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Growing Crops without using all of LA’s Drinking Water.

Posted in: Good GMOs, Things We HEART

Sean Cutler – UC-Riverside scientist behind supercharged mustard plant.

Unless you’re a Rick Perry-liking creationist, anti-scientist type, or someone on a decades long information Sabbath who ignores data from climatologists and demographers, you probably accept that Earth is getting hotter, that population is increasing, that water resources are dwindling. And you’re probably on board with the idea that it would be a really wonderful thing if humans could grow lettuce and cucumbers and apples and raspberries in arid environments, without tapping some aquifer or siphoning off drinking water from people in LA or Phoenix.

Well, great news: earlier this month, a team of scientists at UC-Riverside announced a major breakthrough that could ultimately lead process to engineer drought-tolerant crops.

The researchers, led by plant scientist Sean Cutler, identified a means to regulate the stress- relieving hormones that enable plants to weather droughts. Specifically, they’ve learned how to activate and deactivate what are known as abscisic acid receptors, which control how plants respond to their surroundings. Cutler’s lab has found ways to make receptors open and close on command by altering plant genes. They tested hundreds of variants to figure out which alterations cause these receptors to behave optimally in periods of drought. The result: they’ve developed a mustard-type plant, called Arabidopsis, with a heightened ability to survive under harsh conditions.

While the release of drought-resistant lettuces and tomatoes is probably still years off, the potential upside of Cutler’s drought-resistant Arabidopsis is game-changing. In a world with diminishing water resources, a drought-resistant crop could be a huge boon to water conservation efforts. A recent New York Times piece, for instance, spotlighted the water challenges for organic farmers in Mexico. If the goal is sustainability, why not consider a drought-resistant, pesticide-free GMO crop?)

Equally important, a drought-resistant GMO plants could potentially create more opportunities– land previously deemed unfit for certain crops could become viable. (There’s a fascinating piece, fyi, in the most recent New Yorker that focuses on effort to stop desertification in Africa)

Cutler’s work is not unknown in the plant science world. Work leading to the supercharged mustard plant was one of Science magazine breakthroughs of the year in 2009. For more scientific detail on Cutler’s work to engineer drought resistance crops, you can check out the Dec. 20 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Of his breakthrough, Cutler told one researcher. “I would like to see farmers bragging about how little water their plants can get by on.”

Here’s an interview with Cutler.
Clean Energy from Trash & Cow Manure – It’s Coming

Posted in: Aquaculture 2.0, Things We HEART

We have some really great news from Wisconsin (ancestral home of the TofT author) – and it has nothing to do with the Packers, the Badgers, or the effort to recall governor Scott Walker.

The first anaerobic dry fermentation biodigester in the United States is up and running at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh.

Now, the three words dry fermentation biodigester might not immediately electrify most Americans. But the upside is revolutionary, Holy Graily.

According to a post in one of our favorite blogs, Seedstock, the alternative power system has been producing clean, renewable electricity from plant and food waste to supply electricity and heat for the university campus since Oct. 3. The site reported that UW-O staff and students had been stockpiling agricultural plant and food waste as feedstock in airless chambers and feeding it into the dry anaerobic biodigester since last summer in anticipation of bringing it online.

A steady, source of clean renewable electricity would be a tremendous breakthrough for the type of clean, environmentally-friendly indoor fish farming that is profiled in The Taste of Tomorrow, the book.

A short description of the science as culled from Seedstock:

Anaerobic digestion consists of a series of processes in which microorganisms break down biodegradable material in the absence of oxygen. Anaerobic digestion reduces the emission of methane gas, CO2, and “non-methane organic compounds” or NMOCs into the atmosphere. Anaerobic digestion is also used as a renewable energy source as the process produces a methane and carbon dioxide rich biogas suitable for energy production. As the name indicates, ‘dry,’ as opposed to ‘wet,’ anaerobic digesters break down dry organic materials with moisture content of less than 75%, such as agricultural waste and plant material traditionally left over after harvesting a crop.

For a fuller description of the work at Oshkosh, please check out the post on Seedstock’s site and the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh report.

Folks at Oshkosh expect the anaerobic digester to generate enough electricity in the start-up phase alone to meet 5% of the university’s electricity and heating needs. This is great news: as it demonstrates that clean, renewable energy can be produced from throwaways like corn stalks, husks, leaves, and discarded food. According to the University, a second anaerobic digester is being planned for a dairy farm, and generate electricity from the methane produced by the decomposition of dairy cow poop.
Freshly Picked Chickweed in Chicago — in DECEMBER!

Posted in: Beyond Mesclun

It’s been mild up here at The Taste of Tomorrow’s home office —cool, rainy, temps hovering in the 40s and 50s, barely a dusting of snow. Still, even with the balmy fall, I was STUNNED to get an update from my favorite micro-farmer in early December announcing that he STILL had greens.

Now, Henry Brockman, an organic farmer in Congerville, Illinois, who makes my favorite mesclun mix — and has the greatest collection of heirloom lettuces and Asian greens I have ever encountered — does not have an indoor hydroponics growing operation. He has an unheated hoop house on his farm, and he was surprised that some leafy greens had survived this late in the season.

