? What would you like to hear on it? Chat about recent issues not covered on the blog, or find general topics to discuss?
What should we call it?
And what kind of music just says Biofortified all over it?
There are three weeks left to the month, I bet we could figure this out before the first episode at the beginning of March!
Popularity: 1% [?]
I say tomato…
Researchers at the National Institute of Plant Genome Research in India have found a surprisingly simple way to extend the shelf life of fresh tomatoes. Most tomatoes will last about 10-15 days before going unappealingly squishy. The enhanced tomatoes last 45 days or more and are firmer than unmodified tomatoes, which I imagine makes for great tomato sandwiches!
Before getting into the how, let’s talk about why this research is important. According to Enhancement of fruit shelf life by suppressing N-glycan processing enzymes in this week’s PNAS, post-harvest fruit and vegetable softening is a big problem, with losses accounting for almost 50% of all produce in developing countries. India, the country that funded the research, and the world’s 2nd largest fruit and vegetable producer, loses 35-40% of produce to softening.
Squished tomato by limaoscarjuliet via Flickr.
We all know that post-consumer food waste is a big problem, and we can alleviate this somewhat in our homes and by choosing restaurants that try to reduce waste. But there isn’t much we can do about pre-consumer waste – from grain that rots in the silo due to fungus to tomatoes that rot in transit due to ripening. By reducing pre-consumer food waste, we can reduce the number of acres needed to produce the same amount of food. In India, preventing all fruit and vegetable softening would be like reducing the amount of land needed to grow fruits and vegetables by 35-40%!
Popularity: 2% [?]
Farm to Folk
I finally got signed up for a vegetable share with Small Potatoes Farm through Farm to Folk, our local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program. This is the fourth year that I’ve had a CSA and I love it. I’m really looking forward to spring, and not just because I don’t want to look at snow anymore.
Having a CSA share is such a good experience in so many ways, but the most important one for me is that I know the farmers who grow the food I put on my table are getting honest pay for their labor, that they can afford to take care of their land and to take care of their employees. I also like the idea of keeping my food dollars in the local economy and of giving the money straight to the producer instead of through a string of middlemen and packagers. Another benefit that small vegetable farms provide is high biodiversity due to the many species of plants (and often animals too!) on the farms. They are often certified organic, but due to the high cost of certification,some farms forgo the label and just list their practices on signs or websites. Customers can actually meet the people who grow the food, ask questions, and make friends.
CSA’s are just one of many ways that farmers can receive fair pay for their produce; others include farmers markets and direct sales to restaurants. The one common factor across these is that they need to convince their customers that an increased cost is worth it. While there are certainly times when a certain fruit or vegetable is so locally abundant that it can be cheaper than the same fruit or vegetable from a large farm, there is no doubt that the economy of scale is lost on smaller farms. In order to break even, small farms have to charge a realistic amount for their produce. I’m ok with that. Are you?
You can look for CSAs (and farmers markets, etc) near you at Local Harvest.
Popularity: 2% [?]
Tomorrow’s Table radio interview in Madison
If you are familiar with my past science media projects, you may remember that I used to host a radio show / podcast in Davis, CA. I have been eager to get that going again in Madison, so last fall I went through the training at the local student station, WSUM 91.7 fm, and they accepted my show and gave me a time slot, Monday mornings from 8-9 am Central. The show is called The Inoculated Mind Radio and Mindcast, and long before I got the time slot I built a new site to handle hosting the podcast. It used to be hosted on my own blog, The Inoculated Mind, but the new site is called Inoculated Media. Confused yet? I know I am. 
A year and a half ago I did some shows to try and revive the program as a standalone podcast, but I realized that I needed to rework the format. Shortly after Pam Ronald and Raoul Adamchak’s book Tomorrow’s Table came out, I recorded an interview with the both of them. But as my revival effort was short-lived I don’t think it got very much attention. So what better than to breathe new life into the interview and broadcast it as my first interview on WSUM? And Tomorrow’s Table just came out in paperback, too, so if you haven’t yet checked out this book (my review here), you can get it from Biofortified’s amazon associate store and help support our blog in the process!
Click here to go to the site and listen to Episode 79. The interview starts at about 24:00 into the show. It was pre-recorded because the air date, January 25, was the day Anastasia and I had dinner with Michael Pollan. On that note, my guest for this week’s show (Feb 1) was Anastasia Bodnar herself, and we talked some more about the Pollan dinner date and about his new book, Food Rules. I’ll be sure to put up a link when that episode is online later this week. And when I know in advance about future interviews about genetic engineering, I might put out a call for some ideas for questions. Vandana Shiva is coming to Madison in March…
Whenever I cover something significant about plant genetics, or conduct a relevant interview I’ll be sure to post a link here on Biofortified. I could make the show mp3’s pop up and play on this blog, however, we have some plans for new media projects for Biofortified, and having my radio show pop up and play on the blog might lead to confusion as to which is the ‘official’ Biofortified stuff and which is not. This is a separate project of my own. But as for the plans we have for this blog, we will tell you more about this later this week!
Popularity: 2% [?]
Hello From The World of Entomology!
My name is Joe and I’m going to be an occasional guest blogger here at Biofortified. The area I write about is going to be a bit different than most of the other writers on this website. Instead of writing about genetically modified plants, I’m going to spend a large portion of my time writing about genetically modified insects and insect pathogens.
