Flutterby™! : Quinoa 2013-01-22 00:44:35.07822+00

Quinoa

2013-01-22 00:44:35.07822+00 by Dan Lyke 2 comments

Because by now you have undoubtedly been forwarded one of those "oh noes, the South Americans are starving because American yuppies are eating all of their quinoas!" stories that someone is pushing. I don't know who's behind that particular PR blitz, but I'd suspect it'd be a company with a big financial interest in maintaining the current grain hegemony, a Monsanto or ADM.

I haven't linked to the stories here because they're frankly kinda laughable: Complaining that farmers might be getting rich because U.S. consumers are buying their product doesn't make a whole lot of sense, complaining that people are starving because food is getting more expensive seems more like an issue of local politics.

Anyway: Bear Witness Pictures: An open letter to NPR regarding quinoa.

Quinoa is also grown in Colorado in the San Luis Valley. I actually shows up in localvore dishes here.

In 2009 the US imported 18 million pounds of quinoa from Bolivia. That same year, the US produced 728 billion pounds of corn. The US grain industry has no fears from quinoa.

My favorite comment from the cited item is that ADM and Monsanto is trying to ruin the Bolivian quinoa trade so they can sell the starving Bolivians GMO corn. Seems to me there has to be an easier way.