History & Archaeology
On border of Kazakhstan and China, conservationist has spent 70 years in 'fatherland' and forest of apples, cataloging as hedge against memories of famine. As solution to urbanization and loss, he proposes pairing restoration and commerce. Author (click 'See also'): Foragers and traditional farmers are food's safe-keepers. North America lost more than 15,000 apple varieties in 400 years.
By Gary Paul Nabhan
Orion Magazine 2008-05-01 (entry)
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Signs of farming, wetland management, and possibly fish farms found in recently discovered ruins of walled urban centers in western Brazil. Communities, each with an identical road pointing northeast to southwest and connected to a central plaza, were clusters of 150-acre towns, with smaller villages spread out nearby.
BBC 2008-08-28 (entry)
Guy Eisner/Science Magazine
The Judean date palm, which once flourished in vast forests across what is now Israel, was thought to be extinct.
In unassuming pot, a 2,000-year-old date palm seed from Masada germinates and grows. Scientists are hoping that the plant, likely the Judean date palm called the 'tree of life,' is a female and, when mature in 2010, will bear fruit so that plant can be reintroduced as food crop for harsh, dry climates.
By Amy Maxmen
Science magazine 2008-06-12 (entry)
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Up to three million New Yorkers live in communities with high rates of diet-related disease and a dearth of supermarkets (click 'See also' for study). Many residents spend food budget at pharmacies, which sell processed foods and sodas, then medicines for diet-related ills. City could support another 100 grocers; planning director calls situation a health crisis.
By David Gonzalez
The New York Times 2008-05-05 (entry)
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After analyzing starch from charred food residues in ancient pottery fragments, archaeologists determine that corn was part of South American diet much earlier than previously thought. The grain was likely a vital food crop for villages in tropical Ecuador at least 5,000 years ago. The starch analysis technique previously was used to track chili peppers in ancient diets (click 'See also').
University of Calgary; Sciencedaily 2008-03-24 (entry)
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Ahead of the Oxford Literary Festival, a look at food served through the ages, with a peek into a 1524 kitchen, a reminder that Oxford was one of the first places outside London where the avant garde sipped chocolate, and in the way that only food can puncture time, the complaint of a schoolboy about fish during Lent. For food-related events, click on 'See also.'
By Kate Colquhoun
The Times (UK) 2008-03-14 (entry)
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Soil analysis at Chunchucmil, on Yucatan Peninsula, shows old food residue, pointing to market economy for Mayans around 500 A.D. Canal leads 15 miles in from sea; markers may have delineated outdoor market stalls and a central plaza. Findings challenge assumption that ruling class controlled food, goods.
By John Noble Wilford
The New York Times 2008-01-08 (entry)
A short history of Thanksgiving, from offerings of cakes and pigs to the ancient Greek goddess of all grains, Demeter, to the 1941 Congressional decree that named the fourth Thursday in November as the proper day for celebrating.
Journal Express (IA) 2007-11-21 (entry)
Our love with chocolate started 3,100 years ago, and foil-wrapped bars were not in the picture. The product was a beer-like drink, a status symbol, and likely served in celebration of weddings and births, scientists report after research conducted in the Honduras.
By Will Dunham
Reuters 2007-11-12 (entry)
As homage to residents and the past, Ohio museum assembles exhibition on local food and food traditions from the first half of the 20th century; objects include photos, old receipts, aprons, farm and kitchen equipment and documentary videos.
By Holly Richards
Coshocton Tribune (OH) 2007-11-04 (entry)
Remembering the good old days before electricity, when a porch was used and often held the icebox, which kept foods cool with an actual blocks of ice; what we once called icebox pies we now might call terrines.
By Sylvia Carter
Newsday 0000-00-00 (entry)
Gin Gin Cane Cutting Festival in Australia brings the old-time sugar industry experts and other contestants together, timing them to cut a section of sugarcane by hand, the way it was done before mechanical harvesters, while racing the clock and each other.
By Jodie van de Wetering
Australian Broadcasting Corporation 0000-00-00 (entry)
Casting doubt on leisurely wining, dining image of ancient Rome, archaeologists unearth lack of tableware, lack of kitchens and lack of formal dining rooms in Pompeii, but they find miniature grills in abundance, author reports.
2007-06-18 (entry)
Some swear that Mr. Pastie's English beef-and-potato pies, now sold internationally, have magical powers; at the very least, they connect Gar Sleep, the 78-year-old company owner, to a large part of his family history.
By Sara Jerome
Pocono Record (entry)
Kamut, a heirloom wheat with a sweet, nutty flavor and high in nutritional qualities, once the darling of the Birkenstock crowd, has captured Italy carbohydrate-wise, and Saskatchewan, as well as Montana and Alberta, are profiting.
By Beppi Crosariol
The Globe and Mail (Canada) (entry)
Casting doubt on leisurely wining, dining image of ancient Rome, archaeologists unearth lack of tableware, lack of kitchens and lack of formal dining rooms in Pompeii, but they find miniature grills in abundance, author reports.
2007-06-18 (entry)
