Quinoa brings riches to the Andes

[xchrom]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jan/14/quinoa-andes-bolivia-peru-crop


A woman carries quinoa in Bolivia. The 'pseudo-grain' may be the most nutritious foodstuff in the world. Photograph: Laurent Giraudou/Corbis

A burst of colour on a monochromatic panorama, a field of flowering quinoa plants in the Bolivian desert is a thing of beauty. A plant ready for harvest can stand higher than a human, covered with knotty blossoms, from violet to crimson and ochre-orange to yellow.

Quinua real, or royal quinoa, flourishes in the most hostile conditions, surviving nightly frosts and daytime temperatures upwards of 40C (104F). It is a high-altitude plant, growing at 3,600 metres above sea level and higher, where oxygen is thin, water is scarce and the soil is so saline that virtually nothing else grows.

The tiny seeds of the quinoa plant are the stuff of nutritionists' dreams, sending demand soaring in the developed world. Gram-for-gram, quinoa is one of the planet's most nutritious foodstuffs. Once a sacred crop for some pre-hispanic Andean cultures, it has become a five-star health food for the middle classes in Europe, the US and increasingly China and Japan.

That global demand means less quinoa is being eaten in Bolivia and Peru, the countries of origin, as the price has tripled. There are concerns this could cause malnutrition as producers, who have long relied on the superfood to supplement their meagre diets, would rather sell their entire crop than eat it. The rocketing international price is also creating land disputes.

[marions ghost]

1. Quinoa is a superfood if you can tolerate it

Supposed to be better for gluten free diets--but the findings are not definitive.

Sorry to hear that the farmers are not getting as much of the crop....and probably the middlemen are reaping the profits.

[hunter]

2. I'm reminded of John Steinbeck's novel, "The Pearl"

John Steinbeck-The Pearl (wikipedia)