Skål!

Last Wednesday, we explored outside of Copenhagen and went to Kelleris Vineyard. Regardless of the rain and cold, I really had a great experience at the field study. We talked with the owner of the vineyard, Søren, who was very informative and knowledgable about the plants and the wine production. I thought it was really interesting to see a Danish vineyard because I rarely think of successful vineyards existing in cold places like Denmark! I was unaware that the production of commercial wine was only recently allowed, but now there are over 14000 winegrowers just from the past 14 years. Although Søren continuously said how small this vineyard was, I was very impressed and saw how much work went into making wine. I also enjoyed how involved his family members were in the business. The different wines we tried tasted great and I liked how the barrels could affect the flavor of the wine.

http://www.kellerisvingaard.dk/kelleris-dk/kontakt-salg.html

So what would we do without wine! The culture of wine, so prevalent today, originated thousands of years ago in the Fertile crescent, spreading to the Middle East, Nile Valley, and Mediterranean basin. In Egypt, people began making wine from red grapes, and as it resembled blood, used it in ceremonies. Wine is first mentioned in the book of Genesis, after the flood when Noah is drunk on wine. Then during the rise of the Greeks and Romans, grapevines would be planted along all of Europe and wine production would flourish. Religion played a critical role in preserving the production of wine methods and skills during the dark ages following the fall of the roman empire as monks continued to produce wine in their monasteries because of the important role of wine in the Christian faith.

http://www.theworldwidewine.com/Wine_trivia/How_wine_production.php

Wine plays a significant role in today’s society, as it is drunk for various social and religious occasions still. Consumers spend more on wine each year than cosmetics and three times as much as recorded music. It is of great economic importance, on top of giving people pleasure for the past 6,000 years. Recent studies have also shown the significance of red wine with health benefits such as protection against cardiovascular disease. Yet, it is important to moderate the amount of consumption as alcohol abuse is becoming a problem amongst millions of people, affecting and harming the lives of many.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wine-producing_regions

Risks and Benefits of Wine: http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/alcohol-full-story/

Top Three

Although it is difficult to choose just the top three most important plants, corn, cotton, and rubber have proved to be the most influential.

Corn, being the most produced grain in the world, has immeasurable impacts on us today. It is a versatile crop that many different cultures have relied on. Presently, corn is a major food staple for most of sub-Saharan Africa. Across the globe, corn oil, meal, and syrup comprise various food products that are consumed in every country. Corn sweeteners can be found in a number of processed foods, making a huge impact on our diets.The  downside of this is that high fructose corn syrup is shown to cause more weight gain in humans than sugar, linking the substance with obesity and diabetes. Corn is also used to feed livestock, thus a large portion of consumed corn is actually ingested indirectly through cattle, pigs, and chickens. Besides food, corn is now also used for ethanol production, causing much of a debate.

http://www.dobies.co.uk/Garden/Vegetables/What+Veg+to+Plant+in/April+Veg+Planting/Sweet+Corn+Sweetie+Pie+F1+Seeds_438639.htm

Now with cotton, we hardly even recognize how engrained it is in our lives. It is the most widespread profitable non-food crop in the world. Cotton’s production employs  about 7% of all labor in developing countries and provides income for more than 250 million people.  Clothing and household items account for the largest uses - cotton towels, sheets, jeans, shirts, and army uniforms. Cotton seed is used to feed cattle and crushed to make oil. The oil is used for cooking and makes up products such as soap, margarine, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and plastics. Thus it is clear to see how versatile and essential cotton is for just about everyone.

http://cottonaustralia.com.au/australian-cotton/basics/uses-of-cotton

Last but not least, in today’s world, rubber is of major importance in various aspects of life. After vulcanization was discovered, it forever revolutionized the rubber industry as the material became stronger, more resilient and elastic, and less smelly. It is used in various industrial, household, and medical products; ranging from automobile, bicycle, and aircraft tires, shoe soles, hoses, erasers, to surgical gloves.Currently, there are  over twenty different types of synthetic rubber, which is used in materials such as petroleum, crude oil, and different types of gases. Rubber is strong, long lasting, water and heat resistant- the properties that make it so beneficial and useful. It is approximated that every year there are about 4 million tons of natural rubber and 7 million tons of synthetic rubber produced to make over 500 million products that we use on a daily basis. These numbers prove just how ubiquitous rubber has become.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130206141408.htm 

however, take a look at the negative impact of corn: http://www.stopforcefeeding.com/content/environmental-impact 

