Tales of the Heliosphere

Millenia ago humans went from a hunter gatherer society to one that relies on agriculture for food. This dramatic change led to villages, towns, cities, and civilization. Civilized humans would never think of relying on hunter-gatherers to feed society. Well, on land, anyway. On the seas, hunter-gathering still dominates.

The oceans are an aquatic wilderness. Food from the sea mostly comes from fishing boats that take to the waters to hunt for schools of wild fish, gather them in nets, and bring them back to market.

Today's San Diego Union-Tribune has a story on an aquaculture experiment proposed by Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute for the deep waters off San Diego that would change all that.

"Hubbs' operation would cover about 30 football fields' worth of the ocean's surface in water that's approximately 300 feet deep.

"At first, the institute would deploy eight circular nets – each large enough to hold about 125,000 fish. The nets would be anchored to the sea floor and stocked with striped bass, a fish that was introduced to California more than 100 years ago. The captive bass would grow for about two years until they top 2 pounds each, at which point they would be collected in batches and sold to seafood wholesalers.

"The species was chosen for several reasons, including the availability of juveniles for rearing and what Hubbs researchers said were slim chances that any escaped fish would disrupt the native food chain.

"Over five years, Hubbs would install 24 pens and produce 3,000 metric tons of fish annually – about three times the current commercial fish harvest brought ashore in San Diego County.

"That would provide a dramatic boost to the state's aquaculture industry, which generates about $100 million in revenue each year for seafood producers. At full capacity, Hubbs officials said, they could raise about 3 million fish per year worth $21 million." (Here.)

Before Hubbs can go forward with its proposal it needs to convince environmentalists and fishing interests of its value, and obtain permits from the federal government. But Hubbs is on the right track.

Imagine if food from land were produced the same way that most sea food is produced. Hunters would leave the city every day to roam the wilderness in search of wild game to bring back to market. Long ago, humans figured out that hunter-gathering was inefficient and unreliable and we turned to agriculture. It's time to bring the production of sea food out of the pre-civilized era and into the modern world.

-tdr

Labels: Agriculture, America, Aquaculture, Civilization, Food, Science, Society

From the world of science comes news that female-dominated societies aren't necessarily less violent than male-dominated ones. At least among the bonobos.

Who, you might ask? The bonobos are some kind of primate living along the Congo. They, along with chimpanzees, are closely related to humans. The bonobos, unlike chimps (and humans), live in female-dominated social groups. Bonobos, unlike chimps (and humans, again), also have a reputation for peaceful behavior. Apparently, they don't resolve conflicts by fighting each other. They resolve conflicts by promiscuous sex: male-female, male-male, female-female. Whatever gets them through the long jungle nights. The bonobos apparently really like banging each other.

Also, where chimpanzees have been known to hunt and kill monkeys for food, the bonobos were not known to do that. Until now, that is. Apparently a new study has shown bonobos do hunt and kill monkeys.

"Unlike the male-dominated societies of their chimpanzee relatives, bonobo society—in which females enjoy a higher social status than males—has a 'make-love-not-war' kind of image. While chimpanzee males frequently band together to hunt and kill monkeys, the more peaceful bonobos were believed to restrict what meat they do eat to forest antelopes, squirrels, and rodents.

"Not so, according to a study, reported in the October 14th issue of Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, that offers the first direct evidence of wild bonobos hunting and eating the young of other primate species.

"'These findings are particularly relevant for the discussion about male dominance and bonding, aggression and hunting—a domain that was thought to separate chimpanzees and bonobos,' said Gottfried Hohmann of the Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. 'In chimpanzees, male-dominance is associated with physical violence, hunting, and meat consumption. By inference, the lack of male dominance and physical violence is often used to explain the relative absence of hunting and meat eating in bonobos. Our observations suggest that, in contrast to previous assumptions, these behaviors may persist in societies with different social relations.'
...
"Overall, the discovery challenges the theory that male dominance and aggression must be causally linked to hunting behavior, an idea held by earlier models of the evolution of aggression in human and non-human primates. Future work on the bonobos of LuiKotale may shed light on the social and ecological conditions that encourage their monkey-hunting expeditions, yielding insight into the evolutionary significance and causes of aggression, hunting, and meat eating in bonobos, chimpanzees, and ourselves." (Here.)

