Rachel Laudan

Yesterday a new seed bank went into operation. It was funded by the Norwegian government, situated on the island of Spitzbergen, and destined to save seed crops should there be a global catastrophe. It spawned a rush of anxious postings by food activists. Two things struck me. First, that there are apparently about 1500 seed [...]

Agua frescas are one of the great joys of the Mexican kitchen. There’s not a really good English translation. Sometimes you see fruit waters, sometimes you see coolers, but both are awkward renditions. So what are they? They are lightly sweetened drinks, usually fruit based but not always. They are the standard accompaniment to a [...]

Traditional pig slaughtering in Portugal is one of the main themes on the web page of Portuguese anthropologist, Sandra Nogueira. It’s a web site well worth looking at and if you don’t read Portuguese a good bit is in English.