Secure Our Food

Food security exists when people are able to have access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for a healthy life.  The majority of more than one billion food-insecure individuals are small-scale farmers living in rural areas, women, and children. Diversification of agriculture is an important means of achieving food security in a changing climate and decreasing the occurrences of diseases and pests. Many major agricultural multinational corporations have been acquiring land in developing countries in order to grow food crops for the purpose of shipping back home to domestic markets – a food security strategy.  This has created a variety of problems. Competition and demand for land between major industries has led to a great amount of deforestation. The detrimental loss of biodiversity can be seen in regions all over the world – the Amazon, Africa, and Asia.

http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/graphic/2012/oct/10/food-security-risk-index-map

With the exponential world population growth, there is an increasing demand for food, a scarcity of water, and a fight for land resources. There are severe disproportions in the levels of nutrition between different populations resulting from uneven distribution of food production. Therefore, many are left malnourished and a percentage face starvation. The rising food prices all over the world mostly impactthe millions of people who can least afford them. The issue of diminishing resources of water and land has arisen due to soil erosion, depletion of nutrients, and infrastructure development. In addition to all of these growing problems, there is also fear of environmental damage from excessive fertilizers, pumping of groundwater for irrigation, and the spraying of pesticides.

http://www.foodsecuritynews.com/presentation-series.html            

There are several solutions to food security, but also several problems that hinder them from being effective. Subsistence farming could be an immediate means to food security at a household level in developing countries, but land ownership is decreasing with the globalization and commercialization of food. There needs to be a stronger national and regional approach to address this rising situation, but issues relating to food insecurity vary greatly between and within countries. On the global scale, there should be more investments in research, education, innovation, and infrastructure, but many nations are also dealing with other internal problems and allocated money to other priorities. People can also move towards a more sustainable diet which consists of less meat and more seasonal foods, however changing eating habits and reorienting the food supply chain is a very difficult undertaking.  To deal with the lack of fresh water availability, water treatment plants to desalinate ocean water can be implemented, yet again, this proposal is a highly expensive investment, as well as a very energy intensive solution. 

http://kiecocenterorg.ipage.com/demo22/2013/07/17/by-the-numbers-2012-analysis-of-food-policy-councils/

Timeline of food insecurities worldwide: http://www.fao.org/publications/sofi/2014/en/

Argghhh BioPIRACY

Biopiracy can be defined as the appropriation of another’s knowledge of the use of biological resources. The issue is that these patent resources or knowledge held by farmers, traditional communities, and indigenous tribes are exploited by various organizations and companies. The new discoveries made by pharmaceutical and agricultural industries may appear as innovative, but they are based on centuries of knowledge by traditional societies. The first cases of biopiracy in Latin America occurred as early as the 1400s, with the discovery of the New World by European explorers.

Several examples of biopiracy can be seen in the Amazon; one involving rubber tree seeds. In 1876, Englishman Henry Alexander Wickham took these seeds – some believe they hid them between banana leaves – and brought them to a British-run plantation in Malaysia. Within years, this area would become the main exporter of latex, destroying the economy in the Amazon which was based on the rubber tree. Wickham was referred to as the “executioner of the Amazonas” by the rubber barons in Brazil, but praised by the British government.

http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photos-rubber-tree-seeds-ground-image35566438

Another example of biopiracy in history is with the cinchona tree. The natives of Peru discovered that quinine can be extracted from the bark of the cinchona and be used to treat fever associated with malaria. Yet again, an Englishman, Charles Ledger, smuggled the cinchona seeds from South America and quinine plantations were subsequently established in Java. This resulted in the destruction of the South American monopoly in quinine and created the new Dutch monopoly.

http://www.indiamart.com/mihirkanani/

Biopiracy continues to exist today all over the world. In 1997, an American company known as RiceTec Inc was granted a patent by the US on Basmati rice. However, this rice had been grown in India and Pakistan for centuries, regions that can no longer refer to their own rice as Basmati without paying royalties. Thus, Indian traders and exporters are having their markets stolen by RiceTec and the Indian farmers are cheated of their intellectual and biodiversity heritage.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Basmati_Rice_Kolkata_2011-02-11_1054.JPG

Plant transfers result in several consequences for communities from which the crops are taken. The companies involved in biopiracy make huge profits at the expense of the developing countries that posessed the original resources and knowledge. Many patents either deny economic compensation to indigenous groups or prevent them from using the plant materials. Biopiracy alters the environment, which in turn causes biodiversity depletion in many regions. Conservation of biodiversity enables variety of available foods and nutrition, as well as, decreasing the spread of pathogens to humans. 

More information on how important biodiversity is: 

http://www.who.int/globalchange/ecosystems/biodiversity/en/