-tdr

Labels: Animals, Environment, Ethics, Food, Science

Fear of global warming has led governments around the world to push biofuels as an alternative to fossil fuels. It's a policy that results in farmers devoting farmland to growing food for machines instead of food for people. Not surprisingly that policy appears to be more harmful than helpful.

"The U.N. food agency yesterday called for a review of biofuel subsidies and policies, noting that they had contributed significantly to rising food prices and the hunger in poor countries."

The United Nations report confirms the findings of an earlier intergovernmental report.

"In an assessment released this summer, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development concluded that government support of biofuel production in member countries was hugely expensive and 'had a limited impact on reducing greenhouse gases and improving energy security.' It did have 'a significant impact on world crop prices' by helping to raise them, the report said." (Here.)

Imagine that. Less food production results in higher food prices, which leads to hunger among poor people. On the other hand, maybe that's the goal. More hunger could result in fewer people and fewer people is better for the environment, people being a cancer on the Earth and all. (Here.) You can't make an omelet without breaking some eggs.

-tdr

Labels: Environment, Ethics, Food, International

To be honest the only reason for this post is to bump the gruesome dead possum post down from the top. So, here's a picture of a passel of Lesser Goldfinches feeding from a nyjer seed sock. Aren't they cuuuute? I've replaced the sock with a metal mesh feeder. Much cleaner.

Now here's a shot of Kimba sitting behind the Lemonade Berry Bush. The old sock feeder is devoid of birds. Hmmm, I wonder why. The Lemonade Berry Bush is a California native that will get to about 6-8 feet tall and thicker. It's still small because it's a juvenile that hasn't gone through a rainy season yet. Birds love the bush for the small sour berries it produces. I've been told that mixing the berries with water and sugar produces a passable lemonade. (Here.) We'll see.

-tdr

Republished once to add link for making lemonade berry lemonade.

Labels: Animals, Birds, Food, Gardening, Nature, San Diego

People in Kenya are being fed by a nutritious and drought-resistant wheat that makes better bread and grows well on land too barren for more traditional varieties.

"Scientists and crop researchers at Kenya´s Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) developed the new wheat seeds over the past decade. Through a process called 'mutation plant breeding', they applied radiation-based techniques to modify crop characteristics and traits. Kenya worked closely with the IAEA, through its technical cooperation arm and a regional programme called AFRA (African Co-operative Agreement for Research, Development and Training related to Nuclear Science and Technology). ...

"KARI is the country´s premier institution for agricultural research and technology transfer. Its plant breeders successfully released their first mutant wheat variety in 2001. Called Njoro-BW1, it was bred to be tolerant to drought and use limited rainfall efficiently. Key side benefits include a moderate resistance to wheat rust; high yields, with grains valued for flour production of good baking quality."

Read more about how scientists in Africa are saving lives and increasing prosperity for their own people. (Here.)

-tdr

Labels: Food, Good News, Science

Breakfast is supposed to be all about comfort food. Not sure where breakfast cake falls in that category. Judge for yourself here. The odds are about even that the pictures of breakfast cake being made will either sicken you or get you thinking of trying it yourself.

And for lunch, there's Gold Loaf, a sandwich made famous by Elvis, consisting of a hollowed loaf of Italian bread filled with a jar of peanut butter, a jar of grape jelly, a pound of fried bacon, all smothered in butter and baked or deep fried into yummy goodness. (Gold Loaf website here.)

-tdr

Republished once to correct a typo.

Labels: Food

Today on a continent far, far to the south, a conflict is developing between Peru and Chile over the origin of the potato.

"Peruvian agronomists, historians and diplomats are chafing at an assertion by Marigen Hornkohl, Chile's agriculture minister, who said recently, 'Few people know that 99 percent of the world's potatoes have some type of genetic link to potatoes from Chile.'

"Peru, where the potato is a source of national pride, could not let such a comment pass.

"'Obviously the world has known for centuries that the potato is from Peru and that the Peruvian potato saved Europe from hunger,' Foreign Minister Jose Antonio Garcma Belaunde told reporters here last week. 'The entire world knows this.'" (Here.)

Not a word in the story about the origin of the Irish potatoes that did so well in the 19th Century.

If war breaks out, invest in the company that manufactures these high tech potato guns: (claytonbailey.com here.)

-tdr

Labels: Food, International, War