Nobel Conference Blog

Author: heldke

  • Are YOU a supertaster?

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    heldke

    Several years ago, when I learned about  “supertasters,” the people Linda Bartoshuk discovered who have extraordinary numbers of taste buds, my first thought was “oh, please, let me be a supertaster!” As luck would have it, I’m not in that superminority. But now I know how lucky I am.  Supertasting is not superfun. Imagine that…

  • Frances Moore Lappe: World Hunger…Again and Again and Again

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    heldke

    In 1979, Frances Moore Lappe and Joseph Collins published a little book called World Hunger: Ten Myths. Subsequently revised to include twelve myths, the book was reprinted countless times and is still a classic in the field of food and justice, a mainstay publication of the organization Food First. In the book, Lappe and Collins…

  • How do you feel about cake?

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    heldke

    If you see a piece of cake, or hear someone say the word “cake,” do you find yourself, well, wanting cake–even if you just got up from a huge meal? Scientists at two conferences this week have been investigating the differences between “hedonic” and “homeostatic” eaters–that is, between eaters for whom the siren song of…

  • Why crop diversity matters

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    heldke

    Here’s an interesting piece, called “Why the UK Should Pay More Attention to Its Food,” which discusses the reasons that diversity in our plant species matters. Read into it and you’ll find a discussion of Cary Fowler and the Global Seed Bank project. ““It would cost $30million to conserve wheat, one of the world’s most…

  • Paul Thompson on the ethics of animal biotech

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    heldke

    “Decisions about the future development and use of animal biotechnology may be more effective and widely accepted if parties from various disciplines increase their commitment to frequent and sustained cooperative efforts,” notes Paul B. Thompson, upon the release of a new issue paper on the ethics of animal biotechnology. The paper, entitled Ethical Implications of…

  • Drink more coffee!

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    heldke

    A piece in the Guardian (UK) finally gives us the news we want to hear: drinking more than four cups of coffee is GOOD for you. Or at least it may guard against head and neck cancers! Check out the story here.

  • Bina Agarwal to Head International Economics Society

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    heldke

    Bina Agarwal has been named president elect of the International Society for Environmental Economics, the first woman to hold this position. The ISEE is “dedicated to advancing understanding of the relationships among ecological, social, and economic systems for the mutual well-being of nature and people.” Agarwal was one of the founding members of the Indian…

  • Marion Nestle, Dewey Prize Winner

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    heldke

    Marion Nestle was recently awarded the John Dewey Award for Distinguished Public Service, at commencement ceremonies at the Bard Prison Initiative, one of the only privately-funded prison education programs in existence in the country. Students of the program had started a prison garden, with food going to supply both the prison and local food shelves.…

  • Biodiversity and Food Security

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    heldke

    At a Capitol Hill briefing on June 16 sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, “Paul Gepts, a geneticist and professor of agronomy at the University of California, Davis, warned that inadequate crop biodiversity in the United States could hamstring American farmers as climate change intensifies.” This topic will be sure to…

  • Cary Fowler protests “the largest intentional, preventable loss of crop diversity in my lifetime”

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    heldke

    Construction on a new housing development in Russia jeopardizes the world’s largest collection of fruits and berries, according to an article in The Independent that quotes Cary Fowler.