Needless to say, it was quite a thrill to go to a farmers market on December 3rd – in the Chicago-area — and load up on freshly-picked green-anything. But the reason I’m writing this is because Henry was also offering chickweed.

Chickweed — Not for Chickens

Not a lot of people know about the pleasures of chickweed (scientific name: Stellaria media) aka Starweed aka Winterweed. Henry Brockman describes its taste as “like mache.” Many others say it tastes like corn silk (if you’ve ever tried that!). Personally, the words that come to my mind when I’m eating naked, uncooked chickweed: earthy, clean, pleasant, mild, slightly mache-y.

I love raw chickweed as part of most any salad – try it with butter lettuce and arugula, use it to add a new note to your mesclun mix. Sauteed, it’s a great stand-in for spinach. It’s widely praised as a pesto, and one forager sited introduce me to the wonders of the BCT – that’s bacon, chickweed, and tomato sandwich. Two reasons to go with a BCT over a BLT — taste, the earthy, machey chickweed pairs nicely bacon & lettuce (similar, but just different enough to keep you happy) Second: health. Chickweed is loaded with vitamins — A, D, B-complex, calcium, magnesium, niacin.

Some bad news: don’t expect to find chickweed at Whole Foods anytime soon. Or even at a good farmer’s market. It’s still pretty much a forager’s thing. But good news: it’s virtually everywhere. Check out your lawn next spring. Or if you don’t have a lawn, go to a park. (And this applies to our readers in northern Sweden and southern Patagonia – it’s everywhere) Check out the Wildman’s post on chickweed, or Green Deane’s Eat the Weeds notes on chickweed for more on distribution, spotting, etc. In brief, chickweed is a pretty good intro-to-foraging choice, because of its ubiquity and distinctive feature: a single of hairs running up the stem leaves that changes at each juncture of leaves.

ALSO, fyi, two final things: chickweed is called chickweed, because chickens apparently dig it. And second, here’s a short, highly informative Green Deane instructional video on chickweed foraging.
Could Yaji be the Next Chipotle?

Posted in: African Cuisines

A recent article in the New Yorker sent us on a mad, and unsuccessful scramble, through Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood in search of some yaji.

What caused the yaji hysteria at the TofT headquarters?

The news that in parts of Ghana a good yaji is treated with the same obsessiveness as a good kimchi. Reports that yaji is an aphrodisiac with Viagra-like powers. The description of the spicy sauce (a mix of black, red, and white peppercorns, dried ginger, cloves, dried red peppers) stimulated group salivating,

and stirred us to begin thinking of yaji-marinade bulgogi and yaji-encrusted chicken wings.

Mohammed Naseehu Ali, the author of The New Yorker piece, and a well-regarded short story writer, started the yaji excitement with a description of his childhood in Kumasi, Ghana. In the Ali household, there were two types of yaji. One was the regular, industrial yaji, which his mother used for soups and other staples, and served to all. And then there was a special yaji reserved only for Ali’s father. This yaji was, literally, kept under lock and key in glass cupboard in the living room. In fact, Ali’s mother warned her children. “Don’t even think about opening that jar, you hear me?”

This yaji, Ali later learned, had a secret ingredient called masoro, known in English as “bush pepper.”

Yaji is typically used as a condiment on suya, a thinly sliced skewered beef delicay that is popular on West African roadsides. Ali, who now lives in Brooklyn, described a particularly life-changing moment at a roadside suya stand in Nigeria.

“It has the aroma of a dozen different spices with a long-lasting titillating taste that makes you lick your lips in search of leftover particles.”

The TofT staff are now on a full-APB in search of yaji. Reports to come. If you have access to the NYer, definitely check out the piece.
Japanese Snack Review

Posted in: Japanica

As readers of this site will soon know, we are unashamedly envious of the Japanese. It’s not just because they have higher-quality produce, and better fatty tuna, and super-high-quality food standards. It’s also because they have interesting junk food.

We recently tried the Karamucho, the current best-selling spicy snack in Japanese. The Karamucho is a mix of the Japanese word “kalai” (spicy) and the Spanish word “mucho” (very). The excellent blog, Japan Trends, posted a Karamucho a great commercial shot in Mexico with a mariachi band. (If you listen closely, and you’ll realize that they’re all singing in Japanese, not Spanish.)

The Karamucho is not for everyone — it’s spicy, with a blend of paprika, garlic and onion flavors. But if you’re craving the Karamucho and you’re not planning a trip to Japan, you can buy them on Amazon for $4 a bag.

At the end of the day, we like the Karamucho, but it’s never going to replace a classic, like the Matsutani Ajituske Seasoned Seaweed Snack.
Six Ways Mushrooms Could Save the World

Posted in: Insects & Shrooms

One of my stinging regrets– ranking right up there with The Aborted Seaweed chapter, and my decision to play soccer instead of football in first grade — was the abandonment of the fungi chapter. Due to this stinging regret, we’ll make great efforts to provide extensive catch-up coverage of the latest news on the fungi frontier.

One of the most interesting fungi visionaries is mycologist Paul Stamets. Probably the country’s best known fungi evangelist/idealist, Stamets, owner of Fungi Perfecti, has been stumping for fungi for years. Here, gives a TED talk about six ways mushrooms could save the world.

Stay tuned to The TofTomorrow for more coverage of fungi’s surprising range of applications.