A brief digest of food and nutrition-related items that caught our attention recently. Got items you think we should include? Send links and brief descriptions to dberiss@gmail.com or hunterjo@gmail.com.
Did you know that Chinese farmers are playing a major role in African agriculture? Check out this report from the IIEED on Chinese experts coming to Africa to teach (large scale) farming. I found the scale and specialisation of the farming described fascinating: large monocultures of apples or citrus mean that Chinese farmers could end up completely unable to give expertise in the countries they found themselves.
I’ve linked to previous articles about taxes on sugary beverages in South Africa and the ongoing debate over whether it will be effective in combatting obesity (WHO says it will, though BevSA seems to think otherwise!) This week, an article in the NYTimes describes Vanuatu’s efforts to combat obesity. I couldn’t help but have a sinking feeling when the article mentioned Samoa’s attempts to combat the dumping of turkey tails onto the island nation, which were quickly shut down by the World Trade Organization, who accused them of protectionism. If you missed the tale of the turkey tails (spoiler alert, it’s the U.S. doing the dumping), here’s an NPR story from a few year’s ago. Relatedly, this week also brought with a story by Olga Gertcyk about changing diets in the arctic circle. The story’s pictures alone warrant a look!
Apparently it is a good time to be pushing sustainability schemes? The idea of going beyond organic labelling is becoming widespread (even as “organic” is only just beginning to catch on in places like South Africa) As food researchers, we will perhaps increasingly play a role in sharing the experiences and spirit of standards (from the perspectives of farmers, citizens, retail), and to what it looks like to go “beyond labelling.” In good news for FoodAnthro, Food systems experts are in demand, says this article in civil eats.
Check out this article about the future of food brings up important questions about who food movements include and exclude.
And lastly, even if nothing happened last night in Sweden, if it had, Sweden may not have had enough food stocks to last. They’re working on it, as most nations do. Yes, I had to find something about Sweden and food…
FoodAnthropology 