Will I die? Organic red quinoa, best before May 2021?

[Edie]

Or Pasta, bread, etc. I can live without rice.

It would be a tough ask for all the British-Pakistani population tho. I think it’s one of these ideas that’s impossible with the way the world is now. Just an ideal?

 

[BillRiver]

It would be a tough ask for all the British-Pakistani population tho. I think it’s one of these ideas that’s impossible with the way the world is now. Just an ideal?

The average British person with Pakistani, Bangladeshi, and/or Indian heritage is likely to be more aware of the impact of climate change than the average British person without that heritage, though. Especially if they still have family over there, suffering the consequences.

It wouldn't be impossible to educate in order to emphasise the links and to provide alternatives to rice at the same time. Alternatives that use less water and other resources, as well as that can be commercially grown nearer to or in the UK.

 

[Edie]

The average British person with Pakistani, Bangladeshi, and/or Indian heritage is likely to be more aware of the impact of climate change than the average British person without that heritage, though. Especially if they still have family over there, suffering the consequences.

It wouldn't be impossible to educate in order to emphasise the links and to provide alternatives to rice at the same time. Alternatives that use less water and other resources, as well as that can be commercially grown nearer to or in the UK.

Tbh I’d rather not try and educate people, they’re not daft and can draw their own conclusions.

 

[BillRiver]

Tbh I’d rather not try and educate people, they’re not daft and can draw their own conclusions.

I wasn't suggesting you do it.

I know a British-Bangladeshi woman who is doing so herself, spreading the word in her community about farro and barley as alternatives.

My local health food shop also has factsheets about this on display.

Governments and trade bodies could get involved.

 

[Brainaddict]

I would be wary about eating organic anything past its best-before date. Organic producers and processors already skimp on the more powerful pesticides, so there's a good chance that they might also skimp on the more effective preservatives as well. Medieval nonsense.

I can't tell if this is trolling, but you don't seem to know what organic food production is about. It's not just about avoiding 'chemicals' because hippies don't like them, it's about creating sustainable food systems that don't destroy the soil and environment leaving us on a desert rock only able to grow Soylent Green. The only problem with organic is that's marketed as a niche product when it should really be pushed as the only way to farm.

 

[BillRiver]

I can't tell if this is trolling, but you don't seem to know what organic food production is about. It's not just about avoiding 'chemicals' because hippies don't like them, it's about creating sustainable food systems that don't destroy the soil and environment leaving us on a desert rock only able to grow Soylent Green. The only problem with organic is that's marketed as a niche product when it should really be pushed as the only way to farm.

This.

Although there are other problems/issues with organic farming when it comes to farming of animals.

The marketing of organic fruit and vegetables as a niche thing, only for posh people, really gets me. Pre-1950's and for most of human history, organic was the norm, indeed the only option!

 

[NoXion]

I can't tell if this is trolling, but you don't seem to know what organic food production is about. It's not just about avoiding 'chemicals' because hippies don't like them, it's about creating sustainable food systems that don't destroy the soil and environment leaving us on a desert rock only able to grow Soylent Green. The only problem with organic is that's marketed as a niche product when it should really be pushed as the only way to farm.

Sustainability may be the claimed goal, but organic agriculture is not the only methodology to make such claims. Organic farming explicitly rules out the routine use of synthetic substances. From Wikipedia:

Organic agricultural methods are internationally regulated and legally enforced by many nations, based in large part on the standards set by the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), an international umbrella organization for organic farming organizations established in 1972.[7] Organic agriculture can be defined as "an integrated farming system that strives for sustainability, the enhancement of soil fertility and biological diversity while, with rare exceptions, prohibiting synthetic pesticides, antibiotics, synthetic fertilizers, genetically modified organisms, and growth hormones".[8][9][10][11]

Seems pretty clear-cut to me. The ruling out of genetically modified organisms is especially bemusing, since there's no reason that a GMO necessarily must produce or introduce synthetic substances. In fact crops can and have been modified to produce the same pesticides used in organic farming. Having the crops produce it endogenously would surely at least reduce, if not eliminate, the need to spray it on manually.

 

[Brainaddict]

Sustainability may be the claimed goal, but organic agriculture is not the only methodology to make such claims. Organic farming explicitly rules out the routine use of synthetic substances. From Wikipedia:

Organic agricultural methods are internationally regulated and legally enforced by many nations, based in large part on the standards set by the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), an international umbrella organization for organic farming organizations established in 1972.[7] Organic agriculture can be defined as "an integrated farming system that strives for sustainability, the enhancement of soil fertility and biological diversity while, with rare exceptions, prohibiting synthetic pesticides, antibiotics, synthetic fertilizers, genetically modified organisms, and growth hormones".[8][9][10][11]

Seems pretty clear-cut to me. The ruling out of genetically modified organisms is especially bemusing, since there's no reason that a GMO necessarily must produce or introduce synthetic substances. In fact crops can and have been modified to produce the same pesticides used in organic farming. Having the crops produce it endogenously would surely at least reduce, if not eliminate, the need to spray it on manually.

Keen to know what you propose as an alternative.

Fwiw I don't necessarily agree with a total bar on GMO crops, but it was arrived at in a context where destructive agro-industries were using it to increase their deathly grip on farming. Publicly funded and non-profit GMO work I agree could have its uses. I think the case will be successfully made for this at some point but in the meantime it's hardly key to improving our farming systems when there's so much else not working.