It may seem odd to some that a blog that mostly focuses on controversies in modern agriculture would ask someone who studies insects to write on their site, but it’s not as counter intuitive as you think. Insects are a huge part of agriculture because they are our biggest competitors for food. One of the most common types of genetically modified corn, the various BT cultivars, were developed to fight the European Corn Borer, Ostrinia nubilalis, which is a tiny Crambid moth which burrows into the stalks of the plants and eventually kills them.
Popularity: 3% [?]
What’s for lunch?
The victory of parents against HFCS in chocolate milk from Berkeley Farms in one school district in California rings sadly hollow. The change has no effect on the children’s health, but leads parents to believe that they’ve made a difference. Hopefully, this small change will lead them to fight for larger changes, but if they aren’t fighting for the changes that actually affect the health of their children, do all their efforts do any good?
Popularity: 3% [?]
Maize Genetic Stocks!
Another change brought about by the Changemakers contest is that I now have a video editing program suitable to start coming out with videos that we have been collecting. Behold, I give you Marty Sachs and Candy Gardener talking about the stocks of maize seeds that they manage! This footage was taken at the 51st Maize Genetics Conference last year.
I think I’m having some fun with transitions. Hey, at least I didn’t do any star fades! (You aren’t safe from them, though)
Popularity: 3% [?]
Talked with Pollan, not too much, mostly about plants.
Anastasia was on the ball the other night with publishing her review of our evening with Michael Pollan. Mine comes a little late but not too little. We had all weekend to prepare our thoughts for what we wanted to talk about (And what we wanted to eat), and I daresay we did well on both accounts.
Golden Gate from Aquatic Park
We coordinated our flights from Wisconsin and Iowa to meet up at about Noon on Saturday the 23rd, giving us ample time to hang out and zoom around the Bay Area before the big dinner. We stayed at my folks’ place in Petaluma, so it was very convenient that Michael happens to live near to where I grew up! They were happy to host, and to use us as an excuse to go eat Thai food!
First of all, it was great to spend the weekend hanging out with Anastasia (and Frank). Over the last couple of years, while joining forces to write about plant genetics, we have not only become good friends but also research collaborators. It makes me wonder if science blogging should join the list of suggested activities for professional development at graduate school? I’m serious.
Whether we were sitting in a restaurant by Aquatic Park, checking out the Japanese tea gardens and botanical gardens at Golden Gate Park, or driving all around we discussed a million and a half issues related to what we talk about on the blog. And we realized things that we didn’t think of before, all of which should hopefully make it into some blog posts soon. For example, why is there no mention of the afore-mentioned Greenpeace-funded study on Greenpeace’s website? Very odd.
PZ talking about biological complexity
And thanks to prodding from my sister and from Frank, we zoomed down to Cupertino to meet up with PZ Myers who was a big driving force behind the contest victory that got us here. It was a busy weekend yet relaxing as well. My one regret is that we missed being able to meet up with James on Monday to have a blogging powwow. It was really weird as the time seemed to go faster and faster as it got closer to the 6 pm dinnertime. The next three hours, though, seemed to last a long time – which was perfect. Read more »
Popularity: 4% [?]
Biofortified is going to Italy!
I just submitted a poster abstract featuring Biofortified for the Maize Genetics Conference 2010. The title is: Biofortified: An educational resource for plant genetics and genetic engineering. What do you think? I’m looking forward to presenting the idea of science blogging to all of the maize geneticists and to hopefully recruiting more regular and guest bloggers. We probably should get some non-maize people on Biofortified, though. Know anyone?
Popularity: 3% [?]
Chez Panisse with Michael Pollan
Chez Panisse by ian_ransley via Flickr.
We just got back to Karl’s parent’s house from Berkley, we’re trying to unwind, but I think it’s going to take a while! Dinner with Michael Pollan and Karl (and Frank, of course) was a really wonderful experience. The conversation was fast paced and fabulous, covering the map from science journalism to specific details on certain genetically engineered traits to the deliciousness of local produce. All my nervousness was for naught, as Michael is extremely nice. He listened to Karl and I blab about science very politely, even with interest. Hopefully we weren’t too enthusiastic. I really hope that we opened long lasting lines of communication. Time will tell. It is obvious that there are a lot of people hoping for Micheal’s attention, including the fan boy that came up to him as we were leaving, so I can only hope that we left at least a small positive impression. Ok, now for the important part… the food!
Popularity: 6% [?]
- A New Twist on Transgenes and Allergies
- Guest blogger Raoul Adamchak on corporate transparency
- Obama will (probably) not label GE foods
- Scientific Consensus on Climate Change and GE Crops
- ACLU and gene patents
- Chlorofilms!
- Blogging the BIO Convention
- What scares you about GE foods?
- Is opposition to GE crops in Europe a Scientific Flip-Flop?
- Tuesday at BIO
Awards
Follow Frank on Twitter
- Tomato, tomahto, let's turn some ripening offff..! http://bit.ly/aEtlEb
- Dinner with Michael Pollan - two reviews up. http://bit.ly/duQyY9 http://bit.ly/bcb0Hp Just mine left to go!
- @mem_somerville Thanks! Dinner with Michael was fabulous. I forgot my bow tie, but I still think I looked debonair. Must be in my genes!
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