As for the synthetic substances, I could agree to the use of them on a case by case basis if you could explain where every drop or part of them ended up and show that they have no detrimental effect on the environment, soil, humans etc. You've got to take responsibility for everything you add to agricultural systems if you want to carry on producing food. The presumption should be that you don't know where it will all end up or what effect it will have unless you have done extensive objective studies for years - this rules out for the moment any commercial product, where the majority of testing money has come from the company that produces it. Anyway, with the UK probably about to re-allow a common carcinogen which the EU was about to ban (round-up), this is a strange battle line to be drawing.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

Have had some quinoa for tea, so will report back if I'm dead in the morning.

 

[Sue]

Have had some quinoa for tea, so will report back if I'm dead in the morning.

How many kilos left?

Sorry.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

How many kilos left?

Sorry.

I cooked 250g (raw weight) and had half of it. At this rate I'll get through it fairly soon - but now wonder whether you can overdose on the stuff.

 

[JimW]

I chuck a bit in my millet porridge, two bland grains that go great together!

 

[gentlegreen]

I don't remember millet being particularly bland - I used to always chuck some in with my LG brown rice in the days when I could eat food with calories ..
Quinoa is moderately high in oxalate...

 

[JimW]

I don't remember millet being particularly bland - I used to always chuck some in with my LG brown rice in the days when I could eat food with calories ..
Quinoa is moderately high in oxalate...

I chuck in pickles or fermented tofu anyway, but in my experience it is pretty nondescript, though I expect there's varieties.

 

[Elpenor]

Have had some quinoa for tea, so will report back if I'm dead in the morning.

farmerbarleymow morning is approx 11:30pm so not long to wait!

 

[moose]

I've got some in the cupboard, probably out of date. I never cooked it because I'd be too embarrassed to say 'quinoa' when my other half asked what's for tea.

 

[Mattym]

I usually make a couscous salad and decided to try quinoa. It may be a superfood, but had to use twice as much, as it didn't seem to have any bulk or any satiety value to it. Quickly switched back.

 

[gentlegreen]

I used to go into town on a Saturday and habitually bought a quinoa, walnut and celery salad - and I can barely tolerate celery - but it all felt very low-gi ...

 

[Sue]

I used to go into town on a Saturday and habitually bought a quinoa, walnut and celery salad - and I can barely tolerate celery - but it all felt very low-gi ...

<shudder>

 

[farmerbarleymow]

I'm still alive.

Did have some odd dreams including lots of guns, so maybe the farmer fertilised the quinoa fields with drugs.

 

[Johnny Doe]

I've never knowingly eaten quinoa, or maybe I did once and I've forgotten about it.

I would be wary about eating organic anything past its best-before date. Organic producers and processors already skimp on the more powerful pesticides, so there's a good chance that they might also skimp on the more effective preservatives as well. Medieval nonsense.

Garlic bread?

 

[equationgirl]

I'm still alive.

Did have some odd dreams including lots of guns, so maybe the farmer fertilised the quinoa fields with drugs.

Probably just the weevils...

 

[Saul Goodman]

Probably just the weevils...

Or the ergot, which might explain his love of sky vermin.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

Or the ergot, which might explain his love of sky vermin.

It won't surprise you to know I like weevils - they're a fascinating group of insects.

 

[gentlegreen]

Or the ergot, which might explain his love of sky vermin.

yebbut ... as you welle knowe ... the benefit of pseudograins is they aren't so vulnerable to that fungus ....

 

[lazythursday]

Quinoa is great if cooked properly - so easy to either overcook or undercook it - rice cookers are great for getting it right. I think dried stuff like this lasts years past the sell by date personally. Not sure why it's become one of those foods that's so sneered at by people - I eat a fair amount of it as I can't eat wheat (meaning bulgar and couscous are out). Buckwheat is much nicer though.

 

[killer b]

Not sure why it's become one of those foods that's so sneered at by people

iirc it first became widely known in the UK via Gillian Mceith's 'You Are What You Eat', and it's status in the public consciousness as a fad food for posh yoghurt weavers has persisted ever since because people are a bit thick and stuck in their ways if something was funny because it's true in 2004 it's still funny because it's true now right?

 

[farmerbarleymow]

Quinoa is great if cooked properly - so easy to either overcook or undercook it - rice cookers are great for getting it right. I think dried stuff like this lasts years past the sell by date personally. Not sure why it's become one of those foods that's so sneered at by people - I eat a fair amount of it as I can't eat wheat (meaning bulgar and couscous are out). Buckwheat is much nicer though.

Like anything I suppose - getting the cooking right is key. I've got a plastic pot thing to do it in the microwave - works pretty well. Cook 250g (dry weight) at a time, and leave half of it for the next day.

 

[Epona]

iirc it first became widely known in the UK via Gillian Mceith's 'You Are What You Eat', and it's status in the public consciousness as a fad food for posh yoghurt weavers has persisted ever since because people are a bit thick and stuck in their ways if something was funny because it's true in 2004 it's still funny because it's true now right?

It's been around in the UK a lot longer than that though. I first used it well before then as I was interested in what foods would have been eaten by various ancient civilisations (due to my primary interests of archaeology and cooking ) and it came up as something I started using as a result of researching ancient Incan food. Was difficult to get though, only available in some health food shops.

 

[killer b]

Yeah, it's availability from health food shops was the main reason it's got such yoghurt weaver associations - lots of things have made the journey from specialist foodshops to being widely available though: I was reading a recipe from a 1980s recipe book the other day and it said you should go to the health food shop to buy olive oil as it's likely not available from your local supermarket.